With Saints news coming in at a snails pace, I figured there was no better time to call Doc Brown, juice up the flux capacitor and hop in the Delorean. Now is as good a time as ever to replay the Saints 2007 season and see just how well we could have done.
"How can we do that!?" you ask. Ahhh, the wonders of technology. I am gonna fire up the ol' (new) Wii and sit down with some Madden '08!
Here is how it works:
- I will simulate the entire 2007 Saints season in franchise mode.
- I have made all the necessary depth chart changes to simulate last seasons starting roster. Unfortunately, Reggie gets used more as a receiver and not as a running back (Maybe Payton should take a hint).
- I simulate each game and show you all of the stats and more importantly, the outcome.
- When all is said and done, you can follow along each day as last season gets played out again and hopefully with different results.
- We will be able to see how accurately Madden '08 comes to the actual results of of the 2008 season.
Without further ado, I bring you the NFL season opener from Indianapolis.
You may remember this game as the first of four brutal disappointments to start off the season. You may also remember this as the game when Payton Manning picked apart Jason David. Unfortunately in Second Season, the results are still the same, a L. This time was much closer though and probably the game everyone was expecting between the defending Superbowl champs and the team predicted to be the new Superbowl champs.
The two high-powered offenses went wild, with Deuce running for a ridiculous 231 yards. Reggie add 111 yards in the air. On paper this game looks as though the Saints should have pulled out a win, particularly with Indianapolis' 3 turnovers. Our defense was also on fire, racking up five sacks. Lots of penalties in this one as well. Colston is limited, but that shouldn't last very long. Unfortunately, the Colts squeak this one out with a field goal in OT. Mare, as expected, starts off a little inconsistent, going 3/4 in a dome.
Scoring Summary
| 1st | 2nd | 3rd | 4th | OT | Final | |
| Saints | 10 | 0 | 10 | 3 | 0 | 23 |
| Colts | 3 | 10 | 3 | 7 | 3 | 26 |
Game Stats
|
Stat |
Saints | Colts |
| Score | 23 | 26 |
| Total Offense | 481 | 468 |
| Rushing Yards | 234 | 178 |
| Passing Yards | 247 | 290 |
| First Downs | 23 | 26 |
| PR Yards | 37 | 64 |
| KR Yards | 123 | 147 |
| Possession | 39:58 | 34:38 |
| Turnovers | 1 | 3 |
| 3rd Down Conv. | 6/16 | 9/19 |
| Red Zone Offense | 25% | 100% |
| Penalty Yards | 80 |
97 |
Division Standings
| Team | W | L | T | Pct. | PF | PA |
| Tampa Bay | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1.00 | 33 | 27 |
| New Orleans | 0 | 1 | 0 | .000 | 23 | 26 |
| Atlanta | 0 | 1 | 0 | .000 | 24 | 27 |
| Carolina | 0 | 1 | 0 | .000 | 13 | 33 |
Individual Stats
| Player | Yards | Comp. | Att. | Pct. | TD | Int. |
| Drew Brees | 254 | 23 | 36 | 63.9% | 1 | 1 |
| Player | Yards | Attempts | Avg. | TD | Fumble |
| Deuce McAllister | 231 | 37 | 6.2 | 1 | 1 |
| Player | Rec. | Yards | Long | TD |
| Reggie Bush | 6 | 111 | 32 | 0 |
| Marques Colston | 4 | 33 | 18 | 0 |
| Devery Henderson | 2 | 40 | 30 | 0 |
| Deuce McAllister | 4 | 25 | 11 | 1 |
| Eric Johnson | 6 | 36 | 8 | 0 |
| Player | Tackles | Sacks | Int. |
| Scott Fujita | 12 | 1 | 0 |
| Mark Simoneau | 7 | 1 | 0 |
| Will Smith | 6 | 0 | 0 |
| Charles Grant | 2 | 1 | 0 |
| Josh Bullocks | 3 | 0 | 1 |
| Jay Bellamy | 1 | 1 | 0 |
| Brian Young | 1 | 1 | 0 |
| Player | Att. | Comp. | Long |
| Olindo Mare | 4 | 3 | 30 |
A disappointing start to the 2007 campaign no doubt, but promising. These guys are the defending champs and we took them to OT. Weaker teams should be no problem. Next week is an important divisional match up against Tampa Bay, who leads the division so far with a win.