Am I supposed to be happy that the Saints just won a key division game against the Carolina Panthers?
Because I'm not. I'm pissed. I'm a season ticket holder who has been spoiled and jaded by a Super Bowl championship. I've become quite accustomed to seeing the Saints win, and winning big. Carolina is a team with significant issues and both me and Las Vegas expected the Saints to dominate this game. Hell, even Panther fans didn't think this one would be close. Instead, the Saints needed to pull out all the stops just to eek out a victory. For the Saints to keep Carolina in this game and to win by a margin of victory of only two points is just disappointing and maddening. Consider yourselves lucky, Who Dats, because any other team probably would have taken this opportunity to beat the Saints.
Yeah, yeah, I know what you're going to say: The Saints have an "X" on their back and are always going to get their opponents best game; the Panthers always play the Saints tough. Well shove all that crap in a sack 'cause I don't care. When are the Saints going to take their opponents best game, chew it up and spit it out? When are the Saints going to play their best game? And what happens when they have to actually play a good team? Because what we've seen so far is garbage and it's nowhere near as good as I know these guys can play.
You're also going to tell me that a win, is a win, is a win; that they don't award style points in the NFL. Guess what? I don't give a crap about that either. The Saints may have won the battle today, but the performance I witnessed during that battle definitely has me suspicious about the outcome of the war. My concern isn't with today's game, it's with the future.
I suppose the good news is that the offense actually looked a little better overall, despite their ability to only score one touchdown. The running game seemed competent better even without Pierre Thomas or Reggie Bush thanks to nice performances by both Chris Ivory and Ladell Betts. It was the drive killing fumbles by Lance Moore and Chris Ivory, after 90-yard and 47-yard drives respectively, that really affected the entire course of this matchup. You just can't do that. The Saints kick ass when they're winning the turnover battle but the going is tough when they're on the other side of that stat, as they were today. Another crappy statistic from today: The Saints were 1/5 in the red zone.
I'll get over it, of course. The win obviously eases the pain. If you're also an LSU football fan, you might be noticing a common theme between the two teams. But even though the Saints are winning games, we all know they have still yet to play their best football. Perhaps that's the best news of all. I'm just hoping it happens soon.