Saints Sideline Blog

A NOVEMBER TO REMEMBER

Saturday, November 27th, 2010      Email Print

DATELINE: Dallas, TX/ November 26th,2010 (Forget Turkey, Malcolm's Menu-- Cowboy Strips!)
 
It was a month of change. November saw the climate cool, the Republicans heat up and the Clocks leap forward. Whether they like to admit it or not, the Saints also underwent a transformation of sorts as they channelled its "Super" selves of last season the past few weeks. Sean Payton and company were undefeated in November-a month that was kickstarted by a Halloween comeback over Pittsburgh (ok, it kicked off on Oct 31st but didn't end until the dawn of November). After a pair of blowouts versus Carolina and Seattle the exclamation point came in the form of its gritty gutty and sometimes nutty win over what is now left of America's Team. Much like last season, the Saints did their damage by throwing the ball downfield and forcing timely turnovers -two missing ingredients in the Who Dat's pregame meal the first two months of the year.
 
We will never know the exact cause of the Saints Superbowl Hangover in September or October but November provided the right amount of Tylenol to relief their collective headaches. Payton used the bye week much like he did in his Super season by resting his guys and once again we are seeing similar results. This team has also done the unthinkable this month, they have gone from the Defending Champs to now a team, "flying under the radar?!" Think about it, what's been the talk this month, hardly the Saints instead dominating the headlines have been "Vick and the Eagles", "the front-running Falcons" and the surprisng Buccaneer bravado of its head coach Raheem Morris who said his team was "the best in the NFC." Laying low were Super Bowl MVP Drew Brees and a resurgent offense who rediscovered its rhythm and finally caught up with a defense that is BETTER than a year ago. A dangerous combination who dug themselves a hole by losing to Atlanta, Arizona and Cleveland but now feel they have a chance to be an improved bunch from last season--a scary notion.
 
What's really scary about November-these Saints did its damage without Reggie Bush and Pierre Thomas. Sure Bush was back in Dallas but he was more a negative than a positive. The Cowboys game was eerily reminiscent of so many Super regular season wins of a year ago. Malcolm Jenkins strip and steal of Roy Williams reminded me and many of Robert Meachem's play against the Skins a year ago---the play of the month and down the road could be symbolic of the turnaround of a football team who took awhile to answer the alarm but sure made its third month the charm. Jenkins deflation of Roy Williams certainly inflated a Saints offense where Brees' final drive reminded us that this unit hasn't lost its mojo. Who says this team doesn't still have some destiny on its side---as my colleague Paul Boron brought up on Thanksgiving Day-last season the Saints' regular season defining moment came in Miami, the home of the Super Bowl-could the Dallas victory also bode well as the big game will be inside Jerry's Palace a few months down the road?
 
Speaking of Dallas, no franchise in the NFL knows how unimportant a successful November can be without sealing the deal in December. The schedule won't be easy for the Saints. Sure they have Cincinnati in the on deck circle but roadies against the Ravens and Falcons will be defining games in terms of playoff position. Who knows how things will stack up when the Bucs come calling in the season finale? We do know this--after November the Saints enter the stretch run with a quiet confidence. All along they promised better play and now they have delivered. They have overcome early rust, missed field goals, and more than their fair share of injuries. The result, New Orleans has put itself in position to make some noise in December, so fasten your Saints seats belts this promises to be quite a finish. Yeah November saw plenty of change now's a great time not to change a thing.
 
WHO DAT HITS
 
MO MALCOLM: Nobody has personified the Saints season more than Malcolm Jenkins who is still learning how to play safety in the NFL. Jenkins told us afterwards that his play in Dallas was the highlight of his entire football career.. Kudos to a guy who we sometimes forget is only in his second season and has not only had to master safety but has played his fair share of corner this year as well.
 
STAND UP REGGIE: Bush takes his fair share of criticism from being injury prone to overrated to hanging out too much with those Hollywood A-listers. One thing you can't say about him is he doesn't face the music after a tough game. Reggie answered each and every question in Dallas, sometimes two or three times which is rare for many of the superstars around this league.
 
HARTLEY'S HOMECOMING: Garrett Hartley hails from Dallas and enjoyed a great holiday homecoming by nailing a career best 50 yard field goal versus the Cowboys to  go along with a perfect 3 for 3 effort from the field. Is Hartley back? I'm not gonna say that but just like the rest of the team, take away a short miss versus Seattle and he was virtually perfect in November.
 
A DEVERY SIGHTING: Dallas saw the Saints best all-around performance from its receiving corp. Colston had 6 catches, Lance Moore had 5 including the game winner and then you had Devery Henderson's 4 grabs for 97 yards ALL in the 1st half. Henderson hasn't been the deep threat he was a year ago but averaged just over 24 yards a catch in Dallas.
 
NOBODY ASKED ME BUT: Say what you want about Cowboys owner Jerry Jones but the guy knows how to play the part of gracious host. If you haven't been to Cowboy Stadium, I would highly recommend it. The world's largest jumbotron is as impressive as the Thanksgiving day media spread which was only topped by my lovely wife Cynthia's cooking earlier in the week. The Dallas support staff couldn't have been more helpful even giving our CST crew a ride to our car after the game-that would be an NFL 1st! Its by far the nicest setup in the league.
 
UNTIL NEXT BLOG,
Mike Nabors
CST Tonight

By: Mike Nabors

An Emmy award winning sports reporter who covers a wide variety of events for CST. Primarily, Mike serves as the network's reporter for Saints coverage.

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