Saints Sideline Blog

DEJA-DREW ALL OVER AGAIN

Monday, November 22nd, 2010      Email Print

DATELINE: New Orleans, LA / November 22,2010 (Next up the Turkey's from Dallas)
 
What a difference a year makes for Tiger Woods, Brett Favre and yes even Nick Saban. All three were invincible heading into Thanksgiving a year ago but a year later for much different reasons, all three are anything but. The one exception may be the Saints offense who despite some potholes (see Atlanta) speedbumps (see Arizona) and a flat tire (see Cleveland), the unit has undergone quite the tuneup the past month where they are looking a lot like their Superselves of last season. You saw signs in the second half of the Pittsburgh game, a lot more similarities in Carolina before the bye week but Sunday's game against Seattle was the best offensive performance of this season and the best this unit has looked since well.. last year.
 
"Last year" are two buzz words for this football team. While they embrace the accomplishments of winning a Super Bowl, these "don't bring up any Super Bowl hangover" Saints don't like looking in their rear view mirror, they feel this offense has a different identity than last year and in many ways they are correct. For one thing, they are doing their damage without Pierre Thomas and Reggie Bush who missed his 8th straight game vs Seattle. Stepping up was Chris Ivory who earned every bit of his 99 yards on the ground and felt a big sense of relief in getting the 1st regular season TD of his career. Ivory says he's not concerned about the impending return of Bush and Thomas, as he feels he will still be a key part of this offense. Bush, who worked out for Payton before the game was surprised he didn't suit up but remains confident he will be back for Dallas. The future is still murky on Thomas who missed his seventh straight game but Payton denied the ESPN report that the injury is a torn tendon in his ankle.
 
Drew Brees is looking more and more like Drew Brees the past few weeks. Against Seattle, he started swimming at the "deep" end once again. Yes the deep ball is back in business as the Saints QB completed six passes over 20 yards including three touchdowns of 22 and 23 yards to Colston and for good measure a 32 yarder to Robert Meachem. The difference in this group compared to last season is that while the backfield has been banged up, the receiving corp has been as healthy as its ever been in the Sean Payton era. Sure Devery Henderson hasn't been a factor, but Colston, Meachem and Lance Moore are all healthy and seem poised for a big stretch run. This group lost Jeremy Shockey but rookie Tight End Jimmy Graham has stepped up nicely where against the Seahawks he was the team's second leading receiver. I wouldn't be surprised if Shockey isn't back next season.
 
So for Brees, even in bad times he spreads the wealth and sure he is still making a few questionable decisions where he threw two more picks yesterday but c'mon that's like saying Cindy Crawford's mole should keep her off the next Cosmo cover. Drew is clearly finding his groove especially when it matters-- on 3rd down against Seattle Drew & company were 11 of 15 for a nice 73% conversion rate. Brees had 4 TD passes vs the Seahawks, he now has 24 straight games with at least one TD pass and an incredible 55 TD passes during that span. Its a span that saw this offense take on an unfamiliar refrain for much of the first half of the season, but clearly this offense is now heading in a different direction, but one that is very familiar to every Saints fan.
 
WHO DAT HITS
 
SORRY ARCHIE: Archie Manning will always be a Saints legend but he's losing his top billing in the Saints record book with every Brees pass. On Sunday Drew passed Archie on the All-Time Saints completion list, a record which has stood since 1982. Manning's next record to go will be his 21,734 career passing yards where Brees is less than 500 yards behind---that could be a goner in Cincinnati in two weeks.
 
FOR PETE'S SAKE: I'm done making predictions on Reggie Bush's return to action but I will tell you this he enjoyed his visit with former USC coach turned Seahawk Pete Carroll on Sunday. Bush says despite all the offseason fallout with the NCAA at his alma mater, the two are still cordial and it was good to see his old coach for the first time in the NFL, but he would have prefered to have been playing against him.
 
KYLE CONFUSION: An interesting part of Sean Payton's postgame presser was his feelings on putting long snapper Jason Kyle on Injured Reserve. Payton seemed very surprised about the shoulder injury which didn't seem to bother Kyle during practices during the bye week and leading up to Sunday's game. Its why he didn't think of putting him on the injury report. The Saints Head Coach said it was the first time in his coaching career that he held a tryout a day before a football game. The winner for Kyle's job was former Patriots snapper Jake Ingram whose bad snap resulted in a missed extra point.
 
HART-BREAK: Sean Payton didn't fault Ingram for Garrett Hartley's missed field goal in the second half, which was his first in his last 6 attempts. Payton infered the blame was on Garrett who it seems can't get over the hump this season. May be too quick a turnaround to bring in competition for the Dallas game but its something to definitely keep an eye on.
 
NOBODY ASKED ME BUT: The city of New Orleans and the Super Bowl Champs tend to bring in some big celebrities to catch the games. Sunday the one and only Will Ferrell was in the house as a guest of good friend Pete Carroll. Will is "kind of a big deal" --which got me thinking since Sean Payton took over, who are the biggest names to grace the Saints VIP list?
 
(1) JIMMY BUFFETT-Maybe its because he was a highlight of our CST NFC Championship Game postgame show where he helped bring in Payton for a live interview that was Must See TV. Buffett has been a Saints fan since the team's inception, he's no bandwagoner.
 
(2) KENNY CHESNEY--Close call here, but Chesney is more of a Sean Payton fan than Saints fan, but he gets points for practicing with the team and actually fielding a few punts in pressure situations.
 
(3) VALERIE BERTINELLI: Growing up in Shreveport, she grew up a big Saints fan and has made appearances in the Dome and on the road. I hear she takes her games "One Day at a Time."
 
(4) HARRY CONNICK JR: Like Buffett, Saints fan from birth and is always willing to sing the national anthem if you need him.
 
(5) BRAD PITT---More of a New Orleans fan than a Saints fan, but for all he's done for the community had to make the list.
 
UNTIL NEXT BLOG,
Mike Nabors
CST

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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