Saints Sideline Blog

“SOUTH” STATEMENT

Tuesday, December 28th, 2010      Email Print

DATELINE; Atlanta, GA/ December 28,2010 (Hey Falcons Fans: "We Dat!" Really?)
 
Football players will tell you talk is cheap and they heard loads of frugal chit chat for days leading up to its Dome Date in the Peach State. They heard the Falcons are the best team in the NFC South,they heard QB Matt Ryan was 19-1 at home and yeah they heard Falcon Fool Roddy White's tweets which called them the Aints and made a mockery of their Super post Katrina work in New Orleans. All of the above fueled the fire for a team who chose to do they're talking on the stage where they are the most articulate--between the lines. In Atlanta, the black and gold were quite vocal down the stretch as this team showed a national TV audience that they may have waited too long to defend its NFC South title but served notice there is still plenty of time to defend its NFC crown and possibly its title as the best team in football.
 
Darren Sharper told me afterwards that it was a statement game and who could argue?. His teammates would agree the key to stopping the Dirty Birds, was stopping the run--Mission accomplished. The Who Dats took Michael Turner out of the ballgame limiting him to 48 rushing yards and forced him to fumble on 2nd and goal which was their signature stop of the game. Sure Roddy White had a TD catch but the Saints D only allowed him three catches and put Mighty Matt on ice holding him to 148 yards passing where his longest completion of the evening was 19 yards. If you're keeping score at home that is a knockout of the Falcon "Big Three" where the Saints made it look as easy as 1,2,3. This unit was so motivated to send a statement to its NFC South friends that afterwards many members of the Defense left the locker room and returned to the field where they took a picture together on the Falcons logo to celebrate its Dome Dominance. Sharper told me he didn't participate in the picture as he hopes to be involved in another one in a few weeks, assuming they will play in Atlanta down the road---talk about "Big Picture" thinking.
 
The Saints "D" D-elivered but once again so did its other "D" Drew Brees. Brees was a one man Space Mountain in the fourth quarter where he had plenty of ups and downs. At one end he looked quite Favre-like with his careless underhand interception to Chancey Davis whose pick six gave the Falcons its first lead of the night 14-10. After two picks in the final quarter, the hero of the French quarter would in turn "pick" himself off the mat and once again deliver yet another knockout game winning drive. Brees led a masterful 13 play, 90 yard "sucking the life out of every Falcon fan" masterpiece. It started with a crucial 3rd and 11 conversion to Lance Moore and ended with a Jimmy Graham TD catch. Brees has given Saints fans plenty of Deja Drew moments in Pittsburgh, Dallas, CIncy and now Atlanta which may have been his finest hour of the year. These Saints continue to find ways to win where they enjoy playing the game of "follow the leader" of late--a leader who comes up big even on a night where he wasn't playing his best football.
 
In the end, Sean Payton is taking his Saints to the playoffs for the third time in 5 years and who's to say he's not taking his best team into the postseason. Drew Brees tells me they are playing better football than a year ago and the defense appears stronger than its Super Season but will it be enough? The Saints, with a win over the Bucs, will finish 12-4 yet will likely still wind up with the NFC's fifth seed. A year ago they were 13-3 and enjoyed top billing along with home field advantage. A year later the traffic is much more conjested where unless the Carolina Panthers add Kurt Warner to its roster this weekend, they will likely lose to Atlanta giving the Falcons the NFC South title and home field. The funny thing--these Saints don't seem to care as Brees and company have proven to be quite the road team the past few seasons. On Monday they cranked up the heat in Hotlanta, a statement game which should provide plenty of southern comfort to the Who Dat Nation that this team is poised to make some noise this postseason in or out of the Superdome.
 
 
WHO DAT HITS
 
POWER OF PIERRE: Pierre Thomas told me in the locker room after the Baltimore loss that he and his ankle were nearing 100 percent, well we sure saw that on Monday night. Saint Pierre totaled over 100 all purpose yards and was key on the game winning drive touching the ball 4 times. His contibutions are vital if this team is gonna crank up the volume in the playoffs and it wouldn't hurt his wallet down the road either.
 
"HART" FELT: Think about Garrett Hartley's season if you narrow it down to Atlanta Falcon bookends. Back in September he misses a game winning 29 yarder versus the Birds, three months later he has kicked himself out of the doghouse with a career long 52 yarder---its his 8th straight where he now has hit 12 of his last 13 attempts.
 
WHITE LIGHTNING: You can say this about the Saints D-Line, all of these guys chip in. Journeyman Jeff Charleston was this week's hero forcing Michael Turner's fumble. Being the only caucasian member of the group, he is affectionately known as "White Lightning." A defender who is very popular with his linemates.
 
BIG PLAY BOB: Robert Meachem quietly had a big night against the Falcons leading the Saints with 10 catches for 101 yards where he averaged just over 10 yards a grab. Afterwards he scared his teammates and coaches by colliding with a cameraman where he lied on the Georgia Dome turf for a few minutes but told me he was OK when he left the locker room.
 
FLAG DAY: Penalties continue to hamper the Saints where they had 8 penalties for 92 yards compared to only one flag for the Falcons. Sure you could say the refs swallowed the whistle for the home team but clearly Tracy Porter's back to back interference penalties were costly and New Orleans had more than a few careless late hit calls, something they must clean up.
 
CAN'T HEAR DAT?: After Brees' pick six, the Falcon Faithful chanted "We Dat" in unison in the fourth
quarter. While we could hear it in the press box, several Saints players I asked about it afterwards told me they couldn't hear anything. Brees told me he was too locked in, to hear anything.
 
HE DA "MAN" : The Saints Man of the Year is Jonathan Vilma who gets the team's nomination for the NFL's Walter Payton Award. A team leader and good guy on and off the field from his clutch tackles to his work in raising money for the people of Haiti, Vilma deserves the recognition.
 
NOBODY ASKED ME BUT: We at CST take pride in getting you the best interviews for our live postgame shows and this team makes it easy on us as they are a locker room full of great sound bites--in honor of this team's gift of gab how about the top five interviews on the team.
 
(5) JON STINCHCOMB: The Saints Offensive lineman is a great combination of eloquence and dry humor where he is a standup guy win or lose in this locker room. I once told him he would have a great future in the media and he laughed inferring he wasn't interested.
 
(4) DREW BREES: The great thing about Drew is his consistency. Whether he throws four interceptions earlier this season versus Cleveland or leads a game winning drive against the Falcons--Brees handles all the questions with honesty and class. Its hard to get him to talk about himself or a partcular teammate, its all about the offensive as a unit. Still for a player of his magnitude he is extremely accessible.
 
(3) SEDRIC ELLIS: Big Sed is a fast riser on this list. He can play the role of funny guy as he helped us out on Super Bowl Media Day with a few skits or he can give us a great evaluation of the defense after a good or bad performance. Ellis is always good about giving us a nice story about this team inside the huddle or the locker room which is refreshing.
 
(2) DARREN SHARPER: The future Hall of Famer has made a lot of money as a pro and should make his fair share in the broadcast booth down the road. He has NEVER said no to our postgame show requests where he's as honest as anybody on the team. Sharper has a great penchant for riding a teammate or even the opposition where two years ago without hesitation told me Brees is the best QB he has ever played with. Are you listening Brett?
 
(1) ROMAN HARPER: In a tight race, the Saints safety is your winner. Who can not give the crown to a guy who can make fun of his premature gray hair or the fact that an opposing QB (Sam Bradford) caught him from behind on an interception return? The ability to laugh at himself, his teammates and the fact that he's great on camera gives him the nod!
 
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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