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DATELINE: New Orleans, LA/ December 20th, 2009 (Mercury Morris....are you happy???)

 

Santa Claus won't come calling for days but it seemed St Nick nearly wrapped up or in this case kicked Saints fans their first Christmas gift of the season. Dallas kicker Nick Folk missed a 24 yard chip shot to once again set the stage for Team Destiny but this time the football gods didn't deliver for a myriad of reasons. The Saints didn't have the mojo to do to the Cowboys what they did to the Dolphins, Panthers and especially the Redskins this season. You gotta give the Cowboys credit as they did what nobody's been able to do in the NFL this season, not only beat the Saints but Big D stiff armed all the Saints' feel good voodoo vibes from taking over at the end of the game.

 

I think we all were worried about the injury riddled defense heading into this game but its hard to explain what happened to the Number one offense in the NFL?Drew Brees and company were held to -1 passing yards in the first quarter, only a field goal in the first half and most shockingly only one thrid down conversion which happened with only :32 seconds left in the game!!! The main culprit was the Cowboys pass rush which pressured Brees as often as a Tiger headline in the New York Post. It was amazing to see Dallas blitzer DeMarcus Ware put on a clinic against the Saints Jermon Bushrod a week after getting carted off the field against the Chargers. Will this be a blueprint on how to beat the Saints?or simply an aberration? only time will tell.

 

On defense it was great to see Tracy Porter back in action but once again Gregg WIlliams' unit came out of the gates slow. Tony Romo and the boys quickly put the Saints in a 14-0 hole where they would never recover. Its clear how glaring the absence of Jabari Greer has affected this defense.where its put more pressure on Darren Sharper and rookie Malcolm Jenkins who continues to struggle as a starter. It was great to have Scott Fujita back but no Sedrick Ellis continues to spell problems stopping the run where Dallas' three headed monster of Marion Barber,Felix Jones and Tashard Choice totaled 145 yards and 2 scores.We saw how great this D can be earlier this season when healthy, but with a few weeks left and a first round bye until its first playoff game the key will be whether these guys can heal up and regain their earlier form?

 

OK the news was bad on this Superdome Saturday but let's put things in perspective. Who in their wildest dreams back in August would have predicted the Saints first loss would come in mid December?? Show of hands?? Thank you. I like what Mike Ditka said this weekend about his 85 Bears who lost their perfect season to Miami only to go on and win the Super Bowl. Iron Mike said "we got our feelings hurt." It was clear talking to Drew Brees and Darren Sharper in our postgame show how hurt they were that the perfect season was history and how upset they were about how they played on both sides of the ball in front of the home fans but hinted they could turn this into a positive.

 

As the cliche goes, "Nobody's perfect" well in the NFL that almost always rings true. Only seven teams in the HISTORY of the league have started 13-0 and the Saints were one of them but with it came a price. They had media types, family members and friends ask them every week how much the perfect season mattered and if they could pull it off? Now those questions are gone and this team can focus on getting home field advantage and making sure nights like Saturday don't happen again. Everything is still in front of this team who may look back and think losing to the Cowboys was a blessing in disguise. The perfect Saints season is over but the perfect ending is still in their sights.

 

WHO DAT HITS

 

DUNGY HELPS DALLAS:The Cowboys admitted after the game that they were motivated by NBC commentator Tony Dungy's comments that Dallas "had no chance" of beating the Saints. Several players said they stewed about the comments the night before the game.

 

PORTER'S BACK: Tracy Porter told me in our CST Tonight postgame show that the past month he has worked extremely hard to get his knee back to form working not only with the Saints medical team but personal trainer Wyatt Harris. The better news the Saints cornerback tells me he felt fine after the game and looks forward to the stretch run.

 

BUSH'S HAMMIE: If any play typified the Saints game against the Cowboys it was Reggie Bush getting a 1st down only to pull a hamstring. Bush tells us after the game that its a minor pull and he expects to be back at practice next week.

 

MOORE OF LANCE: Good to see Lance Moore back in the mix where he scored the only touchdown from the receiving corp on Saturday. Moore felt fine afterwards and is excited about being a contributor down the stretch.

 

BREES AND BROOKS: The Brees TD to Moore put him in the record books, it was the 121st TD pass of his New Orleans career which is the all-time record passing Aaron Brooks. I get the feeling that record may grow in the coming years......don't ya think???

 

UNTIL NEXT BLOG,

Mike Nabors

CST

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