Saints could be back on track

[blacksaint]

Posted on Mon, Oct. 15, 2007

It was the best two-play sequence of the New Orleans Saints' season.

Hollis Thomas sacked Seattle Seahawks quarterback Matt Hasselbeck on third down on the Seahawks' opening possession of the game. Then Pierre Thomas recovered a botched snap in the end zone to give the Saints an early 7-0 lead, something the team hasn't been accustomed to.

At all.

And it just may be the start of a season turnaround as the Saints pummeled the Seahawks 28-17 at the typically unfriendly confines of Qwest Field.

Reggie Bush didn't take long to pick up that whole feature running back thing. He juked and jived his way through the Seahawks defense. He ran for 97 yards on 19 carries and caught six passes for 44 yards.

His lone hiccup came when he fumbled the ball away late in the third quarter while the Saints were on the verge of extending their 28-10 advantage.

The rest of the breaks fell the Saints' way.

David Patten fumbled and Eric Johnson snatched the ball away from a group of Seahawks underneath the scrum. Johnson finished off the drive with a 3-yard scoring grab.

There were no more miscues from Patten as he caught eight passes, a career-high, for 113 yards. Payton said he planned on using Lance Moore and Patten more in the offensive scheme. Moore's numbers may not look like much as he grabbed three balls for 35 yards, but he did take a reverse handoff for a 7-yard TD run and snagged Seattle's onside kick in the fourth quarter.

Drew Brees appeared to be his cool, calm self again with 246 yards on 25-of-36 passing, two touchdowns and no interceptions.

Josh Bullocks blocked a field goal. Sean Payton went for a gutsy fourth-and-inches play at the beginning of the third quarter at the Saints 29, and it worked. The Saints racked up an unprecedented five sacks on Hasselbeck with one coming on a Roman Harper safety blitz.

Some things remained the same. Devery Henderson dropped a pass thrown his way. This one fell harmlessly to the turf and not into the Seahawks' hands this time.

Hasselbeck had his way with the Saints secondary throwing for 362 yards and two TDs. The Seahawks made it interesting late in the fourth quarter until Bullocks intercepted a brutal throw from Hasselbeck with 3:49 left in the game.

The Saints' uplifting victory wasn't a 100-percent masterpiece. But it's just what the Saints needed to move to 1-4.

Moving forward the in the next month and a half, the schedule won't scare the life out the Saints. The next six games are against Atlanta, San Francisco, Jacksonville, St. Louis, Houston and Carolina.

All are winnable. And with the Saints starting to play like they did a year ago, it's not out of the realm of possibility that they've turned on the victory switch which appeared impossible through the first four games.

SunHerald.com : Saints could be back on track

[redwolf_5]

Thats oen thing that stands out when you look at the schedule, especially including the scheds of our division rivals exc division games. Tampa's is about like ours with games against jacksonville and washington, but both at home much like our 2 games vs Jax and Philly, also both at home. 5 at home and 5 road left.
as for Atl, not that they matter much, but Indy and Seattle are 2 biggest games, again, both at home.
the team that has it hardest? Carolina. 4 road, 6 home, but games against Indy (this week at home), AT Tenn, AT GB, SF at home, AT Jax, Seattle at home, and Dallas at home. can we say screwed?
so, point of all this, is the division and the automatic playoff birth that goes with it, are most certainly in reach. provided we keep winning of course. and as for the playoffs, as we all know (but some forget), winning in the regular season dont mean squat come playoff time (see San Diego and Dallas of last season). all that matter is getting in. then win 3 (or perhaps 4) games, and you're SuperBowl champs! For that, see among many, Oakland of 1980 season.