WhoDat......in my brief time on this forum, I've never (up until yesterday) seen you say anything positive about Aaron Brooks. It's refreshing to hear someone with a fair amount of sanity and a realistic view of how a QB should play say the things you have in the last day or so about Aaron Brooks..........however, I'm curious to know: what have YOU as a fan seen that caused you to give a bit more praise to Brooks (and even saying "he'll get it done this year...watch")..............compared to over a month ago when you would have seemed content to have a completely different QB for the Saints this year?

Yeah, WhoDat, what gives? I sure don't see much of a difference. You said it yourself, two games, nine negative plays. Looks like the same ol' AB to me.

There is definitely improvement............i just am curious to know what WhoDat has seen AT THIS POINT. Brooks has played solid, even spectacular, games in past years......but I'm willing to bet he wasn't convinced back then.

First - even in a BAD game, AB completed 60% of his passes. He was also hurt by good throws that were dropped three times. Sure, he made some bad ones too. Every QB does!

This year, I'm yet to see him do anything real stupid. That's refreshing. Fumbling the ball when untouched is a BIG problem, but it's not a mental one. I've held for a long time that AB's biggest problems were mental.

Against the Giants, his first INT was a good read, bad throw. His second was the right decision... just take something off it Aaron. His third was garbage in desparation, and doesn't count to me. He also made some amazing throws with people hanging on him and ran when he should.

To me, Aaron is playing SMART football, which is amazing. Every single QB in the NFL will make a bad read or will not execute the way he wants to sometimes. I don't fault AB for his mistakes against the Giants anymore than any of the other collosal meltdowns that game. Then entire team played like poo. Plus, he was forced to throw a lot, and taken out of his game plan. I just don't think it is indicative of the way he's been playing.

Moreover, I've long held that AB was good for McCarthy's offense. AB is a liability when he has to make lots of decisions and throw a lot. It will hurt you. The new scheme fits him better. Read, read, run or check down or buy time. That's easy for Brooks. I think he's playing better football and I think he will continue to.

Billy HAS to be logging in under your account. Billy, let WhoDat out your closest and let him post. I feel like I am in the bizarro world. You guys are agreeing ont he other forum too. This is definitely getting out of hand. :shock:

I second that :!:

I don't know why. Credit where credit is due... criticism where criticism is due.

In the past, I think AB's miscues have more directly impacted the team than this year. I am far from saying AB is perfect. He HAS to stop fumbling the damn ball. That said, he's played better ball so far this season that Favre, Culpepper, Brady, Delhomme, Vick, Bulger... maybe even Peyton. :o

It's real real early. My opinion can change as quickly as Brooks' play. Right now, he deserves no more criticism than the defense, running game, generally sloppy turnover riddled play, etc. You guys may say you agree, that's fine, but there aren't 15 threads about the defense keeping drives alive by committing stupid ass penalties. There are that many about how Brooks sucks.

I'm actually with you WHODAT.

I think the problem is that any time a level headed assessment of a Saints game takes place, people think it's you being a Brooks apologist.

The fumbled snap was really the clincher the other night, and I don't think you're saying that AB didn't screw that up. He really looked pretty good in the pocket and he made some nice throws. As the game wore on, the team (and AB) got more desparate and collectively made more bad plays as the result of that desparation.

How bad was Carney's 21 yard miss? Or Conwell's drop? Or the run blocking/play calling? Or the fumbled kickoff? Or the pass rush?

I think that's all whodat is trying to say. AB definitely deserves his share of the blame. We had a shot at a comeback till the fumblitis. But, we were already a bit desparate because of the earlier stinky play. Then, the wheels just came off.

I think one thing we saw was how valuable Fakhir is to our D. I'm starting to believe that teams really view McKenzie as a shut down. They always go to the other guy....making the # 2 corner very important.