Thoughts...
 

Well there's 10 minutes left in the 4th, and I already have some thoughts. Our run defense is absolutely terrible. Our pass defense was looking good at first, not so much anymore. I have to give it to the Colts though: their defense has improved tremendously. I'm still a little disappointed in the offense. However, we are playing the Colts, who just got their Superbowl rings and dropped the banner tonight. Atleast we'll know how to beat them in the Superbowl though, right?

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I agree 100%. I really didn't expect so much out of the Colts D. I was expecting a real shootout with a combine score over 50, and the winner only winning by 1 score.

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Oh, and our O-line is playing pitifully also.

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I guess losing to the Superbowl champs isn't so bad... the season's young.

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the entire team looks like crap. We were clearly not ready for this game....back to the drawing board

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Yeah, Brees hasn't had an ounce of protection most of the night.

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Are these the 2005 Saints? Man, this is embarrassing!!

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We are playing to conservative on offense throughout the game. As far as defense, I will not blame Jason David for our loss. We could not put any pressure on Manning and MM played just as bad of a game as David. It's just that David got beat on the touchdowns. Our interior lineman did not put ANY pressure upfront and Grant/Smith could not get to Peyton. You know what's sad? Tony Ugoh is known as a run blocker... not a pass protector.

Everyone except for Weatherford gets an F in my book. But if you think about it... hasn't our punter always gotten the best grade?

Absolutely pitiful performance... and that's all I have to say.

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complete garbage, the entire team AND staff.....i dont know where those calls came from, you do NOT punt in the 4th quarter when its 4th and 1 and down by 17

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Plain and simple: All of us jumped head first into the hype. All the projections and predictions don't mean squat - especially when your D-line is getting pushed off the ball every running play and your O-line isn't giving Brees enough time. This team needs to trash all the Athlon, Sports Illustrated, Street & Smith predictions and go to work. There's plenty of season left and, obviously, a lot to work on.

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Well stated. I wonder if any team predicted to win by SI and all the talking heads have ever won the big dance?

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OUTCOACHED! Two in a row for Payton. Where is that wonderful, creative offensive mind? Has he lost it? He made Carl Smith look like a gambler tonight. Plain and simple, the Colts coaching staff adjusted at half time and picked our coverages apart. Our staff must have had tea and watched reruns of Blossom at halftime. What a pathetic, embarrassing display all around.

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We obviously watched different games if that is a serious comment.

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I dont think any of us jumped the gun, Im sorry but I expect more than 3 from our offense. It is not a good day when we have more points on the defensive side of the ball.

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Simoneau is not very good. Maybe Simmons should get some reps b/c when I think of NFL Starting MLB... Simoneau just does not fit the bill....we need work on D.

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absolutley embarrasing! im gonna have to eat some crow tomorrow. f

first off grant and hollis you got your money now make some plays. hollis you cant get into shape for 10 million then what will it take. grant for a guy who just got paid like a mad man go out and get at least one sack, take over a game or at least a series.

roman harper when joseph addai scored on his run, why did you jump in front of him and lye down on the ground. square up and meet that man head on. sheesh butch up or get the hell out of here.

jason david i wont judge you yet but seeing as you got burned by the guys who you should know better than yourself doesnt sit well. and be careful if you ever get benched for fred thomas youll never make it back into the league after that. so be warned

o-line wheres the protection and poise you guys looked like it was trucks being driven across the line of scrimage and you were just caught in the headlights.

reggie bush stop runnin around like a chicken with his head cut off, are you seriously gonna tell me joseph addai has more game than you. time to step it up and take over.

receivers good job

mare please call john carney back for us

mark simoneau please tell brian simmons to get in there and spare you from what will be a long season aimed in your direction

fujita or shanle i dont care which one of you it is but someone needs to play with a chip on their shoulder. we need a linebacker to hit someone in the mouth and scare defenses. so please do something about it.

and coach payton while i have the upmost respect for you please dont let pride get in the way, run the damn ball you got deuce mccallister and you barely use him .come on.


overall we looked like a t sandwich .hope next week doesnt look like a repeat

Re: Thoughts...
 

Agreed - Simoneau is a very weak link in our front seven. He bites on the play action, gets blocked out, and doesn't make contact with the ball carrier until 5 - 7 yards downfield. He is no run stopper and is always late dropping back into coverage.

I know Payton has said that he's smart and always in the right place, but I don't see it. When he does manage to get there, it's too late and he's not a force to end the play right then and there.

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Disappointing.

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Ageed!! That was Mind Blowing!

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Just a couple of my thoughts on the game:

1)The game reminded me a lot of the nfc championship game. When it rains it pours and once the colts got rolling, we couldn't stop them, just like in the nfc championship game.

2) Where were Simmons and Kaesviharn? Kaes was supposedly brought in because he's good against the pass. Well we looked like we could use some help in our pass defense tonight. And, as for Simmons, he should be starting by default considering how bad Simoneau played.

3) Real disappointed we didn't stretch the field at all tonight. Way too conservative with the play calling which is surprising from coach payton.

4) I have no idea why we abandoned the run game so early.

5) Jason David needs to get his act together. Really looked uncomfortable in our defensive scheme all night.

6) All that being said it is only 1 game and thank goodness we play in the nfc. We won't see another team the rest of the regular season that is half as good as the colts. Don't give up people, we still got 15 more games to go. I think this game will light a fire under this team and wake us up.

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Our offense was bad...our defense was bad. Reggie dropped a couple of passes that he shouldn't have not to mention his running was abysmal tonight. Deuce didn't do much better. Also, those interceptions were unacceptable. It didn't even look like Brees knew who he was throwing to.
As for defense David needs to step it up. He let 3 of those touchdowns through. You need to learn how to figure out what they're doing if they keep burning you.

EDIT: P.S. punting on 4th and 1 in the 4th quarter down by 17 = 2 thumbs down

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Just what I was afraid of, laying down an egg in front of the national audience again.

Everytime we have the chance to shine vs a team that is considered a contender not the Dall,NYG, or Atl of the world that we should be beating, We fail dismally.

Not to take anything away from the Colts, they are the Champs and they proved it.

Very dissapointed in the play calling. It all started when we went for a 50 + yd field goal right after Madden was talking about how payton wanted to control the clock and field position.

Outcoached,outplayed, Next Game please.

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I said it before and I'll say it again, "Is it too late to sign Carney?" Mare's missed field goal was not the difference in the game, but it was the difference between going in at half-time with the lead. I do not think that Mare is better than Carney, as evidenced by their stats from last year. Mare was 26/36 (80.9%) and 10/18 from 40+. Carney was 23/25 (92%) and 6/7 from 40+ yards.

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There was so much to be disappointed about last night that it would be futile to list the myriad of issues exposed.

Just give'm brown jerseys and move this team to Cleveland.

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You're right... MM did play better than David. David was horrendous but there's plenty of blame to go around... no one brought their A game. I believe I was very drunk at the time of that post.

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There were only three things that did not disappoint me last night:
beer was good and cold.
I made some awesome wings.
1 Stripped pass returned for a TD.

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Dude, If Carney had attempted that 52 yarder, it would have landed on the 3 yardline...and probably been returned for a TD.

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Hey, it is an improvement. Last time the Colts beat us by 34 points - this time by only 31.
At this rate we will beat the colts in 2114.

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Guys last night was a big letdown for us all and we all know that we expected much more. Our team did not perform well on either side of the ball and it appears that we made no progress at all in the secondary, especially by adding Jason David. Watching him play last night made think of the pain I suffered watch Fred Thomas all last season. We will not survive making tackles on running backs 5-7 yards downfield every play. Whatever the problems are on either side, we had better fix them and I mean fast! Nevertheless, even after last night's debacle, I remain a loyal Saints fan. Been one for 39 years. Last year felt damn good and I am not ready to let go of that feeling. It is casual day at work and I am in full Saints attire and looking forward to winning the NFC championship this year. Go Saints!

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I am glad to see someone out there is decked out. Casual Day here in the office and I am rocking the authentic Bush jersey. Put the top down in the convertible and let everyone on the freeway see my Saints cap. I ain't giving up after one game, if its anything, lets get humbled now before we get humbled in December. Who Dat.

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Bottom Line:

The Saints have the Same problem now they have had for several years. No defense and a suspect offensive line. I don't know why more isn't said about the O-Line. Brees has his worst game since coming here. The play calling last night, in my opinion, was not very smart either. Drew will bounce back, and Deuce and Reggie will have many moments this year, but we're treading water until our O-Line is fixed/gels, whatever, and until we figure out how to play the run and pass in the same game. SSDD

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I thought MM had an OK game, I'd take another MM about now..

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Man, ESPN ripped us apart. But that's okay, they will be riding on that bandwagon real soon!

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I like it when they do that...
Makes people forget us.....
Makes for a great recipe.......

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Broadcasters so what. You should not take it serious. We deserved the ripping anyways.

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Yeah, I'd rather them rip us apart. Every time they start talking good about us and picking us to win over a big team we end up losing, like Thursday night.

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i wanna see KK and simmons in...just like th rest of you. i was really impressed with what i saw from KK in preseason...he's a beast.

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Here are my thoughts on "thoughts":

(1) No one here expected us to go 16-0. No one.

(2) Sure it is sucky that we lost this week, but at least it was to a good team playing well.

(3) Our offense had a lot of problems. That is a concern. However, after the first 8 minutes or so of the second half we were playing catch-up. The thing that is most troubling here is that Brees lost his composure. If he stays calm, we're alright.

(4) It is good to get the first loss out of the way early - this way the team isn't feeling invincible when we match up against division rivals (where it is more important that we get some Ws).

(5) We didn't have any big personel changes on O, so lets call it bad play calling and first game jitters and expect better next week.

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Do not panic..your right Jkool. lets see what next week brings

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Nor will anyone else most likely. I've seen predictions as low as 9-7, though personally I don't believe it.
It wasn't the losing that was the issue. It was the lack of competitiveness in the second half of the game. I know that we are a lot like Indy's team last year in that our defense is not yet a championship group that can dominate a game. Our offense has a obligation to dominate a game. I think they were surprised by the speed and the scheme of the Colts defense. That's what was disappointing.

Playcalling comes into play here too. You can't abandon the run when playing a deep 2 shell. You have to either run the ball or the equivalent of short screen or swing passes.

It didn't look like the OL did very well in the game. The DL of the Colts was establishing the LOS 2 yards in the Saints backfield.

But you have to keep running the ball to draw in the linebackers and the safeties. As an alternative you can spread the formation and clear out the underneath area. The Saints did this a bit in the second half. Johnson was really the only effective weapon later in the game.

It's both the least costly and most expected loss of the season. Most folks thinks that the NFC is the JV of the league anyway. The Colts are the #1 AFC team. Last year we went 1-3 against the AFC and you can see how damaging that was (i.e. #2 seed and a berth in the championship game). Beat teams in your division and conference and everything else takes care of itself.

I disagree here. It was a beatdown plain and simple. Brees needs to be relatively clean to be effective and he was pressured all game long.

Coach Payton still needs to learn that you do not let defenses dictate your playcalling. If a defense gears up to stop the run, you still keep running at them to make them committ. That sets up play action.

It'll all be a distant memory after we take care of Tampa and right the ship.

SFIAH