blacksaint

By LES EAST
Special to The Advocate
Published: Sep 15, 2007

METAIRIE — That the New Orleans Saints are 0-1 isn’t surprising, considering they opened the season on the road against the defending Super Bowl champion Indianapolis Colts.

That the game got lopsided late because the Colts’ high-powered offense exploited the Saints’ big play-prone defense isn’t terribly surprising.

That New Orleans failed to score an offensive touchdown and was held to just 10 points, well, that’s where it gets a little surprising.

The Saints had their worst offensive performance in the 19 regular- and postseason games since Sean Payton started calling the plays and Drew Brees started running them.

So as New Orleans prepares to tee it up for a second time this season, at Tampa Bay on Sunday, perhaps the most pressing need is for the offense, No. 1 overall in the NFL a year ago, to improve on its middle-of-the-pack standing in yards and tie for 26th in points.

“We’re definitely looking to come out and establish ourselves as one of the top offenses in this league,” wide receiver Marques Colston said. “We’re pretty anxious to get out and show people that we’re still good.”

The Saints’ biggest attribute on offense is their versatility. They can use a power running game with Deuce McAllister, utilize the speed and elusiveness of Reggie Bush in the running game and the passing game, and Brees can pick apart defenses with short, medium and deep passes.

But that versatility was lacking against the Colts. New Orleans ran the ball with limited success, then got away from the run, then turned the ball over three times.

McAllister and Bush each had 38 yards rushing, McAllister getting 10 carries and Bush 12.

“We’re going to try to get Deuce the ball 20 plus times a game, just like we are with Reggie,” Brees said. “We are going to try to do the same with our wideouts and those skill groups. That’s when we’re at our best. A lot of it depends on what’s working and what the defenses are allowing us to do.”

Indianapolis was determined not to allow deep passes to be completed and New Orleans never found other avenues to exploit.

“We lost that game for a reason,” offensive tackle Jon Stinchcomb said. “You don’t sugar coat it. We need to figure out the mistakes that were made and work to make sure that doesn’t happen again.

“You have to continue to work and take the approach that it’s not OK to have that one mistake on a play. You have to practice for perfection and come as close as you possibly can.”

The Saints were about as far from perfection as an offense could get in the second half. Their six possessions after halftime ended in the following ways — punt, punt, interception, punt, fumble, interception. Brees committed all of the turnovers.

Wide receiver David Patten said that as the deficit ballooned Brees “might have tried to force things” because “at that point your chances of winning are slim unless you make something special happen.”

Nothing special happened, but plenty of special things happened on offense last season and the Saints are convinced last week was an aberration.

“I’m not worried,” former LSU wide receiver Devery Henderson said, “because I know our capabilities and the leadership that we have.”

Patten, an 11-year veteran in his first season with the Saints after stops with four other teams, said he was encouraged that his teammates were looking inward for answers and not pointing fingers at each other.

“One thing coach said that really made me feel good after that game,” Patten said, “is he said that’s the reason that we assembled this group of guys, for times like this, for times of adversity. We want guys that we can count on when things don’t go well.”

Once New Orleans got into a double-digit hole that eventually reached 31 points, it was like pretty much any other offense trying to overcome a large deficit.

“That takes away some of that versatility,” McAllister said, “and we’re probably going to go to more of a spread offense or we’re going to go to the empty offense and there are only one or two runs in that set.”

The Buccaneers, whom the Saints beat twice last season, will resemble the Colts in their attempt to take away deep passes because they play a very similar scheme and because, as Brees pointed out, teams try to do what others used successfully against their opponent.

“I think that it is pretty important for us to right away establish the rhythm and tempo with our offense that we were never able to get into that last game,” Bush said. “I think everyone in here is hungry to get back on that field because they know we sold ourselves short last week and that wasn’t the team that we know we are.

“That’s one of the toughest ways to lose a game — to lose when you know you didn’t play up to your abilities. That’s what made it tough for us, so we are looking for a great performance out of our players this game.”

2theadvocate.com | Featured Saints Stories | Saints vow to have cure for offensive woes vs. Tampa Bay — Baton Rouge, LA

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Devery not worried, I'm not worried