New Orleans Saints Forums - blackandgold.com

Here's an excerpt from one of their posts:

"Things to consider while issuing an Amber Alert for our missing tight ends:

*As returns to New Orleans go, I was hoping this would be just like stopping the Greatest Show on Turf in Super Bowl XXXVI. Instead it was exactly like the time I stumbled out of Pat O’Brien’s drunk on Hurricanes and got my pocket picked on Bourbon St.

*Give those redneck clodhoppers credit though. They made this game into their Super Bowl, their statement game, and everyone… the city, the team, the fans… all delivered. I guess we should’ve known they’re a clever bunch. I mean, we got the rest of the country to build us a tunnel. They swindled everyone into rebuilding their entire city 3 feet under sea level in the middle of a Hurricane superhighway. Talk about getting your pocket picked.

*Simply put, the better team (as of this moment… there’s a lot of football left to be played) won. Sure we could quibble about a couple of bad calls and a couple of plays the Pats missed, but what’s the point? That would just be excuse-making on the level of “The dog ate my homework” or “My hot Swedish wife used my Nike Sasquatch as a jaws-of-life.”

*The best we can hope for is this game is like the time the Rams beat the Pats in 2001, Belichick made the adjustments and they took them in the rematch. The major difference is in that one was facing Mike Martz, and it’s a lot tougher to watch him get outschemed by Frankie Muniz.

*How long has it been since you saw the Pats get so completely dominated in a game where they had Brady under center? The 3 previous losses this year all had one or two plays you could point to that would’ve won them the game. Ditto their postseason losses in ‘07 and ‘06. You’d have to go back to that shutout against the Dolphins in ‘06 to find a game when they were so obviously not the best team on the field. And that was so long ago, our leading receiver was Troy Brown, their leading rusher was Sammy Morris, and you could buy a gallon of gas for $2.50 instead of the $2.53 your paying now.

*There aren’t any diamonds in the dog crap on this one. Particularly appalling was the play of the secondary, which seemed like it was really rounding into shape at the halfway point of the season. Brandon McGowan spent most of the game trailing receivers like he did on the Marques Colston TD. And Brandon Merriweather, who was the best strong safety in football the first half, has been the polar opposite since the bye, like a Goofus & Gallant comic on how to play safety. “Gallant flies to the ball, leads with his shoulder and wraps up the ball carrier. Goofus stands flat footed, reaches out and tries to arm tackle…”

*The TD to Devery Henderson being the most glaring example. It was the Doomsday Scenario, the utter failure of the one thing every Belichick defense is predicated on: taking away the deep ball. They were in Single High Safety coverage, Jonathan Wilhite blitzed, which left Henderson streaking down the field with no one on him. Merriweather never even looked in his direction. If Roland Emmerich ever makes a movie about the Patriots defense, that’s what it will look like.

*Ordinarily, we wouldn’t see another blown coverage like that out of the Pats all year. But it might not have even been the worst of the 2nd quarter. On Robert Meachem’s 38 yarder, they were in their standard Cover-2 with umbrella coverage, but once New Orleans motioned the TE over, everything went haywire. Meriweather cheated up, the other safety, either McGowan or Pat Chung, took a crossing route from the weak side, Meachem read Middle of Field Open (MOFO) and stemmed off his route and Wilhite was helpless.

*Speaking of which, Wilhite can run stride for stride with the best of them. It’s just the business of, you know, actually defending the pass, that he lacks.

*Speaking of disasters, Joe Andruzzi has survived cancer, a mysterious chronic pain condition, and his two NYFD brothers barely escaping the Twin Towers. But he’ll never survive that Bob-o-Matic Bed commercial.

*I suppose if I was really desperately for something to feel good about, I could toss in Laurence Maroney’s running, early on before things got out of hand. And I loved the way they came out with the unbalanced line and ran the old Redskins Counter Trey cutback run right out of the gate like that for 20 yards. But why bother? It would be like complimenting White Star Lines for the china they picked out for the Titanic.

*Seriously though, after that first drive I had all sorts of notes comparing Maroney to the angel Moroni, who visited Joseph Smith and inspired him to found the Mormon church, but they just don’t seem to apply anymore. On the other hand, Moroni DID lead Smith into a godforsaken hell hole like Utah…

*Jaws kept talking about the pressure the Saints were bringing, but I didn’t see it as anything special. I think the problem was that all the passing plays developed with the speed of a cog railway. Again, Bill O’Brien has a lot to answer for.

*I know I said I wouldn’t mention the penalties because that’s loser talk. But last night featured the worst Intentional Grounding call of all time. Brady did throw it away, but it the throw was upfield and behind a receiver. If you’re going to flag him for a ball that lands 10 yards away from one of his players, then Jamarcus Russell should get called 20 times a game.

*That said, the INT to Darren Sharper might have been the worst throw of his career. So bad it requires a new adjective. I’m going with Delhommian.

*I’d watched tape of the MNF crew all week to prepare myself for the Drew Brees-centric circle jerk I knew was coming. But like the Pats defense, I still wasn’t ready for it. On the pass to Henderson, not only did Jaws credit him with a great pass… and Brett Favre sees tougher throws in a Wranglers ad… he called Brees “my man.” Even Dick Vitale at home turned to his inflatable Mike Krzyzewski and said “Now THAT’S a bit much…”

*And Jon Gruden didn’t wrap himself in glory either with “My neck is hurtin’ from watching this Saints offense go up and down the field!!!” To which every Pats fan in America said “No, Chuckie. Your neck is sore from not using your hand enough while you fellate Payton in the Middle.

*Of course the treatment Jaws and Chuckie did on Brees was a hate crime compared to that NFL-sponsored hagiography of Brees throwing the ball to Obama on the White House Lawn. It was like a Saint throwing it to a saint.

*For the record, Ben Watson’s numbers:
-Dropped balls that hit him in the facemask: 1
-Penalties because everyone on the field knew where he was supposed to be but him: 1
-Broken tackles: still 0 for his career.
We’re on the last year of Watson’s rookie contract and he’s still got more yak in him than YAC.

*As with the Jets game coming after the Colts game, Miami couldn’t be coming along at a better time. And if I can add one last thing to my list of things I’m thankful for this Thanksgiving, it’s that the Dolphins signed Daunte Culpepper instead of Brees. God bless us, everyone.

-Jerry Thornton"

Sure is funny stuff!!!