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The Money Year
By Joshua Branning - SaintsReport.com Staff Writer - 9:16 am CST
The Money Year

Two years ago this season was quietly referred to as "the money year" by Saints front office personnel. This is the year where the Saints push for the superbowl. This is the year where we get our bonuses, long term contracts, and league wide respect because this offseason was designed perfectly. The front office will have a ton of cap space, multiple first round picks, and just a few holes left on a nearly complete roster... We're into money!

Fast forward two years later and suddenly we're relying on Jim Haslett to determine our personnel decisions and quite frankly Haslett's guys are both cost effective and non-effective all at the same time, but there is not enough time to go through them all one by one and there is no sense in crying over spilled milk. All we can do is look forward to next week when the Houston Texans come to New Orleans.

The Texans surprised the league with their upset victory over the Dolphins, but they also showed their weakness. That weakness is FS Matt Stevens. Stevens is a big play waiting to happen... for every interception, he gives up two touchdowns. Hopefully Donte Stallworth will run by him a couple times this sunday.

The biggest surprise was the play of the Texans OL. They held their own against a Miami defense that is loaded with playmakers. Giving RB Stacey Mack room to run and QB David Carr plenty of time in the pocket. So in an effort to compensate for the loss of DE Darren Howard and create more of a pass rush- DE Charles Grant could move over the LT and let the mountain, DE Willie Whitehead, play the Base DE slot where he is a terrific attribute.


Raiding the Raiders?

With some fans calling for the head of Jim Haslett... One name to keep in mind is Raider Offensive Coordinator Marc Trestman. Trestman is young enough to relate to the players, but experienced enough to help lead the league's most consistent offense. He has Rich Gannon's approval and that speaks volumes.


Caution: Safety Needed

Saints Coaches convinced themselves that Jay Bellamy would be "real good" as the starting strong safety and Bellamy was responsible for four big plays in the first half... too bad they were the result of poor tackling and bad angles. The Saints need another DB badly and should be on the phone trying to acquire either the Dolphins Arturo Freeman or Buffalo's FS/CB Izelle Reese. Its never too late to make a move... lets hope they fix a problem utilizing more than just hope.


Fox's Professional SportsCasters... So They Say

The duo of Ron Pitts and Tim Ryan were one of the most unprepared crews to ever grace an NFL broadcast booth and their bias towards the Seahawks was plainly evident as they stumbled over any Saints related info that they overheard while eating lunch with Seattle personnel. Also to call Micheal Lewis "Bad" is plain irresponsible. Because Lewis is the most explosive special teams weapon in the league and no he didn't have a great game, but Brett Favre has thrown a few interceptions in his day and he is far from a bad player.