JKool

I guess, I agree that we are a pretty darned good team. This is always a bit odd for me to say after the number of years you would have to defend even a milder version of this sort of claim.

I do, however, think we have some areas of serious concern (even without the injury bug). Of course, I'm interested in hearing opinion on the following, but here are my worries:

(1) Outside of Vilma, our LBs are mediocre at best. We did nothing to improve here and we needed some work even last year.

(2) If Ellis hadn't stepped up his game, the DL would look much worse than it does. Outside of Smith (and "new" Ellis) this group is certainly not in the upper 60% of DLs in the league.

(3) We are not strong on OL outside of our guards. Being great at guard does not usually translate to having a great OL. Both tackles are passable in my opinion (i.e. there are far worse, but there are also far better). Also, Goodwin is ok, but not great. He gets by on quick thinking as much as physical ability.

(4) I'm confused by our offensive play calling this year. We seem to focus on what has worked for us the last three years, rather than adapt to actual game dynamics. E.g. short pass isn't working in the first quarter to supplement the run. Rather than adjusting our strategy, we just keep trying to make it work. Of course, Brees, et. al., are just that good that we can squeak by.

On an unrelated note: I think I missed something. Why are we sitting Heartly? Because he missed one critical kick? I'm just not feelin' the switch back to Carney. Someone make this ok for me. =D

"... I was beating them with my eyes the whole game..." - Aaron Brooks