GumboBC

Last year the Saints played just awful in preseason. They looked confused, couldn't stop the run, couldn't stop the pass. You name it, and they looked terrible doing it.

Even worse, we saw the same kind of play when the regular season rolled around. Because of that, I think SOME Saints' fans have put too much stock in the preseason this year. I think some fans are convinced that because the Saints played poorly last year that preseason is a good indicator of things to come.

Also, I think this Saints team under Haslett has disappointed fans so many times, some fans just expect the worst.

But, IMO, preseason is still preseason. It's an evaluation period. Coaches try different things in the preseason that they wouldn't do in the regular season. They call formations on offense and defense that sometimes puts players in a less than favorable match-up. They do this because they need answers on how certain players will perform in certain situations.

For example:

They need to see if the cornerbacks can man-up with the receivers without any help. How else are they going to be able to determine this? And what better time to find out than preseason when the games don't count? Sometimes they play vanilla on the defensive line to see if the D-linemen can beat their man one-on-one. There are many examples !!


So, while the fans might be looking for one thing in preseason, the coaches might be looking for something entirely different.

If you're team appears to be struggling in a certain area, I wouldn't be too concerned at this point. For one, there's still plenty of time for improvement. And two, there's really no game planning done and coaches are trying to find out about certain players. Also, coaches usually are going to sit out some injured starters who would normally be on the field if it were a regular game.

Fans are normally harder on their favorite team than what they are on other teams around the NFL. Let's look at the NFL preseason so far and tell me if some of you put as much stock in some other teams preseason?


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Bengals - 31
Patriots -3

Tom Brady threw 0 TD's and 1 interception. And the Patriots only rushed for 78 total yards. Bengals QB Carson Palmer completed 12 of 19 for 179 yards and 3 TD's against the Patriots starting secondary. The Bengals totally dominated the Super Bowl Champs.

Do you still think the preseason tells a lot about your team?

If you're still not convinced. Here's some more.


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Jets - 31
Colts - 7

Peyton Manning threw 1 TD and 1 INT while completing 6 of 10 for 85 yards. Chad Pennington on the other hand completed 10 of 11 for 169 yards for 1 TD and 0- INTs. The starters for the Colts were outclassed by the Jet's starters. How would you feel if you were a Colts' fan? Would you be thinking that's what you would see in the regular season?

Those are just a couple of examples. So, don't get too high with the highs and don't get too low with the lows. No one is going to remember these preseason games at the end of the year. Unless your team doesn't do well in preseason the year before and they do the same thing in the regular season.

It doesn't mean a whole lot !!