WhoDat

Well, I finally got to watch the GB game. I've got to say, Billy, I completely agree (no, this isn't the twilight zone). I see absolutely NO reason for worry based on what our starters did in that game. I'm surprised at all the hub-bub.

Here's my take.

Deuce - could he look any better? Serious, this guy is FANTASTIC. Call it bias, but if he stays healthy and the Saints are in any kind of contention, I really think he will be a legitimate League MVP candidate. He looks just great.

Brooks - I cannot say a single negative thing about his play. He stood in, he delivered the ball well, he made smart decisions. I really think he could be a pro bowler this year. I wish that deep pass on the first serious had been thrown to the inside and not the outside (b/c if it is its a TD assuming Joe Horn can catch anything), but I think that's just a little preseason rust and the fact that AB isn't the greatest deep ball guy.

Horn - He got open A LOT. He HAS to, repeat, HAS TO, catch the ball. Otherwise, he looked fine.

Stallworth - than man could be pretty fierce this year.

Pathon - no doubt the #3 right now. I've given him a lot of crap this offseason, but he looks real good right now.

TEs - Boo and Conwell both looked great. Ernie is gonna give Boo a run for the money, I'll tell you that right now. Those two look like they're going to contribute A LOT.

O-line - again did a pretty good job on running downs. The pass protection left something to be desired. Of course, both starting tackles were out and the Packers blitzed pretty much EVERY down. I think the O-line played well. I just hope we don't get blitzed like that all year.

Defense:

Run D - The major concern right? Not a concern after that game. We handled the run great, I thought. MUCH better than last season. Take away one big run, which a) a guy like Ahman Green is gonna get in a game no matter how good your defense is, and b) was a run designed to go right at Ambrose (who f-ed up on the play - surprise), and the run D played very well against a good running team.

In general I thought the defense swarmed. They're really fast. We lack power, but we are FAST. Surprisingly, our LBs played well too. Watson looked impressive again, especially for a rookie. James Allen made me raise my eyebrows a few times. Maybe the Hodge suspension is a blessing in disguise.

Our secondary actually played decent. They still look to be the weak link, and they will cause problems. Actually, let me rephrase, our CORNERS are a problem. Tebucky and Bellamy played pretty darn well. Now, Ambrose is flat bad. Retire Ashley, you're done. I seriously hope he NEVER has to see the field. He is the WEAKEST link on either side of the ball right now if you ask me. (oh yeah - I like Will Smith!)

Special Teams - took a step back in the GB game. Return game was so-so, and the punt coverage has been really suspect. I hope they work that out soon.

Overall, I have to side with Billy. I really see no reason for concern. The offense needs to make catches and convert yards into points (keep drives alive, etc), but it's preseason. I don't see them trying real hard.

The D looked better than I expected after everything I heard on this board. I'm happy. GB is a better team than the Jets and they seemed to want to prove something. Even with that, I don't feel that GB was very successful against our 1st teams. If that was a real game, we would have been right in it. I'm feeling more confident about 10-6 or better right now.

CheramieIII

I agree with the assessment WhoDat, especially since the preseason games for the Saint\'s are used to practice specific plays, without any gameplan.

I really agree the run defense assessment, proved themselves against two very good runners, (Green and Davenport) no gameplan needed for this one.

BrooksMustGo

The ancient prophecy foretold
At the end of days
worlds collide
east meets west
closer than brothers
eye to eye
WhoDat and Billy

You guys are going to have to keep the shocks to a minimum. Before long Gator and Billy will both be in the sunshine club.

GumboBC

I\'ve been waiting on your break-down of the game. It\'s good to hear you felt pretty good about the game. And it really makes me feel better about what I thought of the game.

I think everyone here knows that you don\'t \"sugar coat\" things. So, it makes me feel better about the Saints at this point that you saw some positives.

I went into that game looking for improvement at stopping the run. I was very worried. To my surprise, they looked better than I can remember in years. Let\'s hope it continues.

I can sit here and go over everything, but everything you posted is pretty much what I saw.

It was a strange game with what the Packers were doing on defense. I\'ve NEVER EVER seen a team blitz so damn much. When I say they blitzed EVERY play, I\'m not exagerating. Very weird !! Not a good time to have 3 starters out on the O-line. That\'s what I meant when I said our offensive problems were being overblown.

Anyway, good job!!

GumboBC

Hmmm ... Should I or shouldn\'t I?

Gator --

I think you know that what you say doesn\'t bother me at all. So, why keep doing it? I know how you are. We\'ve had our battles in the past. But they\'re over. No one wants that stuff here on this board. That\'s the 100th time you\'ve used that line. It stopped being funny after the 99th time.

Man, I don\'t mind battling you on our difference of opinions. But this stuff you\'ve been posting lately is just ... well .... silly.

I\'m going to agree with who I want to agree with and I\'m going to disagree with who I want to disagree with.

I don\'t always agree with Danno or saintfan and I don\'t always disagree with WhoDat. Now, I respect the hell out of all of their opinions. But, I have my own opinions.

I can battle it out on a difference of opinion with someone and totally agree with them on something else. It\'s called being fair.

You should try that.

Anyway, do what you want. It ain\'t my board. But you\'re not going to drag me into this.

BrooksMustGo

OK, it\'s totally tasteless and completely juvenile, but I still giggle when I read it.

OK, CLEARLY Billy needs to be a Mod. This post blunts the personal attack in a really classy way and keeps the focus on football. Is there any compelling reason for Billy not to be a Mod?

Billy for Mod in \'04

CheramieIII

Hey Gator, step out of the box for a second. Yes there was no game plan, the Saint\'s are
are using the preseason games to practice certain plays to evaluate the outcome. The no game plan thing is not an excuse for mistakes made by individual players, but do you think the Patriots could have won all those regular season games and the Superbowl with no game plan. I don\'t think so.

I know you\'re comin back.....and I wait......

Danno

WhoDat, I agree almost 100% with your assessment.
I watched it for the 4th time (thats right, I have no life) and I noticed overall sloppy play but some of the individual units were unjustly hammered.

Stinchcomb. Some posters said he absolutely sucked. I saw him get beat ONCE. Once by an all pro DE. KGB totally disappeared about midway throught the 1st. Did they take him out? Most of the QB pressure came from the Blitz, not Stinchcombs man. The RB\'s and QB\'s are to blame for that. He did pretty good, definitley didn\'t suck.

Sullivan. He improved again this week. Was frequently doubleteamed and more often than not he was in the GB backfield. They showed one highlight where he was double teamed, lost his balance and was pummelled by the 2nd guy. I guess this is the 1 play people saw to justify their rant. He didn\'t play great, but he played good.
Sullivan is improving. I\'d stil keep him 2nd string just to keep him pisssed off and motivated.

CB- I think our DB\'s did pretty good. Only one was really victimized and we all know who that was. With the exception of AA, I\'d say they held their own.

WR\'s-Horn and Donte looked bad. Pathon looks like our #1 right now. Looks like the reports out of camp were right about him. Henderson\'s blazing speed was obvious. I\'m not so sure Donte is the fastest guy on the team anymore.

Play of the game: Bouman\'s 1st pass. Pathon was wide open by a whole SIX yards. Just a decent floater and its 7-3 and we probably win the game. What an absolutely horrible pass. JT\'s rainbows didn\'t look much better. Does he have any zip on the ball?
I\'m asking cause I don\'t know. His passes reminded me of Brian Griese\'s. Ugh.
But I love his fire. He does produce.


[Edited on 25/8/2004 by Danno]

WhoDat

Gator - I will not argue with you and suggest that the team played well. Their play was so-so, which for a preseason game is OK for me. I do think that the defense played with a little fire. The offense was flat. Actually, I won\'t say that - the offense was inconsistent. Deuce ran well (we just need McCarthy to take that middle dive play out of the playbook all together). Brooks played well and they threw in a few wrinkles - they were just inconsistent. A dropped pass here, a penalty there... is that a sign of things to come? Maybe, it certainly could be. I just saw it as a little lack of focus in preseason. If it happens in the Seattle game, I\'ll be all over them.

The other thing is that while there\'s some rust, the offense looks potent. Danno brought up the Bouman INT. That\'s a good example. Pathon was WIDE open. I think Brooks puts that ball in a position where at least a play can be made on the ball. Likewise, Horn had a yard on whoever was covering him in the 1st quarter on that deep skinny post. Brooks throws that ball to the middle instead of the inside and it\'s 6.

Sure, there are a lot of IFs. But there are a lot of IFs for every team right now. I will say this - the run defense looked better. That was a major step. The defense looks real fast and seems to have more passion. The offense looks REAL potent, it\'s just not clicking yet. We\'ll see if that\'s preseason kinks that get worked out or if it\'s a problem that wil persist all year. Regardless, what I saw in GB leads me to believe that Deuce will be an MVP candidate and Brooks will have A LOT of targets. Horn, Stallworth, Pathon, Black, Boo, and Conwell have all shown that they can get real real open and make plays. Sure, Horn especially has dropped some, but right now I think it will be OK.

\"Excuses, excuses, excuses. That’s all anyone ever makes for the New Orleans Saints’ organization.\" - Eric Narcisse


\"Being a Saints fan is almost like being addicted to crack,\" he said.[i]\"You know you should stop, but you just can\'t.\"

St.Shrume

Man, so glad I recorded the game and watched it. WHODAT you on the money. I was about to write a response almost identical to yours.

Ashley is the weak point. We HAVE to get another CB, and have Ambrose as a dime guy/ backup safety.

If our WRs (including Boo) catch the balls and if Favre didn\'t throw every pass he completed around Ashley, Gatorman wouldn\'t have a leg to stand on. But I tell ya, dropping that many balls pisses me off. And Ashley getting burnt left and right...those were the only glaring problems....BUT if those 2 things aren\'t fixed, I agree with Gator we\'re an 8-8.

Yet, I am so glad to have watched the game yesterday for the first time. The Gloom and Doom reports I read made me think we looked horrible. We didn\'t. Gatorman, I don\'t know what you expect to see in the second pre-season game for you to be so disappointed? You claim:

\'this team hasn\'t played together for ONE, I repeat ONE QUARTER of football.\"

Huh? Dude, you make it sound like they have played so much football already in the regular season. Relax, let the coaches do their thing.