Danno

I know it was ugly and there was a ton to worry about coaching related to this team but there were several stand-outs in the game that aren't getting enough praise.

1. Aaron Brooks looked fantastic. Decise and accurate. Yet another late game comeback for a victory. I've been critical of him in the past but he brought his A-game Sunday.

2. Donte Stallworth. Caught the ball in traffic. I heard Kenny on WWL last night say it was probably the best game he's ever seen out of Donte. He also said his downfield blocking looked great. Most TV viewers can't see that. He appears to be developing into a solid player.

3. Joe Horn. He looked like Joe Horn

4. Pathon. Returned to form after last weeks nightmare. If we are looking for a CB in a trade this man may be required to make it happen. It would mean that either Henderson or Gardner would have to step up into the 3rd WR role but it might be worth it to get a good player on the D-side of the ball.

5. Jay Bellamy. You know, this guy might be our MVP on Defense so far this year. Would any of us have thought that 2 years ago?

WhoDat

All good points - and there is some good news here. AB is played like we\'ve all hoped he can (or actaully seen streaks of in the past). The question remains whether he can keep playing like that or if he\'ll be up and down as he has been for years.

Seeing the WRs step it up was great too. There\'s a group that caught a lot of flak in the offseason and it was good to see them play like they are capable of playing. Let\'s hope they keep it going.

Unfortunately, there are more problems/questions than solutions/answers. The run D is not good. Courtney Watson seems to be the real deal but the LB play still hasn\'t improved much. Why not?

The D-line is not what it has been billed to be. Why? Injuries? Let\'s hope so. The secondary looks pretty darn bad.

The O-line is not the tough physical group that can dominate the trenches that they were supposed to be. Losing a FB HAS hurt. Two TEs doesn\'t seem to work and those two TEs aren\'t as good as billed.

Our coaches still can\'t coach... [sigh]

I just hope it gets better, and soon.

\"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.\"

Danno

I agree with almost all of that WhoDat except this.
Our O-line and rush offense looked bad for nearly the entire 2nd half of the season last year. We had T-rex and Jerry Fontenot.

I don\'t think the problem is losing T-rex, its the fact we don\'t use a FB hardly at all any more. When Karney does play he reminds me of Smith.

Our O-line last year was weak in the middle WITH Jerry and it seems they are weak without him. So I don\'t think losing Jerry is the problem.

I think the problem is we have an O-line thats supposed to be a run-oriented road grating line, but we\'re asking them to play like the fast finesse type line Denver always has.

I think last years line was probably better suited for this two-TE set, and this years line is better suited for the two-back set. Leave it to this staff to force their system onto the players instead of letting the players talents influence your system. They\'ve done it before with LB\'s, moving a productive OLB inside where he didn\'t produce.

[Edited on 21/9/2004 by Danno]

WhoDat

I\'ll accept that...