I see that you abandoned the whole premise with which I had the issue ... the implication that Brees and Payton were only passing the ball to pad Brees' personal stats. THAT is what I was calling asinine.

And by the time they truly abandoned the running game they were behind by multiple scores. The Falcons were stacking the box. The left side of the line could not function at all, for whatever reason. Thomas was the only player able to gain positive yards. Yes, they could have continued running the ball into the teeth of that defense knowing full well that each play would be doomed based upon the defensive alignment. Offensive playcalling is based upon the defensive look. Atlanta was selling out to take away the run and daring us to pass the ball knowing full well that our offensive line was having major issues protecting Brees with even the minimal rush.

I have heard fans call into Moving the Chains on NFL Radio on several occasions over the years with your very same argument claiming their coach stupidly abandoned the run. I gave you the reply that they always give the caller. You cannot continue to attempt to run the ball when the defense is overloading to take it away. It is futile.

I also see that you ignored the fact that Brees did not have all day to throw the ball as you claimed, but actually had almost no time to get rid of the ball on all but one occasion. Peeling out of the pocket like you suggest can work to a degree for teams like Seattle and Green Bay because they have far more mobile QB's like Wilson and Rodgers and far more competent WR's to get into the open. That is not Brees' game, nor is it even Bridgewater's game.

3-4 seconds is plenty of time to get the ball out, and again, when you see your line getting whooped you should probably adjust things to make sure that you're getting it out in that amount of time. or you know, you could just run the ball and give your o-line a break. you don't have to be a mobile quarterback to step out of the pocket to throw. that's just silly. some of drew's biggest moments are when he's gotten out of the pocket. if he all of a sudden can't move enough to do that then we have bigger problems than losing to atlanta, but i think, like you have done with all of your points, you're embellishing.

they ran the ball 11 times. only 9 times with their actual running backs. atlanta threw in some disguises but they were not stacking the box on every play. they were dropping into zone coverage for most of the game that's why the pass wasn't working. if one were to believe that the falcons just made it impossible for the saints to run, but at the same time also shut down the passing game, then the only conclusion you can draw is that atlanta is a totally dominant team over the saints. or, you could consider that when we run a balanced attack, like we did with our backup QB against much tougher defenses, we had better outcomes.

i'm not abandoning my point that i think sean and drew called/played a terrible game that was way too pass heavy and cost us a shot at the win, and yes i think part of it was that they thought coming into the game atlanta's secondary had their best CB out and generally haven't been good, so it was a great opportunity for brees to have a massive game akin to those of the 5k yard seasons. and it's not worth arguing over because neither of us have insight into what the gameplan was. i'm willing to admit that. but i present what i type here as opinion. you present your opinion as fact. have fun with that.