Black & Gold Xs & Os: Tape Review Of the Saints Comeback Win

(Photo by Doug Benc/Getty Images)

Lost in the euphoria of the Saints miraculous comeback Sunday evening was the fact the Saints probably played the worst football not only of their season, but perhaps of any team's season in the first half.

They couldn't block, they couldn't throw, they couldn't catch a pass, they couldn't tackle, they missed assignments, took poor angles, and perhaps worst of all, just looked extremely flat, and therefore lost (like the show, haha).

In the first half the Saints looked like they couldn't hold the jockstraps of the Detroit Lions. In the second half, they looked the best team in football, which in my opinion they are.

Sure there was an egregious call on a third down play on Miami's first offensive series, which, if it had been called correctly, or the replay booth didn't malfunction, the Saints would've gotten the ball the next play. You could say, well the Saints still forced them to punt.

That is true, but Miami then pinned the Saints inside their own 10-yard line with the punt. Of course, I have no idea why Lance Moore caught that punt. That was really the first of many bonehead plays the Saints made in the first half, which really became a comedy of errors.

The Saints then committed a false start penalty, immediately followed by a delay of game, which is directly on the shoulders of Mr. Brees. Finally, they were able to run a play, only to throw an incompletion. On the next play, they run, but with horrible blocking, and Thomas gains one or two yards.

Third-and-12, the Dolphins blitz Brees, he doesn't have time to find an open receiver, so he chucks it downfield, hoping Devery Henderson will find it, only to have it intercepted and returned to the five yard line.

Next play, touchdown Dolphins, and the first half rout is on. Maybe if that poor completion call had been reversed none of this would've happened and the Saints may have gone on to an easy victory.

But in a way I am actually very happy that it went this way. One because it made for a tremendous comeback and a very entertaining football game. And two, because it showed what New Orleans fans really wanted to see. Can this team overcome a deficit? Can they finish games? When it's not easy, can this team still win?

And the Saints responded with a resounding "YES!!!!"

The thing that struck me when watching the film is that the Saints didn't make a ton of adjustments, scheme-wise in the second half. Jo-Lonn Dunbar replaced Troy Evans at SLB, and they got a little more exotic with the blitz packages. But mostly, they just executed better.

Offensively, Mike Bell provided a huge spark, with his power running in-between-the-tackles.  Jeremy Shockey went into crazy-guy mode, which is when he plays his best football, and Drew Brees went from high school quarterback to All-Pro again.

What does this tell me?

It wasn't scheme. It wasn't even player insertions, although that helped. It was a team with an attitude. It's a team that is on a mission, and will not be stopped. It is a team that knows they are the best team in football and refuses to lose to inferior teams.

The reason I italicized "team" is to point to the fact that it is not a bunch of individuals out their playing for their own glory. Each guy is giving everything he has, and doing so unselfishly because they know the prize is so much better than getting their own glory.

Watching them on film, you notice this. Sure, guys will get upset if they don't get a throw when they are open. But when they see that someone else caught it and got a first down, they immediately forget about their own nature.

This team-attitude no doubt stems from their leader, their quarterback Drew Brees. Nobody is more of a competitor and winner than he is. The guys' will is doubly stronger than most people's. But it's not about him, it's about the Saints. And they all just feed off that attitude.

So I could talk about xs and os, but that wouldn't do this game justice. This game for the Saints was not about the xs and os. It was about the hearts and the attitudes.

It was about a defense that said, we're tired of this crap. Watch out Chad Henne, we're going to blitz you, do something about it. And the amazing thing is the Dolphins had no response. Once the Saints got going, it was a like a steamroll.  That's what leadership does for a team.

Position-by-Position Grades

QB  Drew Brees:  B-

To say that Brees' overall performance was a great one would be foolish. He looked human for just about the entire first half. His decision-making was much slower than normal. He was rattled by the Dolphins' pass rush. His throws were inaccurate.

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