Saints Alive: Two-week Review of the Resurrected "Who Dats?"

What more can I say?  I hate to steal a line from U2, but "The Saints are coming!" 

Despite the fact that I always remain faithful in my teams, I wasn't 100% convinced of this fact until I saw them beat a good team, which they did quite impressively on Sunday against the Jacksonville Jaguars. 

I mean anytime the Quarterback throws for 445 yards, it's a pretty good indication your offense is doing okay.  And the fact those yards were racked up mostly in the First Half when the game was still close, as opposed to in a 4th Quarter blowout, only further emphasizes that point. 

Mr. Brees, you are my hero.  I'm a little confused why you didn't play this way to start the year, but nonetheless you've responded to the criticism and turned this thing around.  I thought you could and you proved me correct. 

The only small concern I have is that St. Reggie isn't even on pace for a 1,000-yard rushing season, although clearly that demeans everything else he does for that offense, which notedly includes catching 50 passes, does a decent job blocking, and maybe his best attribute, that being as a decoy. 

The last two weeks have also seen the re-emergence of last year's greatest individual story, Marques Colston.  At the game two weekends ago in San Francisco, I watched from Upper Reserve Section 36 as Colston reeled in 3 TDs, and yet could've had a much better game as he fumbled one reception that led to a 49ers Field Goal and dropped two other balls in the end zone that he should've caught.  That being said, he still ended up with 8 catches, 85 yards and 3 TDs.  It's kind of hard to complain about that. 

That was also the first game that Brees has thrown for 300+ yards this season, as he finished the beautiful afternoon 31-of-39 for 336 yards and 4 TDs. 

The defense also played extremely well on that afternoon as Scott Fujita seemed to literally be where the football was on every defensive snap in the First Half.  That led to a Fumble Recovery in the 2nd Quarter, along with a huge hit on the sideline of QB Alex Smith in the First Quarter along with several Tackles that took place behind the Line of Scrimmage.  I came away from that game with a greater appreciation for his game and his place among the best Linebackers in the game.  There is no doubt in my mind he belongs in the top 10 of all NFL Linebackers.  

The win shored up a 3-4 record for the "who dats?". 

The team's return home to the Superdome apparently only made the offense, and the Passing Game in particular, even more comfortable.  In what appeared to be the most exciting first quarter of probably any NFL game this year, Brees and company put up 10 points on the scoreboard before Jacksonville even touched the football, literally.  After taking the opening kickoff and driving down for a 45 yard Field Goal by the very inconsistent Olindo Mare, the Saints tried an onside kick and executed it to perfection.  On that drive Brees continued to throw the football successfully to Colston and Bush did have a few nice runs, including the drive capper, a 1-yard run on 3rd-and-Goal. 

The touchdown wouldn't be the last for Bush in the quarter.  After this New Orleans finally had to relinquish control of the football to the Jags, and probably regretted it as Quinn Gray hit Reggie Williams for an 80-yard TD on 3rd-and-10.  The Saints' next drive actually stalled and Jacksonville tied the game on a short field goal by former Saint John Carney, the ageless one.  True story, the guys' 3 months younger than his former head coach for 1 year, Sean Payton.  I wonder if that's why he got cut.  Maybe Carney was trying too hard to be buddy-buddy with the head guy. 

Anyhow, the Saints then took the ball down the field again, this time the big play was a 57 yard pass play to the 2nd Tight End, Billy Miller, who rumbled and stumbled all the way down to the 2 yard line.  I kind of feel bad for Miller.  For a Tight End to come up 2 yards short of the end zone is like a virgin being in bed with the girl of his dreams only to have the phone ring and she finds out her dad just died.  Okay, perhaps that's a little extreme, but you know what I mean right?

At least Miller could take solace in the fact that Reggie Bush scored on becoming-famous Saints Swing pass.  Seriously, I think Reggie has at least half his catches on this play.  This gave the Saints a very short-lived 7 point lead, as former Bruin Maurice Jones-Drew, took Mare's kick at the goal-line and returned all the way back, embarrasingly enough for the Saints' Special Teams' Unit, right up the middle. 

From there, the action slowed down a little bit, as the Saints were the only team to score in the 2nd Quarter, although they should have had at least 10, if not 13, instead of the 7 they got.  Mare missed 2 Field Goals in the final 2 minutes of the half.  Clearly, at the time, the Saints would've liked to have had those, just to pad the lead a little.  But, it was not to be, and that's okay, because Mike McKenzie pretty much iced the game in the middle of the Third Quarter when he took a Quinn Gray Out Route, that never had a chance of reaching the Receiver, and took it 75 yards to paydirt.  Despite being a Saint for 3+ years, that was the first time the long-haired black man had reached the end zone with the ball in his hands. 

From there, Brees and the offense pretty much finished them off, adding another Touchdown late in the 3rd Quarter on a scramble to the left and then a throw to a pretty wide open, by NFL standards, David Patten.  That officially put the game out of reach and enabled the Fourth Quarter to be a celebration almost as large as Mardi Gras.  The "Who Dats?" had done the unthinkable, lost their first 4 games, then won the next 4.  The only thing I can remember that's similar is when the Raiders won 4 and lost 4 in the middle of their last Super Bowl season, 2002, when they went on to lose to the Bucs in San Diego. 

If you remember back to the beginning of the year, a trip to the Super Bowl would be a miracle.  Now, it's a realistic expectation for the team that many picked to get that far before the season began. 

Next up is the 0-8 Rams at home.  Let's just hope they don't relax now.  If they lose this one, they'll go back to being an embarassment like they were in the early part of the year, but I'm not counting on that happening.  I think they'll come out and run the ball hard with Reggie and maybe some Pierre Thomas and use Playaction to keep Brees on his stretch of great games. 

All I can say until then is Geaux Saints!  And Who Dat?