Sean Payton had an epiphany at some point today. With the passing game stymied for the last 58 minutes of the game, Sean Payton resorted to, oh my heavens, THE RUNNING GAME! If someone had told you Drew Brees would be limited to 104 yards passing for the final 58 minutes and throw no touchdowns on the day, you would have easily chalked this game up in the loss column. In the first 3 years of Sean Payton's existence with the New Orleans Saints, it WOULD have been a loss. Enter Reggie Bush and Pierre Thomas. That duo sliced through a pretty damn good Buffalo defense for 190 yards on just 27 carries and 2 touchdowns. Payton has learned that the path to that illustrious and elusive Super Bowl is paved with a running game and defense. And the Saints had ample supplies of both today. What a refreshing win. Enjoy the rest of the season. It's gonna be a fun ride.
I think it was more of a reflection of gameplanning against a team with a suspect run defense. I think they were determined to run the ball today given this opponent, and what a game plan it was. And, another reason to put an asterisk next to this win is that the defense pitched a shutout, since the only TD was by trickery on special teams. And, another reason is that it was the second win in a row on the road against formidable opponents - something likely to be needed in the playoffs!
Buffalo was giving up only 65 ypg on the ground and a feeble 3.1 ypc average. Not sure if I would call that suspect. You think the gameplan was to run all day long? That first drive told me otherwise. After the line could not protect what appeared to be all out blitzes almost every time we went back to pass, Payton had to rethink things. That's just how I saw it.
The real reason we won? The defense pitched a shutout, people! Buff's only touchdown came on a fake field goal set up by a turnover in our own territory. Stellar performance from Grant, Smith, Vilma, and the rest of Greg Williams' troops!Saintslogo Saintslogo Saintslogo Saintslogo Saintslogo
No doubt, Greg Williams vision came to fruition today. No taking away from that. My point being that the old Payton would have forced the pass, caused turnovers by our offense and give the opposing team a short field and Buffalo would have won the game today. This is the new Sean Payton. And I like it. A lot.
For all those that thought Pierre Thomas would be in a dogfight for his job, I think he pretty much brushed that off today too.
I did. And I still think Bell is every bit as good as Thomas. But Thomas isn't backing down to NO ONE. Wow. What a problem to have.
Well, those stats were just over two games. I do think they saw something that made CSP think they could run on them and were intent on doong that today. The 1st series may partly have been to set that up, or maybe you are right and he just adjusted his playcalling. Either way the outcome was outstanding!
