How sweet was that to 1) hand the Falcons their first loss and 2) block a punt for a TD with Steve Gleason in attendance. If I'm not mistaken, that was their 1st TD on a blocked punt since Gleason's famous block against the Falcons 9 years ago. Awesome!
I like to troll their message boards after we beat them. I don't post anything. I just read what their fans post and they are in full melt down mode. After flying high for 5 weeks, they were humliated in a nationally televised game against a shitty Saints team. We still own them, new coach and all. Nobody is going to fear them after this.
The Mauti's - Michael and Rich - are the first father/son combo to each score a touchdown in Saints history. Drew Brees is 21-4 for the Saints in primetime with a QB rating of 115.6 The W is nice...ok, great considering it was over a previously unbeaten Falcon team on national TV, but the reality is, they gave us the game. The Failcans gashed our defense between the 20's all night, and consistently shot themselves in the foot when they got in scoring position. But, positives.....Breaux is rapidly improving, and with Lewis back in the lineup, we're starting to see the secondary lock down on players long enough for the pass rush to start having an effect. Ellerbe's impact was evident as well. Offensively, there is clearly nothing wrong with Brees' shoulder. And Watson's big game will give opponents something to think about. He may now draw extra attention, and hopefully the guy who could benefit is Cooks.
They did gash us, but the defense forced those turnovers in red zone. It's not like those fumbles just fell out of their hands while carrying the ball. Running game clearly misses Evans and Armstead, but we did have 2 rushing TDs. Protection for Drew was much better. And here's a stat for you - the Saints are undefeated under Sean Payton when they do not turn the ball over.
I think we can all feel that this great Saints run may be ending so it's nice to see a couple of huge prime-time wins to remember what it used to be like. Of the 19 teams that are worst in turnover differential this year, 18 of them have a losing record.
The 4th down fumble in the 1st quarter was a botched handoff exchange. The third quarter fumble happened when the center snapped the ball off his own leg. The one Ellerbe forced....great play on his part, and I don't remember if there were others. The Saints not turning the ball over was big, and let's also not forget, they did a great job cutting back the penalties (way to go Brandon Browner; you didn't give the Failcans any free first downs). But when you also figure in several dropped passes, I have to conclude Atl stopped themselves at least as many times as the Saints stopped them. Just remembered the strip-sack by Cam at the end of the game, TO, but the game was over by then. There was another strip-sack, I think in the 2nd quarter, that Atl recovered.
Can't remember who forced it, but Tevin Coleman was stripped around the 10 yard line and recovered by Browner. I don't think any of us are fooling ourselves thinking the Saints have turned the corner and are gonna run off 4-5 wins in a row, but this one feels good because it was against our dispised rival, in prime time, and gave them their first loss after they've pretty much looked invincible through the 1st 5 weeks.
Either Deke or Bobby (after the Eagles game) made a great comment about the bags....they should never come out again. The bagheads were a product of not just a bad season, but 20 years of uninterrupted failure. We have now won multiple division titles, enough playoff appearances that its not even worth the bother to count, 2 NFC title appearances and a Lombardi. Let Detroit, Cleveland or Jacksonville have the bags. Those franchises are on decades of futility. We don't have it nearly that bad any more.
And of course I'm going against Devonta Freeman in one of my leagues. Everyone I play has a career week when I play them.
