Last week, a news update on RTA's "floating" of its proposal for three new streetcar lines had us speculating on the potential for "floating streetcars" and their utility in case of citywide street flooding which is prone to happen around here from time to time. On Sunday, as our (regular) streetcar made the turn onto Carondelet street from a fairly flooded Howard Avenue, I began to wonder if we might see one of these floating vehicles sooner than previously expected. Although we managed to make it to the Girod street stop without our car coming untracked, we disembarked right into the middle of a freaking monsoonicane.
The rain was coming hard and fast and at windblown angles which rendered my umbrella useful only for the sake of producing comic absurdity. Not having access to "Monster Truck Shcrimp Boots" I was forced to wade through the flood in my off-brand canvas sneakers (the right one having a small hole in the bottom) which not only fail to repel but actually absorb a fair amount of water themselves. My legs were soaked from the knees down. The conditions were deteriorating to a such a point that only Jim Cantore would have been fit to endure them. Luckily, I remembered that the Louisiana Superdome has, on occasion, been put to use as a storm shelter. And so, despite the looming potential for horror (both Reggie Bush and Jeremy Shockey were expected to be on site), we decided to take our chances there anyway.
Saints Vs. Lions (Game photos by David Grunfeld stolen by me from NOLA.com)
- Everybody else is saying it so we might as well get in on this too. The Lions' points total is not reflective of the play of the Saints' defense which was actually quite good. Two of the Lions' three touchdowns were set up by a long punt return and a big pass play surrendered by a rookie DB just off the bench. The third was a defensive score.
Yes, Detroit started a rookie quarterback, but it's been a long time since Saints fans have seen a three interception game from the home team and the sight was a welcome one. Even more encouraging was the defense's ability to limit Kevin Smith, one of the more talented and underrated backs in football, to 20 yards on 15 carries. The key to winning football games consistently is not getting shoved around by the opponent's running attack. Maybe this wasn't the most difficult test one could devise for the Saints but it should be noted that they did pass it. One nit we could pick is with the still underwhelming sack total but we'll let that go for this week.
Jonathan Vilma sacks Matthew Stafford Sunday. The Saints' D may be starting to Smell the Greatness - Good Malcolm Jenkins: Prior to this game, Saints coaches had determined that 2009 number one draft choice Malcolm Jenkins would see the field only on special teams. This proved to be a wise decision during the third quarter when Jenkins ran down Detroit's Aaron Brown from behind on a kickoff return saving a touchdown. After Brown's 87 yard return the Saints held the Lions to a field goal. A touchdown there would have closed the Saints' lead to 7 points.
Bad Malcolm Jenkins: Prior to this game, Saints coaches had determined that 2009 number one draft choice Malcolm Jenkins would see the field only on special teams. The wisdom of this decision was in evidence during the third quarter when Jenkins was forced into action on a third down play while Tracy Porter was momentarily shaken up. As we watched Jenkins enter the game, we wondered if the Lions would find a way to exploit the rookie. As the teams set up at the line of scrimmage, we noticed Jenkins lined up directly accross from Calvin Johnson. Hmm, that doesn't seem like a very good idea, we said. It wasn't. Johnson shook free of Jenkins to make the catch and then broke Jenkins' weak attempt at a tackle before rumbling 64 yards to the Saints' 2 yard line. This play set up Detroit's second touchdown. Well that and a bogus personal foul penalty which awarded the Lions extra downs with which to work. Okay and also a blown call on Sedric Ellis' stripping of the ball from Kevin Smith on the first of those extra downs. But none of that would have been possible without Jenkins' screw-up. - This week's Dome complaint: With a little over three minutes left to play in the first half, Poochie caught a touchdown pass. I needed a break. I still had half a flask of rum left but was out of coke and if Poochie was going to be scoring touchdowns I would need to mix a few more cocktails.
Now I'm not usually one to complain about waiting in line. I recognize that I am just one of many people who might want a coke during the football game. But if we're going to spend the remainder of the first half waiting in line to pay $5.00 for mixer, then the least stadium management could do would be make sure the closed-circuit television in working at the concession stand. Thanks to the malfunctioning TV, I heard but did not see Darren Sharper's first interception of Matthew Stafford which kind of sucks. On the other hand, it also meant that I didn't have to watch Poochie score another touchdown. So I guess this is really a push for this week.
If I didn't see it, do I get to pretend it didn't happen? - Uh oh the kicker doesn't suck but everybody else on special teams does: John Carney is old. HOW OLD IS HE? John Carney is SO OLD that he has had his name legally changed to "“45 year-old John Carney”"... or at least that's what Varg reported. I had no access to the Fox broadcast (or even closed circuit TV) from inside the Superdome so I can't verify this. So Carney is pretty old. But, unlike numerous other recent specimens Saints fans have examined, he's still a pretty reliable kicker.
The rest of the Saints' special teams: Not so reliable. Robert Meachem had one nice return to open the game and proceeded to look ridiculous the rest of the day tripping over his own feet and dancing indecisively like... well sort of like Reggie Bush. Bush also participated on special teams. (I wonder if he received one of those "Be Special" T-shirts last week) His performance was so essentially Bush-like that it seemed almost too perfect to be real. Reggie Bush managed to run ineffectively from scrimmage, give up ground unnecessarily on punt returns AND fumble three times. (One fumble was overruled by replay, but don't think we don't know what you did Reggie.)
Meanwhile the Saints' kick coverage was horrendous. The Lions had an 87 yard kickoff return and a 43 yard punt return each of which led to points. Add to this a protection break down leading to a blocked Carney field goal attempt and you end up with a very, um, Bush-like day for the Saints' special teams altogether. I wonder if all the persons involved got those shirts. - One other exception to the special teams suckery was the play of Thomas Morstead. Although the coverage let him down a few times, his punts were hit and placed well. And five of his kickoffs made it into the endzone. The Saints traded up with Philadelphia in order to acquire Morstead in the draft this year. I wonder if the Eagles would be willing to take Bush off the Saints' hands as an amendment to this deal.
Thomas Morstead gave us a whiff of Greatness on Sunday which we thought was pretty Special - Drew Brees threw 6 touchdowns. We think Brees is a pretty good quarterback which is unusual for someone who looks so much like David Carradine. It's also unusual for someone with such below-average arm strength. Brees was asked to throw two passes Sunday that are really meant to be thrown by someone with an NFL caliber arm. He got away with it when Robert Meachem came back to catch a touchdown pass which seemed to hang in the air forever. He didn't get away with it when he was asked to throw a pass off the flea-flicker from Reggie Bush. (WTF Payton still allows Bush to participate in trick plays that call for tossing the ball backwards?) This interception was actually described in Monday morning's T-P as having "amounted to a punt" It certainly resembled one in its trajectory.
Drew Brees throwing the ball for all his sorry little arm is worth. Dude is the weakest ass awesome quarterback in history. - The worst thing about the flea-flicker interception was that Brees was trying to hit Devery Henderson who was well covered by four Lions in the middle of the field. Meanwhile, we noticed Marques Colston running wide open toward the corner of the endzone. Since we know that Brees gets away with being such a poor thrower on the strength of his superior vision and field awareness, we are tempted to conclude that Brees was ignoring Colston on purpose. At this point in the game Colston had already dropped two passes, one of which nearly caromed into the hands of a defender. Was Brees putting Colston in timeout? And, more importantly, what's up with Colston dropping the ball all of a sudden?
Yes, I'm sure we love you too. But catch the damn ball already. - Stat of the game: Mike Bell in the fourth quarter: 11 carries for 56 yards. Bell and the Saints needed to put the game away by grinding out the clock and the Lions couldn't stop it from happening. Replicate that performance against non-Detroit competition and we may have to upgrade our pre-season expectations for this team.
Note to Superdome management: This Anita Ward song contains a universally recognized signature effect that we suggest you may want to sample and play over the PA system, say, whenever Mike Bell does something of import. But not every time he touches the ball. That would be annoying. Otherwise we will be forced to continue making the sound ourselves for the benefit of the people sitting in our section... which we already know is annoying.
Byooooh - Disturbing Trend: Saints fans are usually treated to two standard scoreboard games during the course of the afternoon. The first is a McDonald's commercial wherein we play Three Card Monte by following an electronically generated hamburger concealed within one of three virtual french fry boxes. I've become quite good at this game (particularly since my latest eyeglass prescription) and look forward to the small victory of finding the hamburger during every home game. Lately, though, this satisfaction has been diminished by a disturbing trend in the second scoreboard game.
The second round of virtual Three Card Monte is an anti-drunk driving promotion which asks us to follow an ignition key hidden beneath one of three empty go-cups. The cups dance, and even blur a little, but, with a little concentration, the key isn't hard to follow. The problem here is that the creators of this ad are purposely out to shatter our confidence in our ability to concentrate. They want us to fail this test. "Now, are you sure you're okay to drive?" the smug bastards want to ask. And so they lie. Through the magic of computer animation, the key is never actually under the cup it's supposed to be under.
Unfortunately, if they're trying to use this game to convince someone like me not to trust my inebriated decision making abilities, they've failed. I mean, now that I know which cup the key definitely isn't under, I'm left with a 50/50 choice and dammit I'll take those odds every time, especially if I'm a little tanked.
The disturbing trend part of this is that, stretching back to last season and including this year's pre-season games, I've now taken and lost this gambit ten consecutive times. I'm like the Detroit Lions of the drunken find-the-key game. How is this possible? Or more importantly, what does it mean? You could say that maybe it means I really am too drunk to drive by the fourth quarter of a Saints home game, but I ride the floating streetcar to the Superdome so there's got to be something else going on here. The Saints are on the road for the next two weeks, so we've at least got that long to try and puzzle this out.
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