It's Peanut Butter Dirty Bird!

Times are tough. Mom was in surgery twice this week. Menckles has a bum knee. Half the city is once again underwater due to today's heavy rains. I had to go help my brother push his flooded car off of Willow street to higher ground this afternoon. PBJ is going to be Governor of the Gret Stet for the next four years. Jindal's predecessor on the Dragon Slayer Squad, Buddy Roemer might suggest that we "cancel" all that negativity by snapping a few rubber bands. Most of us prefer to chase the blues away by taking in a little Saints football. While the 2007 Saints haven't always provided the most uplifting experience, they never fail to entertain. And besides, what better way to exorcise demons... so to speak... than to vicariously take out your frustrations on the Atlanta Falcons.

Saints-Falcons notes (Photos stolen from T-P again. BTW... why do the T-P photos suck this week? It's the freaking Falcons game. You'd think they'd have sent an extra cameraman or two)

• There is no way around this. Drew Brees is playing terrible football this season. He's had some streaks, like the first half of the Seattle game, where he has flashed the accuracy and quick decision making that earned him a pro-bowl berth last season. But more often than not this year, we're asking ourselves, "What was he doing there?" after more and more third down passes end up behind or high and out of reach of open receivers. The Falcons controlled the ball for most of the game because Brees repeatedly failed to make plays on third down. On the Saints first possession of the game, Brees took far too long to recognize a wide open Marques Colston streaking across the middle. By the time the ball finally arrived, the Atlanta defenders had recovered. On a 4th and 2 near the end of the first half, Brees badly underthrew another open receiver resulting in a Falcons interception. Plays like this had more than a few folks in Section 617 hauling out Aaron Brooks comparisons. The Saints relied on a couple of big plays to beat the Falcons yesterday, but the offense in general continues to sputter badly. Some of this has to do with the play calling. Some of it has to do with the fact that they continue to experiment with playing a marginal slot receiver at running back. But much of it has to do with the fact that Drew Brees is still playing terrible football. And it's getting too late into the season to simply call it a "slump".
  
  
  Drew, Colston is the tall one. Remember?



• Good Devery Henderson: Devery caught a 37 yard touchdown pass on the Saints second possession of the game. This is the kind of big play, the Saints need from their fastest player if they expect to keep opposing defenses honest.
  
  Okay Devery Henderson: Devery was not heard from for the rest of the game which supports the theory previously advanced on the Yellow Blog that he shouldn't be relied on as a first or second receiver since throwing too many balls in his direction inevitably results in bad things happening. As long as he turns in that one big play per game, it's fine.
  
  
  Nice catch, son. Take the rest of the afternoon off. No really, go sit down.



• One reason the Saints offense is so inconsistent is Coach Soupy's refusal to commit to a running game. There's nothing wrong with passing on first down maybe 40 percent of the time, but too often the Saints seem to give up a possession by going to the air too quickly or, worse, lining up in the shotgun in short yardage situations. It's a hell of a position to put your struggling quarterback in. And while it's understandable that the coaches might not have much confidence in a running game that features Reggie Bush diving to the sideline for 2 yards per carry, it seems, to some fans at least, that there are other options available.
  
  
  Not Reggie breaks off a 24 yard touchdown run in the third quarter. More of this, please.



• Saints fans booed the hell out of two of the franchise's all-time most popular players on Sunday. Even I, a person who generally approves of booing all sorts of stuff, thought that was a little unnecessary.



• Who would have thought that the Saints would be winning games with their defense this season? It seems strange but it is true. The Saints D wasn't perfect yesterday, but it's hard to be perfect when your offense can't stay on the field. Saints defenders answered the bell again and again limiting the Falcons to only one touchdown despite multiple opportunities. The most pleasant surprise in recent weeks has been the physical play of the defense against the run. Hollis Thomas and Charles Grant in particular seemed to own the line of scrimmage yesterday as the Saints held their opponents to under 100 yards rushing for the fifth consecutive game (see the "Odds and Ends" segment) something no Saints defense has accomplished since 1992.
  
  
  That over-achieving defense is finally back. They'll need to over-over-achieve if they want to keep picking up the slack for that crappy Saints offense.



• Major Turning Point One: In the second quarter, the Falcons attempted to seize momentum by following up a Morten Andersen field goal with a surprise onside kick. The gamble appeared to pay off when Atlanta recovered the ball. But the Saints responded with a gamble of their own, turning loose their safeties on consecutive blitzes, stuffing the Falcons and forcing a punt after allowing only one first down. Granted, Atlanta did manage to take the lead before the half anyway, but a quick score after the onside kick could have allowed things to really snowball in their favor.



• Good Superdome Staff: NFL rules stupidly and hypocritically prohibit the sale of alcoholic beverages during the fourth quarter of their heavily beer-sponsored events. Late in the Saints-Falcons game Sunday there was still plenty of beer available from stadium vendors. Good for them!
  
  Bad Superdome Staff: Those beers for sale were still seven bucks a pop, unfortunately. Also, the concession stands on our level ran out of hot dogs by halftime. How does that happen?
  
  Okay Superdome Staff: Turns out the red beans aren't so bad, though.



• Major Turning Point Two: With a little over nine minutes remaining in the game, and with the Saints on the verge of another pitiful "three and out" posession, Marques Colston took in a short third down pass, broke a tackle, and rambled 33 yards into Atlanta territory setting up the eventual go-ahead touchdown. Colston had been a disappointing non-factor in the Saints offense lately. They'll desperately need more big plays like this from him... provided Brees can find him.
  
  
  There he is! He's the tall one



• Following that go-ahead touchdown, the Saints decided to go for two. The successful try still left the Falcons within a touchdown of retaking the lead. Does anyone have a clue what the Saints were trying to accomplish there?



• Does the kicker suck? Who knows? Who cares? For the second consecutive week, the Saints did not attempt a field goal. For the second consecutive week, they won the game. Coincidence? Perhaps... but no more so than the continued happy trend in wardrobe.
  
  
  So, Joe... how 'bout dem pants! Nice, eh?

Ugly win? Sure but whatever the circumstances, and whoever the Governor is it's always nice to beat the Falcons. It's a bit more difficult, however, to decide which of these dances is more annoying.