Official Game Day Thread

[Auron]

Haha..this was almost comical.

41-10? Why not.

I just don't know man...

comparing this team to last year so far is like Day, and Night. Some of the mistakes we've made are mind boggling. The only starters we've lost have been Horn, and Conwell but we look a lot worse.

Just don't know.

[robert_in_bigd]

D looks worse. O forget they have Deuce.

I think they read too many press clippings.

Back to reality in NO -- the talent is not that good.

Only 19 games ago that was a 2-14 team.

[TigerBait45]

I'm really hoping that this game was not indicative of how good the team really is..but I'm afraid it is. That defense was just pathetic.

[terribletowel39]

I'm really hoping that this game was not indicative of how good the team really is..but I'm afraid it is. That defense was just pathetic.

it really wasn't the defense. the only person that really looked absolutely like **** was Jason David. how do you honestly give up that many touchdowns and not only that look like you are giving MAYBE half of an effort during replays. it disgusted me. i wanted to shank him with my prison spoon.

[Auron]

I'm trying to stay positive as hard as that might be right now. The bright side is that we were playing the Defending Champions, and the best QB in the league, and maybe we did read into our press clippings too much.

I guess David was bad tonight, but McKenzie gave up a few deep plays as well. Also have to keep in mind without David's strip and return we probably aren't tied 10-10 at the half.

Whatever the case may be. The team has to forget this game quickly, and move on to focusing on Tampa. We can't start the season 0-2 under all costs.

[robert_in_bigd]

it really wasn't the defense. the only person that really looked absolutely like **** was Jason David. how do you honestly give up that many touchdowns and not only that look like you are giving MAYBE half of an effort during replays. it disgusted me. i wanted to shank him with my prison spoon.

Your safeties were of no help and your pash rush stunk.

Goes way beyond an over priced FA Tampa-2 Corner.

[robert_in_bigd]

I'm trying to stay positive as hard as that might be right now. The bright side is that we were playing the Defending Champions, and the best QB in the league, and maybe we did read into our press clippings too much.

I guess David was bad tonight, but McKenzie gave up a few deep plays as well. Also have to keep in mind without David's strip and return we probably aren't tied 10-10 at the half.

Whatever the case may be. The team has to forget this game quickly, and move on to focusing on Tampa. We can't start the season 0-2 under all costs.

Actually the worse news is the Offense looked pathetic too.

We knew the D was iffy but the O being held to 3 points by the Colts?

[Shiver]

They need to commit to Deuce McAllister. Ten carries for him, against that defense, is not nearly enough.

[TigerBait45]

it really wasn't the defense. the only person that really looked absolutely like **** was Jason David. how do you honestly give up that many touchdowns and not only that look like you are giving MAYBE half of an effort during replays. it disgusted me. i wanted to shank him with my prison spoon.

David was horrible, but they couldn't stop the run. Mike McKenzie got burned a lot, there was no pass rush to speak of, the linebackers were non-existent..it was a pretty bad defensive showing on all fronts.

[Auron]

They need to commit to Deuce McAllister. Ten carries for him, against that defense, is not nearly enough.

I agree but the Offensive lines performance was just dismal tonight. They were missing blocks, and not playing with the physical intensity you need to blow guys off the line.

we tried to establish the run in the first half but couldn't muster much consistent yardage. I agree Payton probably gave up on the run too early but the Offensive line just failed miserably tonight just like it did in Chicago. I hope this doesn't become a trend because for most of last year that line played solidly.

[Geo]

Three quick points re: the Saints following tonight's season opener:

1. Jason David will get better, Saints fans. He's not an elite corner obviously, but the guy was playing in the same scheme, day in and day out, for three straight years coming out of college as a 4th round pick from Washington State. He had his doubters then, as he does now, but he'll become a productive starter. Give him time, he certainly is an upgrade from Fred Thomas. Marvin Harrison and Reggie Wayne played against him in practice for three years, they kind of knew what to expect (we'll see how Nick Harper fares next Sunday, I guess). In his post-game conference, David didn't shy away from the blame and looked forward to getting better, and he will.

2. The Saints are a much better team than we saw tonight, especially the offense. Fans and media are as fickle as ever nowadays, so expect the "omg the Saints are a fraud one-year wonder" blablabla from idiots like Salisbury, but whatever. It's a 16-game season, for crying out loud. The Colts are an experienced team, with young talent in place of experience in some spots, which played very well at home and got the better of the Saints today. Heck, we saw the Saints start the preseason off miserably and, using their mistakes to learn from, play much better thereafter. The experience the Colts have together - Manning, Harrison, Wayne, and Clark most notably, I suppose - is what helps them play well enough to win in season openers despite the tough match-ups, whereas some teams like the Saints can have defenses working in new players or new schemes.

3. I like teams playing big games this early. Teams are at their healthiest of course, but I'm a firm believer that being challenged can help a team get better. It's good that the Saints took this thumping this early, it gets a tough game on the schedule out of the way while giving them specific areas to improve and a barometer in mind. And, at least in the Colts' case, playing big games early helps prepare the team and the young players (rookies most especially) for the regular season and big games in general help prepare for the postseason.


I'm glad both teams stayed healthy, btw. I have Brees on one fantasy team and Bush on another, but I can't say I'm too sad right now. I know they will bounce back in a big way against the Bucs in Week 2. I wondered going on how ready the Saints would be for the Colts' speed at home and with the crowd's energy, but they handled it fairly well for most of the game: they are now more than ready to take on the Bucs defense next Sunday among other future opponents.

The 2006 Saints weren't the 2006 Saints when they squeeked out a win at Cleveland in Week 1 last year.

[diabsoule]

I said that I would write my write-up later and here it is.

1. The game today was won by the Colts and lost by the Saints on the line of scrimmage.
Last season, the Saints used a lot of 3 step drops to get the ball of Brees' hands quickly and into the receivers hands so they could either pick up yards with their hands or get some with their feet. This game we saw Brees do a lot of 5 to 7 step drops and the Saints offensive line showed their worth. Namely, that there isn't a lot of worth to be put in it. Jammal Brown and Jon Stinchcomb were owned by Dwight Freeney for the most part. Neither could contain him and it was fairly evident. Because of the pressure put on Brees he was having to throw off of his back foot most of the night and made horrible reads and throws that resulting in 2 picks and tons of drops. He was lucky that he only had 2 picks.
On the defensive side of the ball the Saints were owned as well. I don't know where Sean Payton's head was, more than likely lodged between the two cheeks located in his nether regions, but starting Antwan Lake opposite Kendrick Clancy is just a bad idea plain and simple. Sure, they played well together in pre-season but this is the regular season where teams will be giving their 110% on every play. Hollis Thomas should have been in the game, whether opposite Clancy, Lake, or *insert player name* the line of scrimmage would have been that contested that much more and more than likely would have resulted in less rushing yards than the Colts gained. Hollis Thomas helped clog the run last year and I don't see why he wouldn't be able to do the same this year.

2. The blueprint has been laid.
The Saints secondary is still suspect to the pass, whether a long bomb or a short zip pass. While I expect Jason David to become better as a man-to-man cornerback, it is obvious that he is not a shutdown corner and is not as big of an upgrade over Fred Thomas as most Saints fans expected him to be. The Saints should have plaid more zone coverages to play to David's weakness in man coverage. Also, it has to say something about David's intelligence when he was constantly staring down Peyton Manning instead of paying attention to the receiver. He played against Manning in practice for three years, you would expect someone who has that much experience facing a quarterback would have fared better but he was burnt more than is expected. I think he will get better but teams will now line up their speedy receivers against either him or Mike McKenzie, who was also burned.

3. The Saints play-calling was too complex.
Play-action. Draw. Misdirection. There's the Saints play book. Take out all of the gadget plays, draws, and play-action passes and the Saints play book would be threadbare, I expect. For as suspect as the Colts run defense was touted to be, I would have expected the Saints to have played a ball-control type offense. Run the ball down their throats. Use Deuce and Reggie to help establish the line of scrimmage and wear down the defense. That was not done at all. I guess mostly because of point #1 but also because the offense seemed too reliant on the pass. Drew Brees looked terrible. Absolutely awful. This was not the Drew Brees that we saw last year and I expect this is not the Drew Brees we expect to see this year.

4. The Colts know how to draft.
For all of their losses in free agency, the Colts seemed to do fine. Tony Ugoh looked good at LT. Antoine Bethea, Marlin Jackson, Freddy Keiaho, Kelvin Hayden and all the rest of the unexperienced bunch more than held their own against what was expected to be an explosive Saints offense. I do not know if this is a sign of things to come but it seems like Bill Polian and Tony Dungy both know how to evaluate talent and draft player who fit their scheme perfectly.

There is not much good to take away from this game as a Saints fan. We should have played better. That's it. We played like crap. I expect us to play better against Tampa Bay. But one thing is evident, the Colts have had our number for years and they continue to have it. Also, as Geo pointed out, the Saints should get better as was shown during pre-season. I hope anyway.
I'm sure this write-up could have been more detailed and explicit if I would not have had Mr. Miller Lite helping me out.

[Shiver]

I agree but the Offensive lines performance was just dismal tonight. They were missing blocks, and not playing with the physical intensity you need to blow guys off the line.

we tried to establish the run in the first half but couldn't muster much consistent yardage. I agree Payton probably gave up on the run too early but the Offensive line just failed miserably tonight just like it did in Chicago. I hope this doesn't become a trend because for most of last year that line played solidly.

I might be a little biased seeing as I am a Deuce McAllister fantasy owner. He killed me last night.

[Auron]

I might be a little biased seeing as I am a Deuce McAllister fantasy owner. He killed me last night.

Well you do know what they say about backs who split carries..

but seriously I think a lot of people are going to write off the Saints after last night; and I can't blame them after that performance they deserved it. However I think we'll play better as the season goes along. It was the first game of the season and there's 15 more left, I don't expect our Offense to play like that the whole year. One thing for certain is that we aren't anywhere near ready to compete with the Elite teams in the AFC yet.

[TPFKA#1SaintsFan]

Awful. Simply... awful.