The Saints simply dominated the Patriots in every facet of the game last night. Look, the secondary played a terrible game, but that was also a product of the Saints being such a great offense. The Saints have 4 guys on the outside that can beat you, not to mention the best quarterback in the game today, Drew Brees. Say what you want about Manning, Brady, and Favre, but Brees is the MVP hands down. He's the only one without a Pro Bowl receiver or running back. Favre is having a great season, but that Vikings team is probably 8-3 with Jason Campbell as the quarterback.
I don't get why last night's game was a surprise to anyone. The Saints came in undefeated playing on their home field on Monday Night. That usually is good for at least 7-10 points right there. Plus, the fact that the Patriots are hurting on the offensive line, have lacked a solid pass rush all season, and haven’t won a road game on US soil all year. The problem people have is that they just assume tradition trumps the present. If you look at how the two teams have played this year last night's result isn't surprising at all.
I jinxed the Pats secondary by saying they were playing pretty well this year, and for the most part I think they have been. However, last night they looked like the Redskins secondary letting receivers get way too wide open. A poor performance by the secondary is directly connected to a poor performance by the defensive line. Brees had way too much time to throw last night and it translated to 5 TD passes. On the other side, Brady looked as bad as I've seen him look since the Denver game. I'm hoping this is just an aberration and he gets back on track quick.
As a Patriots fan, I think it is important to look at the glass half full. Now we will be the underdogs again as a 3 or 4 seed and the pressure will be off. The Saints and Colts can go undefeated for all I care; I wouldn't wish that kind of pressure on my team again. Also, I keep waiting for the other shoe to drop on Brett Favre, but it doesn't seem like it is going to happen anytime soon. He fell into a perfect situation and has been playing lights out football. I feel really bad for Packers fans.
To conclude, I really respect and find there is a lot to like about the Saints. With the Redskins out of contention, I will be pulling for them to go to the Super Bowl and hopefully set up a rematch with the Pats in February. Thanks for reading everyone!
ya i agree with you, fans should be happy this was not a playoff game and you have time to make corrections before the games really matter. but in saying that, when you expect your team to win or have a better showing its tough to be positive for the next couple days or until your next win. and by no means should boston fans be bitter at anything you got rings in football basketball and baseball in the last couple years, share the wealth ya old bastards you cant win every year (unless your the new look yankees)
ReplyDeleteI really like the idea now that the Pats will be the "underdogs". I was amazed at how strong the Saints played and all roads to the Superbowl go through their home turf. In terms of Boston fans, I wonder if they are any different from any other hardcore team fans. Are they worse? Probably. Ha,ha. I love Boston though.
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