Saints Headed to the Offseason...........

Just because it is an early offseason for our home town heroes this will be one of the more interesting offseasons in recent memory and I will be here to comment on all of it as well as hearing from you and what your thoughts are. Keep it right here for all of the latest and we will enjoy the offseason together and have a little fun too!

Playoffs????!!!!

As a true blue Saints fan I am like you completely shocked and disappointed. Unlike some of our local writers though, I do not believe the Saints defense needs a complete overhaul. I do however, feel like there are definitely positions at which we can improve and have said so many times. Number one...How in the world is Roman Harper an alternate ProBowl pick I'll never know. Sure he is a great run stopper but he cannot play the pass. Really if you look at his career with the Saints the best year he had against the pass was his rookie season. Maybe they could move him to Linebacker since he is so good against the run. If the Saints are smart they will let him go in free agency. Another BIG disappointment yesterday was the play of Darren Sharper. Last year an All-Pro Free Safety he looked like a rookie yesterday. He bit on run fakes several times getting caught five yards from the line of scrimmage while Seahawks receivers were streaking down field for a long gainer. Saints fans there was a good reason while Malcolm Jenkins was the starter this year and it had nothing to do with Darren Sharper's injury and everything to do with Jenkins just being a better player this year. For a guy who claims to study film Sharper looked like a deer in headlights. I watched the Rams vs Seahawks game and with my limited knowledge saw several plays that the Seahawks used in that game used again against the Saints. Why weren't the Saints prepared?!?! Knowing how hard the coaches prepare especially Gregg Williams, I have to believe regardless of what is being said that the Saints simply thought this would be a cake walk. Hence they didn't study very had for this test and they failed miserably. What a shame for Saints fans who love their heroes so much. Obviously some Saints players didn't prepare as well as others. Individually I would like to recognize Tracy Porter, Will Smith, Jo Lon Dunbar, and of course Jon Vilma on the defense who DID come to play and did everything they could to win. Unfortunately for them it takes 11 guys. On offense without Drew we are nothing but he has to go back and do some soul searching on these crazy passes trying to make something happen. More times than not something happen all right and it wasn't good. Take the sack Drew and live to fight another play! Let me say again though without Drew we don't win eleven ball games in 2010. Also, for the most part this season the O-Line was good but Drew also makes them look good with his quick release. The one O-Line guy that had the worst season was Bushrod and he has a lot to work on in the offseason. The running backs we have are good with the exception of Julius"i can't hold on to the football" Jones. He should have not been allowed to ride home with the team. I don't care how many touchdowns he scores, you cannot put the ball on the ground especially in the playoffs. Had Sean Payton had anyone else to go to I guarantee Jones would have been on the bench. The problem we had this year was health. If Pierre Thomas and Chris Ivory cannot stay healthy for an entire season then we may have to draft a running back who can. Notice I didn't say pick up one in free agency. That's because that's not how you build a team. Other mentions on offense was the continued great play out of Lance Moore. Too bad we probably will not be able to sign him next year as some team will give him a huge contract. A quick mention for the new kid Jimmy Graham. But this isn't basketball and he will have to toughen up a little. Shockey is near the end of his career and will need to take a pay cut to stay. Also in the category of pay cuts will be Reggie Bush who has not proven he is worth the 11 million he is due next year. Flashes of brilliance cannot be the only thing we see and since his rookie season he has not been on the field enough to warrant that kind of a contract. It will be a long offseason with lots of twists and turns and I will be here to give you my take and look forward to hearing from you with your opinions. Enjoy the playoffs and we will have to pull for someone else this year!

We Made It To The Dance........

Yes Saints fans we made it to the Dance, now we just need to cash in..........
Well, to wrap up my season numbers I finished with back to back weeks of 12-4 to bring my season total to 157-99. I finished higher than 3 of the Times Pic prognosticators. Not too bad for an amateur.
I don't know about you but I am excited to finally see the playoffs get here. It's one and out now and as I am sure you have heard many times already by players and announcers alike everyone has a clean slate and is starting at 0-0. This tournament  could go in many different directions so I will pick as I usually do the day of in the morning for each days games.
Now for today's picks.......1st up is my Home Town Boys(Saints) trying to win there first ever road game in the playoffs. No matter what anyone says this is not an easy game. The Saints are roughly 10 point favorites going into this game. Do not for one moment think that Pete Carroll hasn't put that and all of the pundits comments throughout the locker room as bulletin board material. He will use that as a motivational tool just as he did in the season finale when everyone thought the Rams were the better team including yours truly. To help the Saints to win this game they will need to try to take the crowd out early. That may be a problem though, with the weather conditions which favor the Seahawks simply because they have 3 good running backs in Lynch, Forsett, and Washington where as the Saints are without their two main running backs in Thomas and Ivory. For the Saints to win, not only will Reggie Bush have to step it up but also either Jones or Wynn will have to emerge as the new between the tackles runners. On a rainy cold day short passes will be the only way the Saints can move the ball efficiently.This could come down to a field goal which brings me to another story line with kickers Garrett Hartley and Olindo Mare. Those of you Saints fans will remember the experiment with Mare with the Saints. He couldn't hit a Stop Sign from 10 feet when he played with the Saints. Since he has been with the Seahawks he has missed very few including a stretch of 30 consecutive field goals ending with a miss against Oakland on Oct 31st this year. For the season both kickers are close with Hartley going 25 of 31 and Mare 25 of 30. I would like to see some Karma come back for Mare today. We will shall see. I believe the game will be close but the Saints should prevail and win their first playoff game on the road.
Next up we have the Jets at Indianapolis. The way the Colts have played the last few weeks I just can't see them losing at home. I know the Jets want to go further this year but wanting to and actually doing it are two different things. The last 4 weeks Peyton Manning has been on FIRE! He has willed his team into the playoffs and I can't see them losing in this round. It may come down to another Adam Vinatieri field goal but the Colts will win. Enjoy the games and I'll see you tomorrow morning with my Sunday Playoff picks.

Week Seventeen in the NFL........

Before I get started on this week's picks, just a quick comment on last week's Monday Night Football game. At the risk of sounding like Ray Rice of the Ravens, did you see that horrible officiating at the Falcons-Saints game? I have just 2 stats for you...Saints 8 penalties for 92 yards and the Falcons ONE for 10 yards.....C'mon Man!
Just had to get that off my chest now for the picks. By the way, I had an incredible week last week at 12-4  bringing my season total to 145-95 not bad for an amateur. First up the home town team Saints are entertaining the Bucs. This is a must win for Tampa Bay. Contrary to many of the TV analysts the Saints are not going to be scoreboard watching and Drew Brees will not be pulled in the 2nd half if the Falcons are way ahead of the Panthers. You would have to drag Drew kicking and screaming to get him out of the game. Saints are at home and will come focused not to say it will be easy keep in mind the Bucs need this game to even have a slim hope of getting in the playoffs. Saints win in a close one. See Football Fan Crazy for my other picks.