Preseason # 3 in the books.......

If you are like me there are many things to cheer about on offense. It looks like everything is humming along. Also, another big pleasant surprise this year appears to be Joique Bell who has come literally out of nowhere to seriously challenge for a roster spot. The good news is he seems a bit more durable than Chris Ivory and may end up being the reason the Saints keep Ivory on the PUP list to begin the season. This move will provide valuable insurance should we have another year like last year when every game it seemed like a running back was going down with an injury. Ivory will sit the first 6 weeks out and if he doesn't recover enough will go on IR for the season especially if Bell continues to impress. On defense.....a slightly different picture. Depending on who you talk to we are either extremely Vanilla or it's going to be a long year for the defense. The truth is probably somewhere in the middle. Yes, Gregg Williams is not showing a lot and yes we are not playing any different looks other than the base since the 49ers game. However, the tackling could be better as well as the DB play. I am not as concerned about the front four as some are. If you watched closely, you saw a tremendous push from Shaun Rogers so much so I was screaming at the referees for a flag for holding on several plays. Apparently they didn't see what I did. Remember, It's preseason for the officials as well. Also, you had a couple refs doing double duty because of the Hurricane so I'll overlook it this time. When Sept 8th rolls around we'll be ready. I was surprised by the pre-game interview with Rodney Harrison from the NBC Sunday Night Network. In it he told WDSU reporter Fletcher Mackel that the Saints will lose to the Packers by two touchdowns. If the Packers beat us by two touchdowns then they will definitely be odds on favorites to go back to the Super Bowl. Just remember.....everyone gets the Super Bowl hangover. It will be interesting to see how they handle it. This week will be the last test for a lot of guys trying to make the team so if you would like to see a real good college football game tune in Thursday night. It should be fun.