I like the Saints, as most people on this board know.
But I believe it's a bit too early to start throwing statistics around. Just wait till we know for sure we'll see you fellas in the playoffs, then you can start throwing all that in our faces when we beat you down in the cold weather. Last year I believe the Saints played 3 cold weather games, and won only 1, and that was against the Bengals, in which they barely beat. I do give them props for playing a tough game against Baltimore, but you seen all the dropped passes, and so on. They are not a cold weather team, and that's one of 3 reasons they lost to Seattle.
I will mention a statistic that seems forgotten though.
It's how bad the Saints, can't stop a 2 minute offense.
Let's go back to that Atlanta game shall we? Up by 10, and that crumbled away. But the Falcons drove 90 yards in under 2 minutes to kick the game tying field goal, but what amazes me is how the Saints left Douglas WIDE OPEN NOT A MAN EVEN CLOSE TO HIM on that drive after Matt Ryan targeted him 3 times in a row, which got them all the way down into new Orleans territory. First off, before that final drive, Matt Ryan had a 40 yard completion to Douglas because he was wide open with no one covering him. A short screen set up a 40 yard run, why wasn't anyone covering him? You can compare that to our defense giving up big plays till your blue in the face, but I think we would have picked Ryan off where Roman Harper dropped the interception, that would have won the game without the use of OT.
Now let's go to Tennessee. I really think the Saints could have won by more, cause that Jimmy Graham touchdown WAS a touchdown. (Go and watch the tape if you disagree, that one is totally a TD) But even though they didn't get that TD, the Saints were up 22-10 and let the Titans crawl back into the game, just like they did Atlanta. The Saints gave up a HUGE PLAY that put the Titans at the 3 yard line cause they refuse to play man to man defense against a 2 minute offense.
Even when we played the Saints, Rodgers had the 2 minute drill in check on the opening drive, and it was as effective as teams in the later year ran it.
One thing I will say about all the critiscm they get for road performances. Their offense plays really well on the road. I absolutely believe they have a better offense than they did in 2009. Yeah they lost to Tampa Bay on the road, but I'm not going to that far, cause the 49ers lost to the Cardinals. Those are divisional games, which you can easily lose. Look at the numbers in the Saints last games since their last lose, and you can't say that Brees is awful on the road, that offense ROLLS in almost every game, but that defense totally stinks. Look at the stats for the offense and on the road, and they are damn good. I think Rodgers is better than Brees, but I have nothing against Drew, he was my Number 1 quarterback back in 2009, and despite the high INT number last year, I still had him in my top 3. But that defense, Just keep blitzing and leaving guys wide open all over the place, and see where that gets them.
Why can't the Saints get turnovers like they used to? I watched every game in 2009, and that defense just amazed me. I was never a supporter of 4-3 defenses, but that 2009 unit really made me raise my eyes, because they got turnovers. We may give up a lot of yards, but we do get the turnovers that lead to points, and that's what matters. The Saints get stops every now and then, but they struggle as far as turnovers go, and they struggled last year with that too. What ever aggressive chemistry Williams came up with for that 2009 defensive unit really wore off when they decided to change up their starting lineup on defense last year (Letting Fujita go to Cleveland was a big mistake, and Alex Brown was a joke)
At the end of the Tennessee game the commentators Aikman and Buck kept saying "Gregg Williams sure is tired of people talking about his defense giving up 450 yards in the last few games" that's understandable, but it would be more believable if he made a statement out of it. Remember when Capers was tired of people talking about how bad the Packers defense played like against the Giants and Chargers? Disappointment was expressed in those performances. in return we totally shut down the Vikings, holding their work horse Adrian Peterson below 50 yards (Forgive me if I'm wrong, it may have been a little over 50) and then last week they made a huge statement against the Raiders totally shutting them out most of the game, and the defense had 4 turnovers, and they gave Carson Palmer the worst nightmare of his season. THAT is how you get it done if you're tired of people criticizing your defense.