Canadian Saint Posted October 31, 2019 Share Posted October 31, 2019 So with the BYE week upon us and the Saints prepare for the Falcons, I thought this week we could do a few things. Look and see which teams we should be rooting for this week, look ahead and see our remaining schedule, and finally, review the team. For the review, I'll place a format, for the most part do letter grades unless told other wise. Week of 11/30 games or key games to watch: Thu: 49ers vs. Cardinals Sun: Titans vs. Panthers Vikings vs. Chiefs Buccaneers vs. Seahawks Packers vs. Chargers Cowboys vs. Giants Pretty simple, but those are the games that are consequential this week. The bolded are teams we hope can pull off wins. I think the Chiefs, Bucs and Chargers could pull off wins and help us out. Not really confident in the others. Saints remaining schedule: vs. Falcons @ Bucs vs. Panthers @ Falcons vs. 49ers vs. Colts @ Titans @ Panthers With 8 remaining games, what do you see our record in this stretch of games. Midseason review: Overall team grade: Offense grade: Best player/positional group on offense: Breakout player on offense: Player/positional group that needs to improve: Defense grade: Best player/positional group on defense: Breakout player on defense: Player/positional group that needs to improve: ST grade: I think Saints win this week easily. It'll be a brees, basically doing it with our eyes closed. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dome Posted October 31, 2019 Share Posted October 31, 2019 (edited) Quote Saints remaining schedule: vs. Falcons @ Bucs vs. Panthers @ Falcons vs. 49ers vs. Colts @ Titans @ Panthers With 8 remaining games, what do you see our record in this stretch of games. I think we can win every game. I don't think it's unreasonable to put our only loss as @Panthers when we rest our starters. I think the 49ers will be a battle to the bitter end, and one of our divisional opponents will give us a run for our money in a game that matters. But we can beat every team on our schedule. Midseason review: Overall team grade: A- Offense grade: A- Best player/positional group on offense: Brees and QB, easily. Brees, Bridgewater, Hill. HOFer playing at a high level, one of the best backups in the league, and a 3rd QB who can move the chains on gadget plays (as a QB) in an emergency (as a QB) and plays multiple positions in his important role in our offense (on most plays). Breakout player on offense: Ryan Ramczyk. Honorable mention to Erik McCoy, with a nod and smile to Bridgewater. Ramy and McCoy have both been among the best at their position (not just LT for Ramy, but tackle overall). Teddy made himself a bunch of money this year, even if it's high end backup money. Player/positional group that needs to improve: Guard (left more than right) and TE (though Hill and Hill have looked improved this year) and any WR that's not just a small TE named Mike. Defense grade: A Best player/positional group on defense: Wow. This is tough. We're solid across the board. Cam, Davis, Lattimore are our top 3. One at every level. Behind them we have Rankins, Davenport and Brown, as well as Williams, Bell, Apple and CGJ who have all been playing well this year. Breakout player on defense: Marcus Davenport. Total beast. He's still very raw still but you can put on tape each week and see that he's improving each and every as a run defender, and he wasn't half bad against the run to begin with. He gets consistent pressure as a pass rusher by converting speed to power but he needs to keep developing his pass rushing moves to get to the next level.Right now I see him as a discount Clowney type player but still trending upwards. Marcus Williams has become PFFs highest rated safety on the season after two weeks of bench-worthy play and Vonn Bell has been underrated for a while now. Player/positional group that needs to improve: LB. Outside of Davis and Anzal-owie we've got a lot of 2-down linebackers. We need someone else who can play every down. ST grade: B+ Thomas Morstead is one of the best in the game. Lutz has had a bad couple weeks but he'll bounce back. He's a great kicker. Couple great returns called back on penalties as well as that Patterson return where one player got a hand on him bring them down a little, but a blocked punt (and another tipped) as well as the threat of Taysom Hill doing something miraculous when he's on the field makes up for it. Edited October 31, 2019 by Dome 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jlowe22 Posted October 31, 2019 Share Posted October 31, 2019 5 hours ago, Dome said: Marcus Williams has become PFFs highest rated safety on the season after two weeks of bench-worthy play That surprised the hell out of me. I guess he's been a lot better lately. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fray32 Posted November 1, 2019 Share Posted November 1, 2019 I have always loved Marcus Williams. ridiculous, absurd end to the Minnesota game notwithstanding. This team has definitely exceeded my expectations this season, I felt there was way too much hype around them, and they were due for a regression from a tough schedule. Excited to be wrong! 49ers and Packers are playing pretty good football but really: the Saints have the softer division and if they can grab #1 in the NFC... The 49ers and Packers can harp on about emerging into the playoffs from tougher competition but they'll still have to win in the dome in order to go to the superbowl and I like our odds there against anyone and everyone. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jlowe22 Posted November 1, 2019 Share Posted November 1, 2019 49ers have some tough games coming up, including us in the dome. Between 49ers, Saints, and Packers, one of us is gonna have to play a wildcard game at 13-3. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SWATcha Posted November 1, 2019 Share Posted November 1, 2019 2 hours ago, Jlowe22 said: 49ers have some tough games coming up, including us in the dome. Between 49ers, Saints, and Packers, one of us is gonna have to play a wildcard game at 13-3. Be nice to finish in 1st, with Niners and Packers at 2 and 3 so they have to potentially play one another before playing the Saints. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jlowe22 Posted November 1, 2019 Share Posted November 1, 2019 17 minutes ago, SWATcha said: Be nice to finish in 1st, with Niners and Packers at 2 and 3 so they have to potentially play one another before playing the Saints. Be nice to get the Niners back for 2011, when we were both 13-3 and we had to play them at their place. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sammymvpknight Posted November 1, 2019 Share Posted November 1, 2019 Quote Saints remaining schedule: vs. Falcons (W) @ Bucs (W) vs. Panthers (W) @ Falcons (W) vs. 49ers (W) vs. Colts (W) @ Titans (W) @ Panthers (L) The Saints will be Vegas favorites the rest of the way...with the exception of the Super Bowl. Their schedule plays out favorably. Their two toughest non-division games, versus Indy and versus SF, are both in the Super Dome. I honestly think that the Saints could potentially run the schedule. Winning 15 games in a season is very difficult and I'd be surprised if they don't slip up at least once, but the Saints do have a very good chance to be the #1 seed. Midseason review: Overall team grade: A. I believe that this is the most talented team in the NFL. From top to bottom, on every level of every unit, this team is absolutely loaded with pro bowl players. What they did under the circumstances was unbelievable and speaks to the depth, overall talent, and coaching of the team. Offense grade: A-. Brees is 40 years old, so there is the potential for injury. The OL is elite. The RB situation is elite. Michael Thomas has been the best WR in the NFL this year. Not good depth between Thomas and Ginn, but as long as they stay healthy, I don't envision any issues. Best player/positional group on offense: Best player is Alvin Kamara. When he's healthy, he is the most difficult matchup in the NFL. The most important player is Michael Thomas, only because of the lack of depth behind him. The best position group is the OL...which is arguably the best in the NFL. Breakout player on offense: Teddy Bridgewater was really good in Brees's absence. He's a starter somewhere next season. The rest of the guys...Kamara, Thomas, Ramczyk, etc were already really good last season. Player/positional group that needs to improve: wide receiver depth is troublesome if either Thomas or Ginn goes down. A few guys coming back from injury may help. Defense grade: A. This has been an elite defense since week 3. Not convinced anyone can run on the Saints. The secondary is also playing at an elite level. When Marcus WIlliams, who I believe is probably the weakest starter in the secondary, has PFF's highest FS grade...that's telling. Best player/positional group on defense: Defensive end. Cam Jordan is still the heart and soul of the defense. Davenport has lived up to his draft status and a monster against the run and constantly pressuring the QB. When Hendrickson gets back to 100% I'm not sure there is a better, more complete DE corp in the NFL. Breakout player on defense: As mentioned above...Davenport. But you probably could go with a number of other guys including Williams, Bell, Onyemata, or Apple. Player/positional group that needs to improve: The LB corp is not particularly strong outside of Demario Davis. Klein has had a solid season compared to last, but I'm still surprised that opposing offenses haven't attempted to exploit the Saints second level in passing situations...perhaps because the safeties have been so good and the pass rush has made things challenging. ST grade: A-. This is an A+ talent type situation. Morstead is the best punter in the NFL. Lutz is a top 3 kicker, but has been just a little bit more shaky as of late. Deonte Harris is pretty unbelievable. He's going to be the best returner in the league in no time if he can make good decisions and not muff punts. He actually reminds me a little of Tyreek Hill...just oozes explosiveness. Punt and kickoff coverage have been very good, with the exception of the Patterson TD. I've been a Saints fan since about 1987, and I've followed them closely since about 1996. Overall, this is the most talented and most complete Saints team I have ever seen. There is not a team in the NFL that scares me. This team, much like the 2009 team, feels like a team of destiny...much more than the 2011, 2017, or 2018 teams. They also have what I believe are the three most talented offensive players in franchise history...Brees, Kamara, and Thomas. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jlowe22 Posted November 1, 2019 Share Posted November 1, 2019 3 hours ago, sammymvpknight said: I've been a Saints fan since about 1987, and I've followed them closely since about 1996. Overall, this is the most talented and most complete Saints team I have ever seen. There is not a team in the NFL that scares me. I'll agree with this. Although no team pre-2006 can really compare. This team is probably better than the 09 team. Weakness of that team was run defense. Weakness of this team is WR depth. That team was elite at guard, this team is elite at tackle. They were elite at creating turnovers, while this team doesn't get as many turnovers, but doesn't get burned nearly as often. That team also had prime Brees playing at an MVP level. I suppose it remains to be seen if he's gonna play on that level this year. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fray32 Posted November 2, 2019 Share Posted November 2, 2019 Btw, guess who won the Superbowl the last time it was held in Miami Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Canadian Saint Posted November 4, 2019 Author Share Posted November 4, 2019 If we got nothing else this weekend, at the very least you can be glad the Saints have beaten some really tough teams. Beating up on tanking teams hides weaknesses imo. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Raves Posted November 4, 2019 Share Posted November 4, 2019 9 hours ago, Canadian Saint said: If we got nothing else this weekend, at the very least you can be glad the Saints have beaten some really tough teams. Beating up on tanking teams hides weaknesses imo. I can't help but think you're talking about the Patriots. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Danger Posted November 7, 2019 Share Posted November 7, 2019 Man. Kamara has been a major disappointment to me and my fantasy team this year. I was at a toss-up between him and McCaffery and boy did I pick wrong. Super frustrating. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sammymvpknight Posted November 7, 2019 Share Posted November 7, 2019 9 hours ago, Danger said: Man. Kamara has been a major disappointment to me and my fantasy team this year. I was at a toss-up between him and McCaffery and boy did I pick wrong. Super frustrating. Yeah...that was a bad pick. Kamara is great...but McCaffrey is likely in the best situation in football. He gets unbelievable usage, is in a good run blocking scheme, and is incredibly talented. Kamara should be pretty good the rest of the way...probably a top 5 RB. But he, nor anyone else, is in McCaffrey's class as a fantasy running back this season. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tyler735 Posted November 7, 2019 Share Posted November 7, 2019 10 hours ago, Danger said: Man. Kamara has been a major disappointment to me and my fantasy team this year. I was at a toss-up between him and McCaffery and boy did I pick wrong. Super frustrating. I think Kamara goes off the 2nd half of the season. Brees is healthy, and we have a cupcake upcoming schedule compared with what we were facing the 1st half of the season. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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