Canadian Saint Posted December 20, 2019 Share Posted December 20, 2019 The last two weeks as Saints fan have been a rollercoaster. We went from looking like one and done material to dominating the Colts. So which performance is closer to the real us? That's what the last two weeks will tell us. The offense since Brees has gotten back has kicked into gear. He capped off a historic night with the all time leader in TDs as a QB and the game completion record (and don't quote me but I think he's on track to break his own completion record again - for the third time). CGM had himself another dominant performance. He needs 6 receptions the next two games to beat Marvin Harrison's completion record. The O-line played really well, opened up holes for both Murray and a Kamara (who is inching back to his normal self). The underrated story of that night was the defense. After being humiliated in the dome by the 49ers, they came back to post a dominant performance. Losing Davenport and Rankins was devastating for this team, however they kept doing their thing. They went up against a dominant O-lineman in Nelson, and kept him and the rests of the Colts offense in check. Secondary did it's job. D-line did it's job. LBers did their job. It was a response game and one which we needed. Things to watch: - Saints added a few new faces this week. Notably CB Janoris Jenkins from the Giants. Jenkins was waived due to a distasteful tweet to a fan in which in he doubled down from. Most of us dislike the tweet, but I think consensus is that it was more a product of his frustration playing for the Giants. Now this doesn't excuse the tweet or his reaction, but I bet my house the Payton and the coaching staff sat him down and told him if he's a distraction he's gone. Advanced stats say he's been quite good as a starting CB. Jeff Duncan tweeted Apple's performance the last month and it was not pretty. This move correlates to some increased competition and depth for Apple. To me, Jenkins is really an environment dependent player. That is, he plays as a response to his environment. If you're winning, have good leaders, and just let him do his job, he will do it with flying colors. If you are looking at him to anchor your secondary. Things fall apart. We are definitely the former. - O-line health is getting to be a tad bit of a concern. Warford has been DNP and looks to miss this game. Good news is Peat should be back, or at worse, Patrick Omameh can fill in. Actually I want to take an opportunity to shout out our O-line coach, Dan Rousher. Our O-line this season has been next man up continuously and they'll all played well. Best news is they all seem prepared. From Omameh, to Clapp, to Easton to McCoy. Makes me excited about OT Ethan Greenridge next season after a full season of practicing and preparing for the pro game. - Kamara. So we've had discussion as to why Kamara hasn't been himself. We've gone over everything from injury, fatigue, contract to attitude. For me I'm hoping it's more he's beat up. He's not making the first guy miss as often, and I think he's definitely beat up among maybe other issues. Murray has filled in great, but I hope to see Kamara back to his old self before the playoffs. - CGM. 12 receptions in the next 2 games is very doable. I reckon Payton will try get him as close as he can before the Panthers game to CGM can take a break. He's a physical receiver, but it's taxing the way he plays. - D-line. We missed Davenport and Rankins' pass rush against the Colts. Interesting to see if Hendrickson continues to be there on passing downs or we give a shot to former OSU standout Noah Spence or UDFA Carl Granderson. NFC games to watch: - So here's the deal. If we want the #1 seed, my belief is we need 3 things to happen: 1.) Saints win out 2.) Seattle loses one of their remaining games 3.) Packers loses one of their remaining games Very possible for both Seattle and the Packers as they play the 49ers and Vikings respectively this week. No prediction as I am a superstitious person, lets hope for a Saints win and Seattle and Packers loss. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mid Iowa Posted December 20, 2019 Share Posted December 20, 2019 Another fun write up, CS! 5 hours ago, Canadian Saint said: The offense since Brees has gotten back has kicked into gear. He capped off a historic night with the all time leader in TDs as a QB and the game completion record (and don't quote me but I think he's on track to break his own completion record again - for the third time). His current record is 74.4%. He currently stands at 74.5% Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nolaexpat Posted December 21, 2019 Share Posted December 21, 2019 I think to take the 1 seed, we actually need GB and SF to lose one each while we win out. We own the tiebreaker over Seattle by virtue of beating them head to head so them winning out is actually good for us (means SF loses one for sure). Where we lose that value is conference record so in a 3-way tie with any of them, we fall to third seed. We have two decent chances for a SF loss since both of their remaining games are tough. GB should stomp the poor Lions next week so @MIN is their best chance to lose (Monday night). None of this really matters if we lose today, of course, so let's down TEN and go on from there. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ckoz24 Posted December 21, 2019 Share Posted December 21, 2019 38 minutes ago, nolaexpat said: I think to take the 1 seed, we actually need GB and SF to lose one each while we win out. We own the tiebreaker over Seattle by virtue of beating them head to head so them winning out is actually good for us (means SF loses one for sure). Where we lose that value is conference record so in a 3-way tie with any of them, we fall to third seed. We have two decent chances for a SF loss since both of their remaining games are tough. GB should stomp the poor Lions next week so @MIN is their best chance to lose (Monday night). None of this really matters if we lose today, of course, so let's down TEN and go on from there. This almost gave me a heart attack. Also, agree with your impression of standings and schedule. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jlowe22 Posted December 21, 2019 Share Posted December 21, 2019 47 minutes ago, ckoz24 said: This almost gave me a heart attack. Me too lol. Was totally unprepared for a Saints game today. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nolaexpat Posted December 21, 2019 Share Posted December 21, 2019 Ha! I'm in Houston and it's a Texans day so... my bad. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ckoz24 Posted December 22, 2019 Share Posted December 22, 2019 If we win the tiebreaker though and have similar records, how is Seattle ahead of us right now? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nolaexpat Posted December 22, 2019 Share Posted December 22, 2019 Because it (was) a three-way tie with Green Bay. Since all three teams haven't played each other and are not in the same division, the tie-breaker falls to conference record. All 3 Saints losses are from conference opponents thus far so we lose that. It can be confusing to see it like that since we beat Seattle head to head but that's how it works. 🤷♂️ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scoundrel Posted December 22, 2019 Share Posted December 22, 2019 CGJ baby 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mid Iowa Posted December 22, 2019 Share Posted December 22, 2019 Gardner-Johnson is so good against the run! So good! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JMG5 Posted December 22, 2019 Share Posted December 22, 2019 Defense still trash. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JMG5 Posted December 22, 2019 Share Posted December 22, 2019 Any sort of misdirection and we're just lost. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scoundrel Posted December 22, 2019 Share Posted December 22, 2019 Bad missed tackle by CGJ on that one though Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JMG5 Posted December 22, 2019 Share Posted December 22, 2019 And the penalties are back on offense. Oh boy. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JMG5 Posted December 22, 2019 Share Posted December 22, 2019 That's got to be the first time all year Ryan was beaten for a sack. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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