So I'm no longer writing for WhoDatDish. 5 editor changes in 4 years and new requirements meant it was going to be more work for basically free, not just for fun as it had been, so I opted out. But it doesn't mean I'm not paying attention.
You go an entire year without playing a game in front of a full house due to COVID. Then you begin your next year with three road games, including one "home" game in Florida due to Hurricane Ida. One would believe that the Saints would be fully focused coming back home to play in a full Caesars Superdome. You'd think that the time away and the desire to hear a full throated home crowd fill the Dome with noise and cheer you to victory would be enough impetus for full focus on the task at hand.
It wasn't.
The Saints allowed the miserable Giants to hang around all game, and then the Saints D, - who have been reading their own press maybe a bit too much - the self-proclaimed "Juice Boyz", played more like juice boxes in the 4th quarter. The big thing in the NFL - really all levels of football - is don't give up big plays. Keep the ball in front of you. The Saints twice fell asleep on defense and allowed plays of 50+ yards. They allowed Daniel Jones, who had yet to prove he's anything more than a less than average NFL QB, to have his career day.
But it was bad from go and remained so. The Saints offense got into Giant territory on each of their first 7 possessions. 21 points isn't really enough when you go 7 trips into your opponent's territory. This isn't just on the missed FG from 58 yards (though we long for Wil Lutz to get healthy). And this isn't really on a poor Jameis Winston performance - he was efficient. It's kind of on a blah game plan. Play calling in this one wasn't very dynamic.
I get it... the Saints receiving corps isn't very good. They do a poor job getting separation from their defenders and never seem to understand how to find the open spots in the zones. And Winston is often a bit slow in picking up the mismatch and he doesn't have the Drew Brees of throwing receivers open. But we're significantly reducing the playbook, playing maybe too safe. Yes, Ruiz at center is not the equivalent of McCoy. Yes, no one is as good as Armstead at left tackle. Yes, I too wonder why we paid Andrus Peat such huge money to be a force on only about 50% of plays. But at some point, this offense needs to open up.
Do you ever recall a game that Alvin Kamara played in and he was NOT ONCE targeted in the passing game? I do not. He was great on the ground, but he's got to get the ball in space on the edges some too.
This is what I mean - something happened and the offense was just stale. Even though we possessed the ball tremendously well and way more than the Giants for 3 quarters, we ended up losing because we just didn't put the ball in the end zone.
The cute has to go. I am all for Taysom Hill getting snaps at QB. And I'm all for him throwing some because he has to do that to keep defenses honest. But he's got to make better decision and throws. That ridiculous interception is why he didn't win out over Winston. Our best receiver is a guy who might be 5'6" and might be 170 lbs. No knock on him, but you can't ever throw a ball up and hope he comes down with it. And you can't try to fit the ball in between defenders when they have him bracketed high and low.
As for the defense, wow. We got little pressure on the QB, they passed the ball wherever they wanted to, particularly picking on the rookie Adebo. We went out and signed two veteran corners to help out - one of them wasn't even active yesterday. What are we doing? The rookie has played well in spots and I'm all for him getting on the field, but when you have certain situations, don't you want a veteran who has some skins on the wall in there? Someone they aren't deliberately going to try and attack? Marshon Lattimore was burned hard because he didn't respect Barkley.
The TD in the end zone that was fumbled, I call BS on. The ball popped out; the ruling was that the TD stood because the receiver jumped on the ball after fumbling it. But the problem was the official was standing there saying TD from the time the tackle was made. If you are signaling TD, why would our guys run to jump on what should have been a dead ball? Mind you, they SHOULD have jumped on it regardless because it was a loose ball. But if the official has his hands up, isn't the play dead? And on review, if the play is dead, wouldn't that nullify the recovery, and the only call would be incomplete pass, because he did not have possession as he crossed the goal line...
But that was but one issue with the Saints D. Hoping today they are watching film and getting reamed for the myriad mistakes they made.
And I know there is talk of a quiet dome. Early it was because the crowd couldn't get in. We expected slow downs coming in with the extra protocols, but they've created problems where there were none before. They've now created lines everywhere, including Gate G, which used to be so easy to get into. The lines wrap around the sides and run into each other so you have no idea where to go. The line for Gate G now starts on one side at Gate A and the other at Gate E. Moronic. And with the ramps gone, you now take stairs up in many places. Who wanted that? It made the escalators more crowded than ever.
So fans were late arriving and frustrated. And then more frustration set in when we got into Giants territory and went: punt/stopped on 4th down/missed FG on the first 3 possessions. If there isn't anything to cheer for, the fans sit on their hands. Yes, you want to be up for the defense, but the offense has to give you a little momentum too.
And the music in the dome is slacking. OK, you don't want to do Stand Up and Get Crunk after every score - I'm fine with that. But we have to be able to come up with better than what they did. If you're going to play NOLA music, great. Pick out some great songs and CRANK IT UP. They have to be bangers. Otherwise, stay with something everyone will get up for - help your home team out.
The overall gameday experience yesterday was terrible - getting in was more frustrating than ever, from parking to the entrance in the newly made lines (I know they had them already at the other gates, but G was always the go-to easy entrance - no more...), to the crowding on escalators, to the new configuration with lost seats (though credit is due because the configuration itself is very nice), to the miserable game, to the egress coming down tremendously overcrowded escalators, which is new because no one wants to walk down stairs.
In all ways, this was one for the River Parish guys to take with them...
I didn't do a preseason prediction, but I'd have gone 11-6. Worst case scenario 10-7, high water mark 12-5. For the first quarter-ish of the season, I'd have gone 3 and 1. I felt like they'd open with a loss to GB, then reel off 3 straight wins. Not so much so far...
