In a game that was much, much worse than the score, the Saints were embarrassed in Joe Vitt's return, losing 14-34. The defense was it's usual helpless self, giving up 225 yards rushing at 5.5 yards a pop and 305 yards passing to boot. What came as a bigger surprise was how unusually inept the offense was. The entire unit looked distabilized and out of synch all night long. It's been a long day made painful but the Saints' horrible showing, so I'll keep this short and send you on your way with a brief recap bullet style.
- Brees' accuracy was just off tonight and the location of his balls wasn't par for the course. He just wasn't as sharp as usual, and didn't move around in the pocket as well either. Not sure why, perhaps the weather and Denver's pressure are to blame. I bet he plays infinitely better in the dome next week.
- Mark Ingram had 3 carries for 7 yards. At this point the Saints aren't even bothering.
- That failed 4th down in the first half was big, but it all started with 2nd and 2. The Saints threw two incompletes and an interception. Two of those plays were out of the Shotgun, one with no back at all. Why not even pretend you might run? The Saints don't even give teams a chance to suspect run in short yardage situations. That's just sad.
- I said it already on twitter, at this point you have to call a spade a spade: Steve Spagnuolo is failing miserably at his job. I'm starting to feel like the Saints should can him after the year. I'm sorry but these are the same players Gregg Williams had. The latter got more out of them.
- This offense has been much better without Jimmy Graham in it this year. The number of drops he's had at critical times to kill drives is infuriating. Some are easy catches and just a complete lack of focus. His stats may look good but trust me when I say his season has been miserable. He's a total liability out there this year.
- Devery Henderson looked like the DH of old, but older. As if, he was terrible and couldn't catch anything.
- Thomas Morstead was fantastic booming punts, so there's that?
- Where to even start with this defense? Curtis Lofton is the only one playing. Maybe Akiem Hicks too. That's it.
- Patrick Robinson is rapidly becoming the new Toi Cook/Fred Weary/bad Fred Thomas years/Jason David… and Corey White is in the ballpark too.
- The Broncos averaged 7.5 yards per play. Not a typo.
You get the idea. Sometimes your team just gets their ass kicked. It wasn't our night. We knew the Broncos were a very good team and it was going to be very tough coming into Denver and winning. Anything short of the Saints' best shot wasn't going to get it done. Well, they brought mediocre effort and the result makes a lot of sense: a blowout loss. So maybe coming back home will yield better. Have a good night.
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