That game was the only possible way the 2014 season could end. The Saints were out of sync, underperformed, hurt, and simply not themselves. At least, they weren’t the team we are used to seeing. This is however the Saints team that has existed since the loss to the Niners; with the exception of the game against Pittsburgh the Saints have been a hollow and broken shell of their former selves, and I wish I could say it was a total surprise. These might be professional athletes, but they are still human beings, and there is only so much heartbreak any team can take. The early games against Atlanta, Cleveland, Dallas, and Detroit hurt the teams psyche, but the SF game and the way it ended was in many ways the nail in the coffin. Other than some very brief flashes, I never again saw the Saints team that dominated Detroit (until giving it all back in about 2 plays), just the shattered husk of our beloved Saints. This team was broken physically as well coming into the Game against Atlanta and I don’t think they had much left in the tank emotionally either.
I am NOT making excuses for what I saw, that was a sad and pathetic performance against a very bad team. I understand to a degree why it happened, but in no way do I find that acceptable. As a fan I want my team to win every game, get a ring every year, and our stars to always shine the brightest. It’s games like Sunday that remind us that its rarely ever the case that we get what we want as fans, but in a way that’s half the fun of cheering. No matter what happens we support our team because we love them, we believe in them, and on Sunday’s we live through them.
Now that I have gotten my little pep-talk/ psycho-babble out of the way lets take a look at what I want to see in the Saints final pre-season game.
PLAYERS TO SIT:
-Drew Brees: no reason to risk your starter and star for nothing, especially when there is something to be gained by it.
-Terron Armstead: you don’t risk your LT for the next ten years (presumably) for nothing, get him healthy and ready for next year.
-Jimmy Graham: lots of people with jaws bigger than their brains are now on a ‘soft’ crusade against Jimmy, I doubt most of them could walk or run with the injuries he is dealing with, but that is beside the point. He is hurt, and right now he is a liability because the greatest asset he has is his athleticism and right now that isn’t a factor due to injury.
-Keenan Lewis: Like Jimmy he is fighting through injury, and while he is playing a bit better, he needs to be preserved for the future. He will be pissed and you can’t care (as a coach), sit him down and live to fight another day.
PLAYERS TO BENCH: (performance based)
Jonathan Goodwin: Not necessarily a disaster on every play, but he hasn’t looked dominant, or even beyond merely competent to me in a while. He is old and hurt, and done. Its sad, you should appreciate him for his accomplishments, but his time is done.
Ben Grubbs: I don’t know if he is hurt, but I do know that he has played very poorly as of late and with his contract value he could be on the cutting block.
Marques Colston: IMO he is either getting a pay cut or a pink slip in the offseason, which is sad because he is one of the greatest players in franchise history, but in this game playing him has no value.
Junior Gallete: He is banged up, mouthy, and has too big of a head for his own good. It might do him some good to sit a game and stew with that taste in his mouth over the off season, but either way he is only playing for those sacks to get his bonus. That doesn’t benefit the team right now.
PLAYERS WHO NEED TO SEE REPS:
Nick Toon: He should be the focus of the gameplan, if for no other reason than we need to see if he is worth keeping in any way.
Ryan Griffin: Payton is high on his potential obviously…this is a good chance to see if there has been growth.
Senio Kelemete: I have liked a lot of what I have seen from him, and if he can hold his own against Tampa’s d-line then I would consider him the favorite at left guard going into camp. I think we need to see him in a full game though.
Tim Lelito: He looked good at center when he played and there is a good chance he is the future at the position for the team. With nothing left to play for I see no reason not to start the player who is going to play into the future, and who is honestly the better option at this point.
Ronald Powell: the Saints desperately need a true outside linebacker and he might be able to fill that role; start him and lets see what he has. I am hoping for growth from the flashes we saw in pre-season on this one.
There are numerous other changes I feel need to be made for this team to have any chance of being competitive next year, but I won’t be going into any of that until we are actually in the post-season. My reason for calling for the above changes NOW instead of later is the opportunity to get live game reps for players who have potential. There is literally nothing else that can be gained in this game as a ‘win’ only serves to lower draft position. I am NOT NOT NOT saying tank, (we ain’t the sixers) but I am saying if you are going to win….do it with the future, not with the past.
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