It's hard to walk away from that game and try to come up with much that's objective or even positive as a Saints fan. The team borderline quit, especially on defense, and turned in what I considered both their worst performance of the season and their biggest implosion. After a 24-13 lead and a ridiculous blown call by the officials that should have awarded the Saints the ball in the red zone, everything changed. The defense's performance was deplorable, inexcusable and it was catastrophic. After this game I just don't see how you can lobby for anything other than a complete overhaul defensively. Below are my bullets on the game one last time this season.
- DeAngelo Williams had 21 carries for 210 yards and 2 touchdowns. He joins Fiipper Anderson and Joey Galloway and the principle one man wrecking crews in Saints history.
- Brodrick Bunkley and Jonathan Vilma played pretty well, sadly the rest of the defense didn't seem interested.
- Cam Newton didn't even play well, that's the saddest part of this 44 point yielding. He had a QB rating of 61.2 and completed less than 50% of his passes. His lone touchdown pass was to the other team. Despite all this, the Saints gave up 44 points. Horrid.
- Steve Smith remains on par with Roddy White for me, clearly one of the biggest thugs and despicable human beings in the game.
- Lance Moore had the most ridiculous circus catch perhaps of the season. Unreal catch.
- More drops galore for Jimmy Graham, with some personal fouls to go along with it late in the game. I'm most glad this season is over for his sake.
- Garrett Hartley drilled a 53 yard bomb at the gun of halftime. That was fun.
- Chris Ivory was by far the best runner on the day for the Saints and he saw 4 carries. Criminal.
- You know Patrick Robinson is bad when he's the most picked on corner despite the fact that the Saints are missing their other top 2 corners (Greer and White). That said, Johnny Patrick was hot garbage too.
- Isa Abdul-Quddus is a great ballhawk on the back end and does a great job tracking the ball in the air. Unfortunately, he's not nearly as good as a last line of defense tackler. That's where Malcolm Jenkins is much better. So the question for next year is: do you prefer a playmaking ballhawk safety or a sure tackler that takes good angles against ball carriers?
- Brees broke some more records, Morstead blew his shot at one, and the defense is officially the worst in NFL history.
- Turk McBride was bad but at least he wrecked Cam Newton's ankle. Oh sorry, that's not classy. Hope you feel better Cam.
This season mercifully comes to an end. I still love New Orleans, and my Saints. Better times ahead, I can't imagine the defense can possibly be this bad again next year. Sean Payton better come in like a knight in shining armor and take a bulldozer to this defense.
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