Well after agonizing all day yesterday and drinking myself into a mild coma I can tell you,"They are who I knew they were." Everyone was so sure of the Saints going into Soldier Field and running it up on the Bears and constantly my reply was, "Do you remember the Washington game?" I don't think I would have been so mad or violently ill (not sure if it was the game or the beer that casued the latter) if it wasn't for two things...playcalling and turnovers. Can someone explain to me why the Saints, after coming off of a 200 yard rushing game, run the ball only 12 freaking times. That was less than 25% of the play calls. If you don't have balance you ain't going to win squat and you can make book on that. Everydody is saying that the Saints run defense was atrocious, ya think. The Bears ran the ball 46 times. The defense was on the field the entire freaking game. There were some bad calls but not enough to turn the tides. Hell coming into the 3rd quarter they were only down 2. Why in the hell did Payton panic and throw on every down at that point. They ran play action passes with no threat of run. I really and honestly think that the outcome of the game would have been much different if they established the run. If anything it would have given the defense a little break. I think I'm going to be sick again. Credit to the Bears O-line for putting on a run blocking clinic on the Saints D-Line. I don't think you can draw up blocking better than that. Kreutz made Hollis Thomas wish he'd have actually taken the steroids. Fred Thomas was again the weak link in the secondary but we knew that going into the game. It should have never been a deciding factor.

All in all they had a great run. I'm proud as hell of all that they accomplished this season. I think the Saints future is only going to get better with leaders like Sean Payton, Drew Brees, Mike McKenzie, and Deuce McCallister. I hope that they look at this game film and learn lessons from it. Not to beat a dead horse but throwing the ball 80% of the time in nasty snowy conditions. Even Mike Martz thinks that's jacked up. Okay enough said. Baseball Spring Training can't get here fast enough to take my mind off of this debacle.

P.S. I don't know if PSing is boggically correct but I have to add this. Note to uninformed Saints fan...The refs did not turn the ball over 5 times and they did not commit a safety and they did not give up on the running game. Yes the offensive pass interference was a no call. There were some questionable holding calls on the Bears OL that never came to fruition but the Saints got worked over like Shamrock v. Ortiz. So please for the love of God quit blogging about how the refs cost you the game. Pass protection was horrible because you ran one screen and two swing passes all game. You never ran the ball against a D that was missing it's anchor and it's SS. Again, watch that atrocity, become a little more informed and then bitch.

I'm not going to gloat over a win that could have been an absolute disaster. Reggie Bush fumbled on a toss play that I thought was certain doom for the Saints, but the defense did what they've done all year and that's answering the call at the right time. The pass to Donte' Stallworth I called before the coin toss. After watching them all season long I knew that they would give up the big play at least once in the game.  I'm not all gah gah today over them...now if you talked to me Saturday that was a whole different story. (But that might have just been the booze talking)

Positives:

-Deuce McCallister played like the premier back he used to be and still is.

-Steve Weatherford had probably the greatest heads up play of the game running for a first down on 4th and long instead of risking a blocked punt. (Whoever thought a punter could be an unsung hero?)

-Drew Brees still makes good decisions and one name I never heard all night long was Brian Dawkins which leads me to believe that everywhere he was they went the opposite direction.

Negatives:

-Reggie Bush still made rookie mistakes that could've cost them the game.

-The secondary can not afford mental errors like that of veterans Fred Thomas and Mike McKenzie against the Bears. Bernard Berrian will go vertical so Josh Bullocks must be ready to cover over the top.

The NFC championship game will be won by the Special Teams. The Saints have had a propensity of giving up a lot of yards on the kickoff and with Devin Hester back there I would just pooch kick everything and make them score on offense. Keep their defense on the field and wear them down like the Seahawks did and maybe, just maybe my once far fetched prediction at the beginning of every regular season will become reality.

SAINTS?!!

Going into the game I was very pessimistic about the Saints chance because of the injury situation and the season suspension of Hollis Thomas, but they just came out and put the ass kicking of a lifetime on the Cowboys. On the Cowboys second play from scrimmage Julius Jones exploited the void where Hollis Thomas was supposed to be going 77 yards to pay dirt. Drew Brees took his troops back out on the field with the swagger that they weren't even fazed by the big Cowboy momentum boost. The 86 yard drive was capped off by an unsuspecting run up the middle by Mike Karney for the touchdown, the first of his career. Check the irony on this story? Mike Karney scored 3 touchdowns yesterday which were the first three of his carreer. They came on his 44th game played in the league and his number is 44, weird.

Reggie freaking Bush made magic again on a screen pass that would have been a minimal gain with any other back, but Reggie isn't just any ordinary back. When he broke into the secondary it was over for the Cowboys at that point and he went 66 yards for the touchdown his 5th in his last 2 games. Reggie bust? I think not.

So after the third Mike Karney touchdown the Saints line up for what looked to be your normal run of the mill kickoff, but Sean Payton isn't your normal run of the mill coach. The onside kick and get it when they are up by 17 late in the game. I don't know if there were any harsh feelings between the Tuna and Payton, but that looked to me like he said'now I'm really going to kick your ass. After the recovery, a few plays later, they run the same play that I've seen them score with in at least four other games this season. Reggie splits out wide with Devery in the slot. Bush motions to the inside and they play action the end around and hit Devery Henderson deep on the post route.

Then the ultimate in ass kicking came on the Saints last drive when they forced Dallas to punt late in the fourth quarter and the Saints offensive line just broke the will of the Cowboy defense driving almost the length of the field on running plays only. They kneeled it out past the 2 minute warning showing good sportsmanship and Tuna did like wise. As the coaches greeted each other at midfield it was clear that Bill Parcels had told coach "Good job."

Good job coach.

I would like to add a special thanks to all the Texans managerial staff out there for taking Mario Williams in the draft. I'd also like to thank the Oakland Raiders for passing on Sean Payton. And finally I'd like to thank the Miami Dolphin for choosing Culpepper over Brees. Good choice gentlemen.

It's been a long time since I had good things to say about the Saints soooo.....

WHO DAT?! WHO DAT?! WHO DAT SAY DEY GONNA BEAT DEM SAINTS?!

The Saints got a very critical victory on Sunday defeating their NFC South rival the "Dirty Birds." In a game that could, and by my feelings should, have ended a lot differently. Dropped passes by the Falcons led to their demise. There were a couple of plays where Atlanta receivers had beaten the coverage, and could have scored on, but dropped the ball. The Saints moved the ball well on their first two possesions and didn't seem to wake up from the glory afterwards going 3 and out on the next 4 possesions. If not for the Terrance Copper Hail Mary catch to end the first half, Atlanta's sails might not have been so deflated in the second half. For the third week in a row the Saints rushing game was voided out by Sean Payton's passing attack. One series in particular that I can remember the Saints rushed to the line on a third and short and got stuffed on a dive play off of the left tackle. The Atlanta personnel had crowded the line ready for the obvious run. Why not huddle up if you have the lead and get a good play call in? I found myself questioning some of the calls made by my rookie head coach and I'm sure if asked he might have done things a little different.

Next week the Saints face a troubled 49ers team looking for an identity. Stopping Frank Gore should be feasible but if Alex Smith can get their typical "West Coast" rolling the Saints secondary could get into some trouble. Maybe I'm being to pesimistic in my view but the play of the defense is seeming to get very lackidaisical. They did a heck of a job stopping Warrick Dunn and you can't really count the runs by Vick because...well he's Michael Vick. He still has crazy speed and it's a shame to reign in a quarterback of his caliber and give him the label of being a coach killer. I for one would not mid having him as a threat in my scheme. With the right offense he is still a dangerous weapon if you play to his strengths.

I am exteremely bitter about EA Sports NCAA Football 2007. I created a running back, went through all 4 years of college, was the Heisman trophy winner twice (amongst other awards), and became a campus legend. No little movie or anything at the end or anything to get excited about, but you get a sorry ass little trophy added to your profile. What a pile of garbage. It took about 3 months of playing that game, when I had a chance, to get to that level and then there was nothing visual to reflect my accomplishments. Bullshit.

Then I transfer my star to Madden and like I said previously 2 time Heisman and National Championship winner, and I get drafted in the 3rd round by the team I hate the most, the 49ers. I don't think it's possible for EA to screw me anymore than they already have. If they didn't have a monoply on quality football games I'd boycott buying their garbage. The good news is that my running back has been somewhat of a stud through the PreSeason but I'm hoping to get dealt. Once I get through this Rookie season I'm gonna go TO on the San Fran coaching staff.

(Disclaimer I'm supposed to be working right now but no one else is so screw it I'm writing about PS2 games.)