zorro37
Cha-Champs
Offline
http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2011/writers/peter_king/01/09/wild-card/index.html?eref=sihp
Saints related stuff
Saints related stuff
That's the biggest upshot of the weekend -- New Orleans was a very surprising one and done. Check out the sad, recent Super Bowl hangover story:
2005 Pittsburgh
Went 8-8, didn't make playoffs
2006 Indianapolis
Lost to San Diego in divisional round
2007 New York Giants
Lost to Philadelphia in divisional round
2008 Pittsburgh
Went 9-7, didn't make playoffs
Read more: http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2011/writers/peter_king/01/09/wild-card/index.html#ixzz1AdeTSXb9
Last week, quarterbacks coach Jedd Fisch and offensive coordinator Jeremy Bates, who should take a bow alongside Hasselbeck for the offensive explosion, installed a play they'd seen the Bengals run against New Orleans five weeks ago. In it, Cincinnati had the tight end dive to cut block a rushing linebacker, then wait a moment, get up and look for an opening in the Saints' D -- while Carson Palmer and the rest of the offense seemed to be going the other way.
The misdirection play confounded the Saints, and the Seahawks stole it for the game plan Saturday. "We just did a good job of scheming them, and that play's a perfect example,'' Hasselbeck said. "It's the kind of play where you've got two or three guys throwing cut blocks, and you sell run, and it looks terrible, but if you run it right, the tight end ought to be able to get free.''
8. New Orleans (11-6). You're tired of hearing me say this, but I'm not stopping. The Saints had five running backs on injured-reserve entering the game. Two more, Reggie Bush and Julius Jones, got hurt during the playoff game at Seattle. On the last drive of the game, New Orleans was down to fullback Heath Evans and DeShawn Wynn, signed Monday, with its season on the line. So on the biggest drive of the year, the Saints have their eighth running back and a fullback. That's it. My point: And the league wants to go to 18 games? Who'd the Saints have signed for the playoffs then? Hokie Gajan?
Goat of the Week
David Akers, you're lucky this man was so bad Saturday.
Roman Harper, S, New Orleans.
Harper picked a bad day to have the worst day, by far, of his career. The mainstay in the New Orleans secondary was badly duped on two of the first three Matt Hasselbeck touchdown passes. It was so odd to see a Gregg Williams secondary get beat up like that, and Harper was at the head of the class of dunces. Harper at least was honest with the New Orleans Times Picayune on the play that he let John Carlson flop around on the ground like a dying fish, then watched him get up and run to an open spot for a touchdown throw. "He hit me with the 'oh, crap!' screen, you know, where the guy's on the ground and everything's going the other way and all of a sudden he gets up off the ground and goes the other way," Harper said. That's your man, Roman.
o. Great nugget by Jay Glazer on FOX, saying the hero of the weekend, Marshawn Lynch, could have been dealt to New Orleans instead of Seattle had the Bills done their due diligence. Glazer reported the Saints would have given the Bills a third-round pick at least, and Seattle ended up dealing fourth- and sixth-round picks for him.