Unless you’re a Colts or Vikings fan, when you watch the Saints play, it makes you realize how bad your team actually is.

The Saints carved up the Patriots on Monday night like a Ginsu knife slicing through warm butter. They racked up 480 yards of total offense, 367 passing yards and scored five touchdowns in route to a 38-17 blow out victory. The soon-to-be MVP award winner Drew Brees completed 18 of his 23 passing attempts for 371 yards and five touchdowns.

What’s ironic about Monday night’s game is that the Patriots must have thought they were looking in the mirror watching the Saints stroll up and down the field on them for four quarters. It was just three years ago that New England was humiliating opponents with the greatest of ease and compiling a perfect 16-0 regular season record.

In 2007, nobody thought the Patriots would lose and now I have a hard time believing anyone will knock off this Saints team. Sean Payton’s playcalling is impeccable, Brees is playing like a man possessed and the defense is incredibly opportunistic. New England was supposed to serve as the biggest test of the year for New Orleans and the game wasn’t even close outside of a 7-3 score in the first quarter (that was the first and only time the Patriots led).

The Saints wrap up the season with road trips Washington, Atlanta and Carolina, as well as home games against Dallas and Tampa Bay. With Chris Redman now under center for the Falcons, the only real threat to the Saints’ march to perfection is the Cowboys and New Orleans will play them in the Superdome, where they’re practically unbeatable.

Considering Minnesota is breathing down their necks for the top spot in the NFC, the Saints still have plenty to play for, which means we could be seeing the second 16-0 team in only three years.

The New Orleans Saints have done everything right so far. They’re averaging over 35 points a game, they’ve played well defensively and they haven’t lost a game.

The Saints don’t need anyone’s respect because they’ve earned it to this point. But beat the Patriots tonight and they’ll go from Super Bowl contenders to Super Bowl favorites.

Even though they didn’t make the playoffs last season, the Pats are still the gold standard in terms of how teams measure themselves. Beat New England and you don’t need anything more in terms of confidence. Lose to New England and you might find out how far you still have to go in order to compete with the best.

Personally, I think the Saints will come out victorious tonight. While the Falcons and Panthers gave them somewhat of a scare, no team has come close to beating the Saints in New Orleans. The team feeds off the energy of the Superdome and it’s hard for opponents to reach the same emotional level that the Saints do when they play at home.

That said, Bill Belichick is still one of the greatest game planners in the game and if anyone is going to figure out a way to slow down Sean Payton’s offense, it’s Belichick. Even if New England doesn’t have the personnel to stop Drew Brees and company (which they don’t), Belichick will still put his players in the best position to win.

I’d be shocked if the game tonight doesn’t live up to its hype. It’s going to be fun to see if Belichick and Tom Brady can march into New Orleans and earn a win, or if the Saints will rise to the challenge and overcome the most elite team on their regular season schedule.

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]]> http://www.scoresreport.com/2009/11/30/saints-looking-for-ultimate-respect-on-monday-night/feed/ 0 http://www.scoresreport.com/2009/11/30/fantasy-fallout-week-12-qbs/ http://www.scoresreport.com/2009/11/30/fantasy-fallout-week-12-qbs/#comments Mon, 30 Nov 2009 14:00:07 +0000 John Paulsen http://www.scoresreport.com/?p=30054

- Vince Young (387 yards, TD) continues to play well. He threw the game-winning TD in the fourth quarter to Kenny Britt.

- Josh Freeman (250 yards, 2 TD) has played well since taking over as the starter. He’s still a rookie, so he’s going to struggle against the better teams, but when he has a nice matchup he’s borderline startable.

- Matt Ryan (15 yards) left the game with a toe injury and was unable to return. Chris Redman (243 yards, 2 TD) played pretty well in his place.

- Ryan Fitzpatrick (246 yards, TD, INT, rush TD) is playing well and showed some wheels on a 31-yard TD scamper in the second quarter.

- Jason Campbell (231 yards, 2 TD, 2 INT, rush TD) had a big fantasy day against the Eagles.

- Matt Hasselbeck (102 yards) had a surprisingly quiet game against a pretty bad Rams secondary.

- Alex Smith (232 yards, 2 TD) had yet another solid fantasy outing. He has had at least two pass TD in four of his six starts this season.

- Brett Favre (392 yards, 3 TD) torched a bad Chicago secondary.

- Kurt Warner was a surprise scratch, and Matt Leinart (220 yards) was rather pedestrian in his place.

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- Fred Jackson (20 touches, 116 yards, 2 TD) dominated the touches in the BUF backfield. Marshawn Lynch (4 touches, 15 yards) was ineffective.

- Rock Cartwright (18 touches, 64 yards) got most of the work, but didn’t do much.

- LeSean McCoy (21 touches, 101 yards) got the lion’s share of the carries for the Eagles, but it was Eldra Buckley who got the goal line work.

- Julius Jones didn’t dress, and Justin Forsett (22 carries, 130 yards, 2 TD) took full advantage. He didn’t catch a pass, however.

- Steven Jackson (28 touches, 116 yards, TD) didn’t practice this week, but that didn’t stop him from having a nice fantasy day.

- With Cedric Benson sidelined, and Bernard Scott (18 carries, 87 yards) in and out of the game, it was Larry Johnson (22 carries, 107 yards) who led the way in the Cincinnati running game.

- Steve Slaton (10 carries, 57 yards) didn’t get much action in the running game, but he posted 7-49 in the passing game, resulting in a nice fantasy day, at least in PPR leagues. Chris Brown (14 touches, 76 yards, TD) was also involved and got the goal line work.

- Jamaal Charles (17 touches, 147 yards, TD) is looking like one of the better waiver wire pickups of the year. Coming into the game, the Chargers were doing pretty well against opposing RBs, so Charles’ big day is a good sign for his stretch run.

- Frank Gore didn’t run the ball well (16 carries, 33 yards), but he went for 7-14-1 in the passing game.

- Tim Hightower (11 carries, 55 yards, TD) got more carries than Beanie Wells (8 carries, 20 yards), and he added three catches for 23 yards in the passing game.

- Chris Johnson (21 touches, 186 yards, TD) posted another fine fantasy line.

Check back in a bit for the QB position.

- Michael Jenkins (7-80) has posted 13-156 over the past two weeks and merits consideration in PPR leagues.

- Terrell Owens (5-96-1) seems to like Ryan Fitzpatrick more than Trent Edwards. Fitzpatrick says he is more willing to throw the ball downfield and let his wideouts make a play.

- Jason Avant (5-94) has posted 17-276-1 over the last three weeks and has filled the void left by Brian Westbrook in the passing game. DeSean Jackson (2-40-1) left the game with a head/neck injury.

- Donnie Avery (4-48-1) had a TD early, but was quiet for much of the day until the Rams went into catch up mode.

- Steve Smith (1-5) had a TD catch that was called back due to lack of control over the ball. He’s never going to be consistent with Jake Delhomme as his QB.

- Jerricho Cotchery (1-12) was miserable against the Panthers after posting 12-222-2 over the previous three weeks.

- Chad Ochocinco (3-38) had a very disappointing day in a great matchup against the Browns.

- Pierre Garcon (5-63-1) had the best fantasy day of any of the Colts’ wide receivers.

- Over the last four weeks, Chris Chambers (7-70-1) has averaged 4.3-80-0.8. Next week he has a date with Champ Bailey.

- Vincent Jackson (2-27) had a disappointing day in a good matchup against the Chiefs.

- Percy Harvin went for 6-101-1 in the passing game and also rushed twice for 45 yards. Sidney Rice (6-89) and Bernard Berrian (6-74) also had solid games.

- Kenny Britt (7-128-1) appears to be Vince Young’s favorite target in the passing game. He has posted 11-170-2 over the last two weeks.

- Larry Fitzgerald (4-34) wasted a great matchup with a sketchy Titan secondary, but he probably just missed Kurt Warner under center.

Check back in a bit for the RB and QB positions.

- Dante Rosario (4-62) has 8-102 over the last two weeks. Owners who need a TE (in a PPR league) should give him a look.

- Dallas Clark (9-63-1) had another monster day and has been great all season.

- With Owen Daniels sidelined, neither James Casey (2-17) nor Joel Dreessen (1-14) did enough to warrant a pickup.

- Antonio Gates (7-118-2) had just his second monster day of the season. The first came in Week 4 against the Steelers (9-124-2). He has four TD in two games, and zero in the others.

- Visanthe Shiancoe followed up his 8-78-1 performance in Week 11 with a 5-51-1 outing against the Bears. He is a solid start in most formats.

- Bo Scaife (5-68) put up a decent PPR line, as usual.

Check back in a bit for the WR, RB and QB positions.

For all intents and purposes, Dennis Dixon only made one mistake on Sunday night but unfortunately for him and the Steelers, that one mistake cost them a potential victory.

Dixon’s interception in overtime set the table for the Ravens to kick a game-winning field goal in a 20-17 victory. The win helped Baltimore improve to 6-5 on the season and kept its playoff hopes alive, while Pittsburgh fell to 6-5 and has now lost three in a row.

Dixon, a third stringer making his first career start, gave the Steelers a chance to win in the second half when he broke off a 24-yard touchdown run early in the fourth quarter. He also threw a 33-yard touchdown pass to Santonio Holmes in the second quarter and had a 31-yard run called back due to a holding call.

But on the possession following his fourth quarter touchdown run, the Ravens converted on a 4th and 5 from their own 46-yard line when Joe Flacco hit Ray Rice on a 44-yard completion. The drive ended in a field goal, which potentially forced overtime with the score tied 7-7.

Take away Dixon’s interception and the Steelers’ offense played pretty good – ultra conservative, but good. It was Pittsburgh’s defense that yielded several big plays, including Rice’s fourth down reception and a 54-yard reception by Mark Clayton late in the second half that set up a 10-yard Derrick Mason touchdown. If the Steelers had limited the big plays, Dixon’s effort would have been enough.

Pittsburgh needs a healthy Troy Polamalu back in the lineup if it has any chance of making another run at a Super Bowl, nevertheless the playoffs. Without him, Pittsburgh’s defense is good but certainly not great, which has been evident the past couple weeks.