The big news coming into this game was that the Titans’ Steve McNair was injured (dislocated ring finger on throwing hand) and was going to have trouble throwing. Obviously the Saints defense was looking for the Titans to open up by running Eddie George. Instead, McNair opened with a 1st down pass for 17 yards over the middle. They went on to drive easily (McNair completing 4 crisp passes) and wound up with a field goal. McNair is passing at will and is 11 for 16 with 113 yards in the first half. Uh, maybe the defensive game plan was flawed.
What about the Saints offense? Well, fresh off last week’s strong running performance by Deuce McAllister, they decided to do the obvious: try to establish the run. Did it work? Nope. It’s 2 minutes to half-time and Deuce has -9 yards on 4 carries; so much for the offensive game plan.
Is there such a thing as a special teams game plan?. Apparently not. Last week the Titans’ punter faked a punt and passed for a 1st down. You’d think the Saints special teams would be on the lookout for this. Nope, it worked again. Which brings me to my only question.
Who’s going to yell at the coaches during half time?
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In some odd way I take comfort in the fact that the Saints can’t seem to get it all together. I’ve been a fan since their inception but I just do know that I could deal with them showing consistent winning ways – I come to believe that the Saints in the Super Bowl is the eigth sign of the Apocolypse.
I think it’s becoming more obvious by the week that the Saints coaches just don’t get the job done. Haslett has lost control not only of his players but also of his assistants. We shall see whether Benson understands this or whether he’s being sold a bill of goods. The Saints have had two strong general managers in their 37 years of existence, and the team won a division title under Jim Finks and a playoff game under Randy Mueller. Our esrtwhile car dealer should crunch the numbers on that one.