Colts whipping on Saints....

[tribeofjudah]

Colts look good.... does anyone here care? Saints can't get anything going.

[1niksder]

Another Int returned for a TD
41-10

[andyjens89]

REGGIE WAYNE FANTASY BEAST!!


reggie bush sucks

[Irn-Bru]

I wasn't surprised by this. The 2006 Saints played far better than their talent and skill level, and Indy is just too good at home. Well, that's one Hognostication I didn't get wrong. . .I guess the other 14-15 are still up for grabs.

[redskindave]

I thought the Colts would win , But not by 31 points...Damn

[cleg]

Good, can the National media stop with the Saints being the best team in the NFC now?

[SkinsFreak]

Did anyone watch the pregame performances and festivities? I'm not a fan of Faith Hill or her music, but I was anxiously waiting for a wardrobe malfunction.

[Fios]

I wasn't surprised by this. The 2006 Saints played far better than their talent and skill level, and Indy is just too good at home. Well, that's one Hognostication I didn't get wrong. . .I guess the other 14-15 are still up for grabs.

Really? They seem legit to me, though I think they have some question marks on the defensive side of the ball (and would have said that prior to last night's game) but I'd still project them to be a 9 or 10 win team. I am willing to be convinced though.

[Mursilis]

First example this season of preposterous punting (readers of Greg Easterbrook's TMQB on ESPN.com will know what this is). 13:02 remaining in the game, 4th and less than 1 on the NE 29, and the Saints, down by 17 (3 scores) decide to PUNT!?! And that's game.

Why punt then? Your offense has yet to score an offensive TD and needed something to get some momentum, and you've only got 13 minutes to get three scores, including at least 2 TDs, and you PUNT?!?! That's not playing to win, that's just playing not to lose by too much - a coach worrying more about his ego than his team's win-lose record. It's only fitting the football gods rewarded NO's cowardice by granting Indy a TD on the very next drive.

Another strange moment was with less than 3 minutes left in the game, and NO is keeping Brees (Mr. "I've twice injured my throwing shoulder in a game") and Bush in the game, running the no-huddle, using timeouts, etc. So they suddenly decide they want to go for the win down by 24 points with less than 3 minutes to play when they had previously decided to just minimize losses only down by 17 with 13 minutes to play?!? At that point, there's no chance - concede the game, and yank your stars to protect their health. Why were they running their elite but light RB up the middle in a game they had no hope of winning? So of course the football gods punish NO's stupidity by granting another TD to Indy.

[Mursilis]

I wasn't surprised by this. The 2006 Saints played far better than their talent and skill level, and Indy is just too good at home. Well, that's one Hognostication I didn't get wrong. . .I guess the other 14-15 are still up for grabs.

Really? They seem legit to me, though I think they have some question marks on the defensive side of the ball (and would have said that prior to last night's game) but I'd still project them to be a 9 or 10 win team. I am willing to be convinced though.

The D wasn't great even last year, but the O was really what made that team go - it was No. 1 in YPG. Sure wasn't in tune last night though (3 offensive points against a D starting a lot of first-timers). Still, given the weakness of that division (Falcons, Bucs, Panthers), the Saints could still win that division and make the playoffs. The O is going to have to do a LOT better though.

[Fios]

Granted, I only watched the first half but I thought Payton made a couple of questionable calls, including a draw on third and long in a series where Indy was having trouble negating New Orleans passing attack. Coaches tend to out-think themselves from time to time.

[GSPODS]

When a team only puts 10 points on the board it is highly likely that team will lose the game. Turnovers, pitiful secondary coverage, and poor coaching decisions may not help but scoring 10 points won't beat many bottom-feeders, let alone the Colts. I thought the Saints slightly outplayed their abilities last season but still expected a far better effort than last night's performance.

[Mursilis]

Granted, I only watched the first half but I thought Payton made a couple of questionable calls, including a draw on third and long in a series where Indy was having trouble negating New Orleans passing attack.

Well, only in the sense that Indy was allowing NO to complete a lot of dink n' dunk stuff, but not for a lot of yards. I can't seem to find first-half passing stats, but NO managed only 112 yards of total offense in the first half, so while Brees completed more throws than Manning in that half, it wasn't actually going for much. Brees was 192 for the night, which isn't much for an offense that was No. 1 in passing last year and needed lots of points to run with the Colts. I don't remember a single 20+ yard passing play from NO all game.

[GSPODS]

Granted, I only watched the first half but I thought Payton made a couple of questionable calls, including a draw on third and long in a series where Indy was having trouble negating New Orleans passing attack.

Well, only in the sense that Indy was allowing NO to complete a lot of dink n' dunk stuff, but not for a lot of yards. I can't seem to find first-half passing stats, but NO managed only 112 yards of total offense in the first half, so while Brees completed more throws than Manning in that half, it wasn't actually going for much. Brees was 192 for the night, which isn't much for an offense that was No. 1 in passing last year and needed lots of points to run with the Colts. I don't remember a single 20+ yard passing play from NO all game.

I seem to recall one of the commentators saying that Brees was averaging 3 yards per pass completion in the first half. Manning was averaging 10 yards per pass completion.

[Fios]

Granted, I only watched the first half but I thought Payton made a couple of questionable calls, including a draw on third and long in a series where Indy was having trouble negating New Orleans passing attack.

Well, only in the sense that Indy was allowing NO to complete a lot of dink n' dunk stuff, but not for a lot of yards. I can't seem to find first-half passing stats, but NO managed only 112 yards of total offense in the first half, so while Brees completed more throws than Manning in that half, it wasn't actually going for much. Brees was 192 for the night, which isn't much for an offense that was No. 1 in passing last year and needed lots of points to run with the Colts. I don't remember a single 20+ yard passing play from NO all game.

I seem to recall one of the commentators saying that Brees was averaging 3 yards per pass completion in the first half. Manning was averaging 10 yards per pass completion.

It might be a figment of my imagination but I believe the play was the at the tail end of the opening drive of the first quarter. The decision to pass there probably woudln't have factored into the outcome given the results but I recall thinking it was an odd choice.

[Irn-Bru]

I wasn't surprised by this. The 2006 Saints played far better than their talent and skill level, and Indy is just too good at home. Well, that's one Hognostication I didn't get wrong. . .I guess the other 14-15 are still up for grabs.

Really? They seem legit to me, though I think they have some question marks on the defensive side of the ball (and would have said that prior to last night's game) but I'd still project them to be a 9 or 10 win team. I am willing to be convinced though.

I don't think that a 9-10 win season is out of the question for NO, but I also think a 9-10 win season would more be a product of their circumstances. Place NO in the AFC East, for example, and I'd forecast a 7-8 win season at most.

Granted, my opinion of them is going to be more subjective than based on metrics like statistics. The offense played well last year, with Brees performing consistently, and he picked apart several teams (including Dallas and Philly). Their defense also tended to play well against the pass and generated a lot of pressure against opposing QB's.

However, they weren't terribly effective at running the ball IMO and didn't defend against the run very well. (Although, to qualify my own assertion, when you're passing the ball that well running isn't too much of a priority). But this led to some streaky performances, where they might crush a team one week and then be crushed in the next.

Finally, the best look I got at the team was when we played them. One might argue that it was an off week for the Saints, who were probably not expecting a fight from the Skins.

So, in conclusion, I won't have too much objectivity with which to persuade you. Maybe I'm exaggerating, but it seemed to me like NO was running high off of emotion last year, and when some of that novelty wears off I'm not anticipating a solid team to emerge and establish itself. They've got enough talent to get them to the playoffs when they're on fire, but I sense that they will be an inconsistent performer this year.

[Mursilis]

It might be a figment of my imagination but I believe the play was the at the tail end of the opening drive of the first quarter. The decision to pass there probably woudln't have factored into the outcome given the results but I recall thinking it was an odd choice.

The play-by-play shows R. Bush up the middle for -3 on 3rd and 6 from the Indy 31 with 6:51 left in the first. Must be the play you mean. Anyway, I have no qualms with the contrarian call (run on a 'must pass' down) where even a run for less than 6 would likely make for a shorter FG than an incomplete pass would, especially with a RB as elusive in the open field as Bush. It was a gutsy call at a point in the game (0-0) when there wasn't much to lose and much could have been gained. Of course it didn't pan out, but not much did for NO last night. I think it was only later that S. Payton stopped making sense.

[Mursilis]

I wasn't surprised by this. The 2006 Saints played far better than their talent and skill level, and Indy is just too good at home. Well, that's one Hognostication I didn't get wrong. . .I guess the other 14-15 are still up for grabs.

Really? They seem legit to me, though I think they have some question marks on the defensive side of the ball (and would have said that prior to last night's game) but I'd still project them to be a 9 or 10 win team. I am willing to be convinced though.

I don't think that a 9-10 win season is out of the question for NO, but I also think a 9-10 win season would more be a product of their circumstances. Place NO in the AFC East, for example, and I'd forecast a 7-8 win season at most.

-snipped for length-

All good points.
Last year they benefitted from being underestimated by almost everyone, and having three offensive stars who were essentially unknown quantities - Brees, Bush, and Colston. (Sure, Brees had played well in the league before, but he was coming off a shoulder injury, and who knew if he had the supporting cast to succeed in NO). This year they're sneaking up on no one, and while I still think they could reach 10 wins again, I disagreed with anyone who picked them for the Super Bowl, even before seeing them last night.