Jabari Greer Saints Helmet Player of the Week

Following the propane a lane hum dinger of a ball game on Monday Night Football in which the Famous New Orleans Saints offence took to the skies and out jumped the wingless Falcons I thought it was about time to name my Saint of the Week.

A plethora of options for the Saints Helmet to choose from

Honourable mentions must firstly go out to the main contenders which were:

a) The Entire Saints Offence and
b) The Entire Saints Defence

However the Saints Helmet Player of the Week award is an individual award so the top 5 in descending order are:

Darren Sharper - 5th Place.  He made smart plays all over the field and kept Matt Ryan second guessing with his blitz stunts.  He deserved the addition to his league leading tally of interceptions that came his way in the 4th and is surely a shoe in for the Pro Bowl barring disaster.

Marques Colston - 4th place.  His dominance at going up for jump balls, witness the 2nd Quarter touchdown grab, mean he is Drew Brees' go to target in the Red Zone.  Factor in his ability to make the big play, like the deep ball in the 4th, and you have one heck of a contender for the Pro Bowl.

Will Smith - 3rd place.  His pass rush efforts forced Ryan to throw before his feet were set on a number of occasions and was rewarded with 2 sacks, 4 tackles and 1 forced fumble (well nearly).  It's great to see the big man back as the Saints sack king.

Drew Brees - 2nd place.  What more superlatives can one say about Drew Brees?  He is simply playing outstanding football and is head and shoulders the best Quarterback in the league in my opinion.  His numbers speak for themselves but beyond that he is a leader of men and showed once again that he can put the ball where few others even dare to thread.  Truly a Saints Legend in the making.

Jabari Greer - Saints Helmet Player of the Week.  It would have been too easy to give the gong to Drew Brees as he realistically wins it hands down week in week out so, to make it interesting, I have gone with the game changer himself, Saints cornerback Jabari Greer.

The interception he returned for a touchdown just before half time was the turning point in the game.  It left the Falcons mentally scared going into the locker room knowing they faced an insurmountable challenge in the second half.  Up to that point the Falcons had been playing pretty good football so Greers' interception firstly stopped a promising drive that could have levelled the scores and secondly increased the points difference to two touchdowns.

The Saints secondary as a whole has been so impressive as a unit this season that it's a pleasure to award one of their kin the award for the second time this season.  No longer do I have to hide behind my giant foam hands any time an opposing QB takes to the air for I know that in Jabari Greer, Darren Sharper, Roman Harper and Tracy Porter, who also came up with a game changing pick, we now have a secondary that helps make us a genuine contender.  Roll on the Panthers!

Saints Dolphins 2nd Quarter Horror Show

Dolphins FG

Saints get the ball and Brees... intercepted near Saints 20. 

Dolphins rushing TD.  Only Vilma, Sharper and Grant have turned up too date.

Saints take over.  Pierre Thomas good 9 yards, Thomas again for 1st down, that's more like it.  Brees to Colston finally for 23 yard pass and run.  Consecutive 1st downs for Saints for the first time in this ball game.

Thomas short run... for nada.  Brees drops back and... Sacked, ball pops out and Stinchcomb does well to recover (gets injured for his effort).  So that's Vilma, Sharper, Grant, Thomas (for those two runs) and Stinchcomb who have turned up for the Saints today out of a suited up squad of 45.

Devery Henderson gets a few on 3rd down and now John Carney is back in for a 50 yard field goal attempt that... surprise, surprise, goes wide of the posts.  This is some bad karma day in New Orleans.  Don Shula's on the sidelines looking very happy.  The 72 Dolphins look like they can rest easy the way this is going.  I'm not giving up though... never do...

Oh my Cedrick Ellis is being helped from the field with an injury.

Reggie Bush makes nothing on the ensuing punt return so the Saints offence will inherit poor field position again.  I'm not getting on Reggie's back for that though as I still rate the second guessing element he brings to opposing D co-ordinators... just as I type that he looses his footing on a hand off for a loss of two!!  I'm going to stop typing for a bit.

Brees is sacked at the 2 yard line (so much for not writing for a while).  That week off for the Dolphins has clearly given them time to watch a tonne of film and work some pretty intelligent schemes because the Saints have just not got out of the blocks today.

Right definitely shutting up for a bit so I can watch this...

Nope I'm straight back as just had a thought.  The Saints D really isn't playing that bad.  They gave up the big play to Ricky Williams but apart from that most of the points have resulted from short plays and bad field positions.  It's shocking to say this but the Saints offence is simply having a stinker.  Pepé Le Pew (skunk from Warner Brother’s cartoons) would be holding his nose watching this one.

But then the Saints D force a fumble and Sharper recovers in Dolphin territory.  Brees to Lance Moore (FINALLY) for 7.  Brees to Bush on 3rd and 3 and they convert on 3rd down for the first time today. 

Jeremy Shockey makes his first grab of the day and gets a first down.  Finally the Saints are driving; again for the first time (and we're now in the two minute warning).  Brees has been under pressure on most plays which is very unlike the Saints O line this year.

But then... Brees to Colston and TOUCHDOWN!!  Back shoulder of Marques Colston, 5th of the season, which takes it to... oh no, the booth are reviewing and declare from on high that he was downed at the half yard line.  This is just not our day.  But hold on to your hats... the Saints were about to kick a field goal as only 5 seconds were left on the clock when the Dolphins inexplicably called a timeout and Brees talks Peyton into letting him back out there... Next play Drew Brees leaps over center and TOUCHDOWN.  Gutsy play calling.  Love it.  Dolphins 24, Saints 10.  That could have been so much worse but for the fumble and that recent run of plays.  

I've seen fish inside barrels being shot at putting up better fights than the Saints offence in this first half.  Just mistakes galore.  Have to take it on the chin and accept it as one of those things.  Regroup boys and let's get back in this.

Read the 1st, 3rd and 4th Quarter Saints Dolphins In Game Posts by clicking on the Blog Archive in the right hand menu, select October and then find the Quarter you require.

Who's your money on for this years Super Bowl?

Hi sports fans,

So the NFL season is back and we're already in week 2, can you believe it?!!  I love the early stages of the season as being a die hard Saints fan I am able to maintain hope until at least weeks 6 or 8.  Thereafter the crushing reality of another playoffless season looms ever larger in the distance and I start having to stat crunch to at least see if any of our boys will make the Pro Bowl.



This season we've jumped out to a 2 and 0 start in some style.  I won't get ahead of myself and predict a division championship but I will say at least we look like contenders.  If Drew Bree's can stay fit and healthy we have as good a chance as anybody.  That said Defence's win championships, as the old saying goes, and sometimes I think my old gran could tackle better in open play than some of our so called linebackers... oh how I wish the Dome Patrol were still around.  So far so good  but I'm not sure we have the frontline quality and depth to go all the way (please, please prove me wrong boys).

OK so that is my opening admission, I am a Saints fan, yadder, yadder, but I don't want this to be a Saints focused blog and basically just love football so will endeavour to speak from a neutrals perspective as much as is humanly possible.

Early surprises for me are witnessing a 100% record for the Broncos and Jets to date.  I'm impressed by how fast Mark Sanchez has made an impact as the pressure's on a rookie QB are pretty intense especially playing for a hard to please New York crowd.  Granted it's not the same kind of pressure as holding down 3 jobs, supporting a family of 5 with back rent and outstanding utility bills (any help would be much appreciated ;-) ) but you get my point.

Talking of QB's it's great to see Tom Brady back playing.  Quality QB's make for a better league and I for one love to watch the likes of Tom, Manning, Favre, et al, ply their trade.  It's a highly skilled business and it's fantastic to watch when executed by such practitioners of the art.

OK so early season prediction time.  I'm wagering a tonne on the Steelers to regain the Vince Lombardi trophy.  They'll beat either the Bears or Saints (OK the Bears as I said I'd be neutral) in the big final with a big Ben QB sneak with 1.32 left on the clock.

You read it here first people.  Get your spread bet set on that now.