Randall Gay placement on IR shows Saints heart

Boy was it good to watch last Sundays performance. It was great to see the offense finally clicking into gear and getting the ball moving effectively.

Drew Brees was able to hit balls acurately down the sidelines for deep gains and control the field with short to middle distance passing.

The D played great again and boy is Sedrick Ellis blossoming into a top DT.

Two major points of praise

But beyond that I have two major points of praise to hand out.

The first is pretty obvious. It goes to Chris Ivory for a truly outstanding break out performance. It was fantastic to see the guy hitting holes at such speed and giving the Saints a compelling run attack on the day.

Yes the holes were ridiculously huge, which is all credit to the O line, but still his explosive speed made the most of it and he also showed great ability at shaking tackles. It's been a long time since we saw a Saints back make that kind of impact.

I'm looking forward to seeing more from the young back in weeks to come. It's going to make for a compelling back field once Pierre Thomas and Reggie Bush are back.

Randall Gay placed on IR

Now onto the second point. I applaud the Saints organization for the way they have handled Randall Gay.

In past years teams would have thrown him back into the lions den and hoped for the best. Now the league is getting rightfully cautious about these dangerous injuries and teams more compassionate about player safety.

A softie softie I am not

No I don't want to see the end of hard tackling and yes I accept and love the fact football is a physical game. The sudden rule change and fines introduced this week for dangerous tackles are stupid in my eyes.

Players will injure themselves trying to get out of a tackle and, as Malcolm Jankins said, if an O player suddenly ducks his head before contact there's not much the D player can do but continue with their momentum. As such head shots are likely to continue unintentionally. Afterall you can't uncoach the way a player has been taught to tackle since age 6.

But, all that said, I do applaud the Saints for being so cautious with Gay. He had a bad head injury last year and it's only right they look out for his overall welfare.

As a hard working team player he deserves that protection. He will have a life after the game and concussions are a serious serious business.

Players can be their own worst enemy

A competitive player can be his own worst enemy trying to be put back in the game. This decision takes that out of his and the coaches hands.

I hope other teams respect their players to this extent. It's that kind of loyalty which bonds a team and is sometimes missing from pro sports where money and winning get in the way of the being in human being.

I applaud you team HQ. A great decision and one that shows the roster that the front office have their backs.