Why David Thomas' absence is going to hurt down the stretch

A couple of years back, during our Super Bowl winning campaign, I used to flippantly joke that David Thomas was a future Hall of Famer. I did this from a sense of Saints luxury. Drew Brees seemed to have so many weapons at his disposal that anytime the ball made its way to Thomas I felt the guy needed an honorary beef up so marginalised was he from recognition.

Well now that same sense of humour is paying its penance as David Thomas looks set for a prolonged spell on the side lines.

You see it's not that Thomas is the greatest Tight End on the planet, far from it, but he brings a work ethic and versatility that is much needed to the Saints offense. He is the 3rd check down guy, Mr dependable with a safe pair of hands for a 3 yard gain. He's the guy who can be relied upon to put his neck on the line blocking an elite pass rusher coming off the edge. He is, in short, a great team player.

Yes we have an abundance of riches in Colston, Graham, Sproles, Moore, Meachem, Thomas (Mr Screen) and even Henderson but for me Thomas offers something else and that is, to borrow the kind of garbled phraseology a Presidential contender would entertain in a public debate, dependientability. His loss is the Saints loss because of that and every chink in the overall awesomnessability (see I'm on a roll, is it too late to make a late run?) of the Saints O is another mm of daylight the Packers have over us.

Which makes Monday night’s game all the more noticeable. For we are about to play an excellent front four on the Giants D line and we need every blocking option we can to slow their attack. Give Brees time and he can pick apart anyone especially if the opposing D need to bring more than the front 4 so leaving holes in coverage. The Saints have a well-trained receiving corps who are adept at finding the soft in a zone D and Brees will exploit this.

As such I think this game will once again be won or lost by our O line. If we can keep the big blue at bay we have a heck of a good shot at marching on. Lose and we're looking over our shoulders afresh. This is why David Thomas is a sad loss. Yes we've been fine without him to date this season but in the tight games against the better teams I want my best unit avaiable and he is an important cog in the system. Anything that makes the whole weaker is important. Death by a thousand cuts and all that. Let's hope Strief and Bushrod get some help on the edges or we could see the Brees INT number up by a couple.

Get well Mr Thomas. I used to joke about you but now I know the value of a good team player. Dependable Dave is my new moniker for you. Wear the name well on your return.

Let's Get Ready To Rumble/The Falcons Are Going Down

So the time has come, it's finally down to the real business, it's finally THE FALCONS GAME.

And what a game we have in store. A Saints win and we still have a decent chance of playing at least one game at home in the playoffs. A Saints loss and we're in trouble with the remaining schedule plus it will SUCK big balls to lose to the Spandex wearers.

So I have 5 tips to share with the team this week.

1. Protect Brees
2. Protect Brees
3. Stop Michael Turner
4. Cover Gonzalez on 3rd down/Red Zone
5. Kick Matt Ryan in the balls when he's lying prone on the floor.

OK so that's simple enough right? Ick, probably not but we live in hope.

One way or the other the D needs to win the take away war as they'll no doubt give up some big yardage to the annoyingly able Cack Cans. Without take aways we all get hungry (in my house anyway) so Jenkins, Greer (catch it dude, you keep reading the plays and then look like you're trying to catch an eel in fog), Harper read Ryans eyes (I know it's hard staring into those big vacuous spaces of cloud dust but try) and make a play on the ball.

Dunbar, Casillas, Smith and Co. punch that ball with all your might as thunder thighs Turner passes you. Ellis, Rodgers, Franklin, just plough forward like you've never ploughed before for we have to collapse that pocket. And Morstead, ah my man Morstead, continue to give our D a chance by making those incredible punts and touch backs and give the Trash Cans no space to work with.

As for the O it's all on the front 5. Protect, protect, protect. Oh yeah and open holes, open holes, open holes. Meachem and Henderson please try and get in the game again. The rest play to your normal strengths and we're in with a shout.

Now for my favorite jokes of the week as just made up by me.

What do you call a Falcon with a low IQ? A typical Falcons fan.

What do you call a Falcons fan who is a member of Mensa? You can't, how can you describe that which does not exist?

What's the difference between the entire Falcons roster and a bag of turd? Nothing.

Why did the Falcons fan cross the road? To avoid being laughed at by just about everyone who's ever existed.

What did the die hard Falcons fan say to the other die hard Falcons fan? So like where is the Georgia Dome anyhow?

What did the other die hard Falcons fan say to the other two die hard Falcons fans? Man this sure is a strange game of basketball, are we in the right place?

Yes you heard me right Falcon fans, the most fickle bunch of preening whingers anywhere. Support your team when they're winning why don't ya but pretend like you've never heard of them during times of trouble. You know who you are. Now go suck an egg.

Who Dat!