Crossposted from the forum – Brian is the author.
Drew Brees was harried, harassed, and hurried.
Never allowed to discover any semblance of a rhythm, the Saints passing attack led by its previously unflappable orchestrator was more than held in check.
It was shutdown.
However, in a game in which the Saints could muster little through the air, they found their sledding on the ground. It took several quarters of attrition and fresh, eager legs from Pierre Thomas to seal the deal.
The Saints amassed over 220 yards on the ground and three scores.
Yet that hardly tells the story of this game.
No, despite the gaudy numbers the Saints offense seems to effortlessly be able to generate on the ground or in the air, this game belonged to the defense and its mastermind, Gregg Williams.
Previous weeks the Saints allowed yardage and points to inexperienced signal-callers, playing a prevent defense some fans, myself included, didn’t much care for even if we understood the cause to implement it.
Gregg Williams unleashed a taste of what New Orleans fans have craved since 2000, an attacking and aggressive defense that does not give any yard easily, and causes more mayhem than it has missteps.
New Orleans finally has a defense that can shut an opponent down in a grind-it-out game, and a running attack that can bolster its point production when the footing proves anything but solid.
Saints players slipped and fell on numerous occasions. Brees was hit early on. Long-developing pass patterns were rarely allowed to form.
The Bills came out and smacked the Saints in the mouth.
They did it up the gut.
Buffalo sought to make the Saints one-dimensional, preferring to take the ball out of their leader’s hands, and place it firmly in those of undrafted players Lynell Hamilton, Pierre Thomas, and gadget player extraordinaire Reggie Bush.
They would play the battle of field position. Limit possessions. Run the clock.
Keep the score low.
Maybe even sack the quarterback a couple of times and collect a fumble while scoring on special teams.
Should all of these things come to fruition, the Bills would have plied their gameplan exactly as they wanted. One would think that Dick Jauron had to like his odds.
Yet it was the Saints who came out the victors. Taking what the defense gave them, and gashing them for leaving five defensive backs in the ballgame. The defense found exotic ways to generate pressure, and the often termed overpaid defensive ends for New Orleans actually made their presence felt on more than one occasion for the first time all season.
In the end, the Saints had won.
What we saw today would have been blowout losses to the Ravens in ‘06, the Bears in ‘06 and ‘07, and on and on and on..
The Saints have changed their personality. They have found an identity.
That is why New Orleans sits atop the NFC South with an unblemished record.
With thirteen more to go.
Tags: Brian