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What Just Happened?

They say that the NFL is a week-to-week league, and they are right! Last week in Los Angeles, the sky seemed to be falling. Drew Brees got hurt, New Orleans had 11 penalties and looked in disarray in a 27-9 loss to the Rams. Looming was a daunting challenge against the Seattle Seahawks at Century Link Field. During the week, head coach Sean Payton and Saints players said all the right things: they would rally around Teddy Bridgewater, they relished the opportunity to show that the New Orleans Saints were not actually the Drew Brees Saints. And then yesterday in Seattle, the Saints did their talking on the field with an exhilarating 33-27 victory against the Seahawks.

· The last time the Saints won a game in Seattle was October 14, 2007, in just the second year of the Brees/Payton era. That Sunday night, the 0-4 Saints defeated the Matt Hasselbeck-led Seahawks 28-17. Drew Brees had two touchdowns passes, one to tight end Eric Johnson and one to wide receiver Marques Colston. It was the first of four consecutive wins, in what was an otherwise unmemorable year.

· In the Brees/Payton era, the Saints had been 0-3 in games that Drew Brees does not start. All three losses, interestingly, had been to the Carolina Panthers, while only one of those games was missed by Brees due to injury.

Five Numbers...That Don’t Lie

· 52: The net punting average for Saints’ punter Thomas Morstead yesterday in Seattle, which is outstanding. Morstead punted six times, with a long of 64 yards. He consistently pinned the Seahawks inside their red zone and forced Seattle to go the distance to score. A big day for The Leg.

· 25. The number of touches by Saints’ running back Alvin Kamara. The third year running back had nine receptions (on 10 targets) for 92 yards and one touchdown, while he rushed 16 times for 69 yards (4.3 yards-per-rush) and a touchdown on the ground. And though they’re not lying, the numbers do not tell the whole story of Kamara’s game yesterday: he refused to be tackled and basically carried the Saints’ offense in a tough road environment. Just exceptional.

· 15: The Seattle Seahawks were 15-0 at Century Link Field in September since 2010, the year Pete Carroll took the job. In fact, the Seahawks were the only unbeaten NFL team in September during that span. The Seahawks are now 15-1 in September since 2010, which further emphasize how unlikely and how massive yesterday’s Saints win was.

· 1: When rookie returner Deonte Harris returned a punt for the Saints’ first touchdown of the game, it was also the first punt return for a touchdown in the NFL this season. The Saints have high hopes for the speedy Harris, who was an undrafted free agent out of Assumption College in Worcester, Mass. If he could just avoid fumbling the ball when New Orleans is about to put the game to bed, he would save Saints fans a lot of heart medication bills.

· 0: The number of sacks by the Saints’ defense yesterday. Coming into Sunday, the Saints were atop the league in sacks, after a six sacks night against the Texans in the season opener and a three-sack effort against the Rams last Sunday. Enter “Master of Elusiveness” Russell Wilson, who basically snatched several sure-fire sacks out of the paws of several Saints pass rushers. It doesn’t get any easier next week with the bulldozer that is Dak Prescott next in line

#saints #new orleans saints #nfl #nola no call #mission miami #gamw 3 #Seattle beaten #csc.com

Sean Payton and the resilient Saints: Payton and Drew Brees will be connected forever. There aren’t many quarterback-coach combinations that have had more success.

It’s not familiar ground for Payton to be going without Brees for a stretch. Before Sunday, Brees had only missed one Saints game due to injury. But Payton did pretty well in a tough spot.

With Brees sidelined with a thumb injury, the Saints put together an impressive 33-27 win at the Seattle Seahawks. The defense played very well, the special teams had a return touchdown and the offense did enough.

The Saints still have a good chance to win the NFC South. They need to stay afloat for the six or so weeks Brees will be out. This is where Payton earns his money.

#saints #new orleans saints #nfl #nola no call #mission miami #game 3 #Seattle beaten

3 ups and 1 down from yesterday’s win over the Seahawks Three “Ups” and one “Down” from the game.

Maybe the Who Dat Nation doesn’t need to panic just yet after all.

It was still a roller coast over a game, with plenty of “Ups” and “Downs” along the way, though. Here are a few that stood out:

Up: Alvin Kamara

When the New Orleans Saints lost Drew Brees to injury, you knew they were going to have to lean on Alvin Kamara if they wanted any hope of winning games in Brees’s absence. And lean on Kamara they did.

In Week 3, Alvin Kamara finished with 69 rushing yards (leading the team in rushing), 92 receiving yards (leading the team in receiving), and two scores. In the home of the infamous BeastMode run from Marshawn Lynch, Kamara had himself mini-BeastMode runs where he seemingly bounced off or ran through tacklers to get positive yards on every attempt.

He’s something special.

Up: Officiating

If we’re going to point out when the NFL officials have bad games, we need to also recognize when they have a good one too. There were a few ticky-tacky pass interference or holding calls that could have gone either way, but you expect those issues every game. But for what felt like the first time in a long time, it didn’t feel as if the Saints were actively having to play not just against the team on the other side of the football, but the zebras too.

Of note, the referees properly let a questionable fumble call play through which the Saints returned for a touchdown. Upon further review, the call stood, but it was a stark contrast from the Week 2 blunder against the Rams.

Down: Penalties

There were a lot of considerations for a possible down this week. Deante Harris muffed a punt, but he also returned one for a score. The defense gave up huge plays, but also scored a touchdown and made key stops on fourth down. The Saints cornerbacks gave up contested catches, but also had several passes broken up. However, if we’re taking something away from this game to fix, it would definitely be the sloppy play that resulted in numerous penalties - especially on offense.

Granted, playing on the road in Seattle is always tough for opposing offenses, but when you’re already missing Drew Brees, you can’t afford to shoot yourself in the foot with holdings, false starts, or illegal blocks.

Hopefully this gets cleaned up at home next week.

Up: Thomas Morstead

Thomas Morstead is the best punter in the NFL.

His ability to consistently pin teams within their own ten yard line is absolutely uncanny. When the Saints needed Morstead to flip field position, Morstead performed like the Pro Bowler he is and his performance is what helped keep the Saints in the game.

(Special honorable mention “Up” goes to the assist from Pete Carroll. Yo, do you not even clock manage, bro?)