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Saints’ Revival Derailed, Houston to Capitalize?

The New Orleans Saints, who had won on four straight Sundays, including impressive road showings against Seattle and Jacksonville, were poised to become the first team in NFL history to go to 5-4 after starting the season with four straight losses going into their home game against St. Louis. A partially dubious honor, but it was to signal the Saints’ return from the season’s dead, and furthermore, the return of the team every NFL fan rooted for a little last year, when New Orleans’ improbable run took them as far as the NFC championship game. And everyone and their brother thought it was a lock to happen, too, with the Rams coming into the Superdome without a win to their credit in 2007. But Sean Payton’s outfit showed they hadn’t rid themselves of the demons that put them in that four game hole to start the year.

After Reggie Bush scored the game’s first TD, St. Louis reeled off 34 straight points, stunning the Saints and all but the most unrealistic Rams’ fans watching at home. New Orleans rallied hard in the last 20 minutes of the game to make it close, but could only cut the deficit to 37-29 by the time the final gun sounded. However, the sting of being thumped so badly at home by an 0-8 team would have stuck no matter what. The Saints’ record dropped to 4-5, matching Houston.

Like most people following football, I thought New Orleans would handle St. Louis easily enough and have plenty of momentum for the game in Houston this Sunday. Now, it’s impossible to say which New Orleans team will show up: the one with the surgically efficient and lethally effective passing attack, or the gold and black impostors who are completely innocuous on both sides of the ball. Both actually made cameos in last week’s game, which was apparently enough for a previously winless team to win on the road. Stands to reason that a rested team that is regaining it’s best weapon on offense playing on it’s home field would be the favorite if New Orleans shows more than a flicker of it’s B-team level of play.

That’s not to say Houston can play safe and let New Orleans beat themselves. New Orleans can establish the tempo of the game if you let them, but when put on the defensive, they have folded over and over this year. That is why Andre Johnson’s return from the MCL sprain that has made him a spectator since mid-September couldn’t come at a better time; the New Orleans secondary is very prone to giving up the big play, which ‘Dre has made happen at will in the two games he’s played this season. New Orleans isn’t bad against the run, and our running back situation is iffy at best, so he should be the focal point of the offense in this one. Give him the old Randy Moss 40% treatment, Kubiak.

I sure hope Matt Schaub comes out firing on all cylinders, ’cause Drew Brees will certainly at least come out firing. Though rumors circulated in the early going about Brees having a problem with his throwing shoulder that was sapping his arm strength, his 13 TDs over the last five games beg to differ. Combine the aerial assault New Orleans brings with the loss of cornerback Dunta Robinson, who was keeping the Houston secondary respectable before being put on IR earlier this week, and Houston will have a very full plate on defense.

Even with the threat of Brees, though, I have a good feeling about this game. I didn’t a week ago, but after St. Louis beat them, I can definitely see why the Saints would come into this one with a hangover. Just when they thought they’d ironed out all their problems and were about to climb over the .500 mark, they shoot themselves in the foot, in a gimme game, no less. Plus, Houston has had an extra week to rest pulled muscles and study game film, an advantage we saw was none too handy when the Chargers flattened the banged-up Texans at the end of October. There won’t be a lot of defense present Sunday, but Houston isn’t afraid to get in a shootout. Look for plenty of big plays and a Texans’ win in this one.

This entry was posted on Friday, November 16th, 2007 at 1:09 am and is filed under Uncategorized. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.