Thursday, September 20, 2012

Week Three: Saints Stand at the Edge of the Abyss


Two games into the 2012 NFL season and the Saints already find themselves two and a half games out of the division lead.

The Saints defense was once again exploited, but this time by an offense that was only able to put ten points on the board the week before.  The once record setting Saints offense found itself struggling to stay on the field and in the end was only able to accumulate yards and points while trying to dig themselves out of a deep hole.

Sloppiness has plagued the Black and Gold thus far into the 2012 season and with 14 games left, the Saints still have time to compete for the division title or land a wild card spot, but with every loss, the prospects become dimmer and the need for help from other teams increase.

Especially with road trips to Atlanta, Tampa, Denver, Green Bay and the New York Giants on the schedule.

If there is any such thing as good news for the Saints and their interim-interim head coach Aaron Kromer is that they will host what is probably the biggest cupcake game against the also winless Kansas City Chiefs on Sunday afternoon.

The Chiefs are awful.  But don’t my word for it; ask their sports talk hosts.

On paper their offense looks impressive, averaging the fifth most yards in the league but the devil is in the details.  In points, the Chiefs are 20th averaging 20.5 points.  The Kansas City defense has given up 37.5 points per game, worst in the NFL, and has been weak against the run.  But then again so are the Saints, which have surrendered the most yards on the ground.

The Saints have an opportunity to use the Kansas City game to get back into contention by finally establishing their running game, getting their defense clicking and allowing their franchise quarterback to play up to the record contract he just signed by providing better pass protection and not dropping receptions.

With a road trip to Green Bay on the schedule for next Sunday, the game against the Chiefs is the Black and Gold’s best chance to stop the slide and salvage the season.

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