On Sunday afternoon the Brees Dream Foundation made their most substantial contribution to the less fortunate, as the Saints quarterback “donated” four…FOUR…that’s FOUR interceptions to the downtrodden Cleveland Browns.
The only good things I could say about the game is that it was nice seeing free safety Darren Sharper finally back on the field, Garrett Hartley made all of his point kicks and running back Chris Ivory didn’t fumble the ball.
Everything else was awful. Unless you were an ex-Saint.
Ex-Saints linebacker Scott Fujita played better against his former team than he did while with them, leading his team in tackles and snagging a pick and a sack. Practicing an entire year against the Black and Gold’s o-line gave the most educated man in the NFL excellent preparation for the match-up, knowing the playbook and most importantly the players.
The Saints offense choked when it mattered and the special teams unit looked like a mark playing three-card monte, biting on a clever and brilliantly executed “lateral” en route to a 62 yard return and then falling for a fake punt that resulted in a 68 yard gain.
Sure the Browns used a lot of gimmick plays, but that’s what they thought it was take to defeat the defending world champions. And to their credit, the Browns pulled them off flawlessly…perhaps with the admiration of coach Sean Payton.
In addition to the Brees interceptions, penalties also helped the Saints dig their own grave, calling back a Lance Moore touchdown reception while giving the Browns better field position.
While the win made the Browns’ season (as Bobby Hebert pointed in his pregame comments, Cleveland had defeated the two previous Super Bowl champions, with the Saints being their third straight victory), the loss may very well have marked the end of the words “two dat” in the local lexicon.
The Saints have now as many losses in week seven than they had during the entire 2009 regular season. And it’s only going to get harder.
The Saints face what is arguably the best team in football on Halloween night when they take on the Pittsburgh Steelers. Add to that a trip to the Palace in Dallas on Thanksgiving Day and December road trips to Atlanta, Baltimore and Cincinnati.
And the Saints don’t do well in cold weather away games.
I’ll defer to coach Jim Mora all questions related to the Black and Gold’s chances to making it to the post-season.
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