carolina panthers Archive

Yes, Jay Mariotti irritates me. But it’s even worse when he acts like he’s “calling” something that a blogger wrote about a month ago. The man who looks like he could be Patton Oswalt’s less handsome brother wrote that the Saints are “headed to 16-0.” Way to go out on a limb once they beat (what appears to be) the best team standing in the way. Here’s the majority of his simplistic reasoning when he isn’t knob-jobbing Drew Brees or name-dropping Hurricane Katrina (late on those too):

The legitimacy of the Saints as an NFL powerhouse no longer can be doubted. Not only did they pummel the Patriots, 38-17, but they also made a very robust claim that they could repeat New England’s 16-0 season of two years ago. Have you looked at the schedule? Next weekend, they’re at Washington, a lousy, poorly coached team racked by injuries. Then they’re at Atlanta, normally a difficult draw, but not when Matt Ryan and Michael Turner are injured. The only losable game is against Dallas, but it’s at the Dome on a Saturday night before Christmas, not a favorable assignment for the skittish Tony Romo and the buffoonish Wade Phillips. Tampa Bay at home? Rout. At Carolina? History.

Uh, was anybody doubting that the Saints, the team tied for the best record in the NFL, were a powerhouse?  Yeah, I didn’t link Mariotti’s piece on purpose. That’s because WithLeather put forth better reasoning when the Saints weren’t even at the halfway point. And thank fucking goodness PUNTE managed to get through his post without writing “Who Dat” once. Plus, the WithLeather piece was INSIGHTFUL considering when it was posted. As for Mariotti, he’s spending 2000+ words telling us that the Saints are good. Seriously? He even goes so far as to call Reggie Bush, a guy who’s averaging 53.8 yards/game (the worst of his career), “game-breaking.”

I respectfully disagree with PUNTE and disrespectfully disagree with Mariotti. The Saints aren’t bulletproof. In week 8, the Falcons were only down a score going into the 4th quarter. The following week, New Orleans was only up by FOUR on the Rams heading into the final frame. They were even down by seven to the Panthers in week 10 until Drew Brees hit Robert Meachem for a 54-yard strike as time expired in the third quarter. There’s a reason that teams don’t go 16-0 all the time: it’s hard to win NFL games.

Sure, we can look into the future. But I absolutely HATE the concept of “schedule-watching.” Why? Because the Eagles lost to the Raiders, the Steelers lost to the Chiefs, the Packers lost to the Bucs, and the Patriots lost to the Jets. There’s little difference in skill level between most NFL teams and most underdogs have AT LEAST a 40% chance of winning each Sunday. You may say, “Oh, but they Jets had Kris Jenkins and Leon Washington at the time.” You’re right! That brings me to my next point: injuries can ruin everything. The Saints were an extremely vulnerable team without Sedrick Ellis from week 8 to week 11. They were also missing three of four of their starting CBs and Reggie Bush against the Pats. They were good enough to overcome those issues in the past, but it will be extremely difficult to keep it up.

Mariotti’s (lack of) reasoning makes me wonder if he even watches the NFL. He dismisses all of the Saints remaining opponents except for Dallas. That must be based purely on their records. In my opinion, the Redskins and Panthers are the teams most likely to take them down. Why? Because both Washington and Carolina rank in the TOP THREE in pass defense. Don’t think the Redskins have a chance? SURPRISE, the Skins aren’t as bad as “experts” would have you think. In the last three weeks, they’ve beaten the Broncos and lost to the Cowboys and Eagles by a total of four points. Washington also ranks seventh in the NFL in total defense. Though, the Skins’ chance to win takes a major hit if DeAngelo Hall is out next week.  Think Carolina sucks too? They’ve actually gone 4-4 since starting 0-3. The Panthers also have the 4th ranked rush offense in the NFL while the Saints rank 20th in rush defense. Oh, and let’s not forget that the potentially 15-0 Saints would probably rest their key players for a good chunk (all?) of that week 17 matchup.

Clearly, I’m not going out on a limb predicting that the Saints won’t go undefeated — and I’d be quite impressed if they did. But I just can’t stand a mediocre sportswriter acting like he’s spitting truth. If you’re going to rip off a blogger, at least do it well.