Before getting into the details of Sunday’s 21-18 miracle win over the Cleveland Browns, let’s get one thing straight.
The calm that comes over my body when the Saints win comes no matter how it happens.
It doesn’t matter if it’s forcing the New England Patriots to quit midway through the fourth quarter or needing a Browns kicker to miss four kicks, the calm that comes is the same.
The difference is what comes next.
Is it the calm before the storm, or the kind of calm that lasts until the following Sunday?
In this particular case, it’s definitely the calm before the storm.
When my eyes opened Sunday morning, my wish was to finally not be 0-2 for the first time in five seasons.
There was no reason to think it was going to be easy. New Orleans was 4-13 all-time against Cleveland. The Browns own the Saints.
And once again, it was an ugly, mistake-filled game that the Browns dominated … yet somehow gift-wrapped to Saints fans everywhere.
In good conscience, all Saints fans should look up the Browns address and send them a Christmas card.
With all of that said, not one aspect of Sunday’s play was encouraging ... besides the 1-1 record, of course.
The offense looked awful. You can argue Mark Ingram selling this team down the river with his four-game suspension didn’t adversely affect the Saints in the opener, but it definitely did Sunday.
After the first drive of the game, which ended in a Michael Thomas fumble, my antenna went up.
You could just tell Sean Payton’s offense was scared of Cleveland’s defense. Everything was very short, very calculated and very conservative.
They didn’t think they could block the Browns and their pregame hunch was correct. Cleveland has a big-boy defense, and without Ingram, the Saints offense was reduced to a salad-eating bunch.
The offense put up 275 total yards in a home game, and somehow won.
Making matters even worse, the play-calling was baffling. I’ll likely have nightmares about running the ball for no gain on second-and-two without a fullback in the game.
That just drives me bonkers.
It’s hard for me to believe Ben Watson is that inept to never throw him the ball.
It’s hard for me to believe Tre’Quan Smith is that clueless to hardly ever play.
It’s hard for me to believe Jonathan Williams isn’t capable of averaging more than one carry a game.
New Orleans still can’t convert on third down, because all they do is throw to the same receiver on every play. For the second straight season, their third-down plan is so limited and so ineffective.
As awful a performance as Sunday’s was offensively, however, my concerns aren’t really there. That unit typically figures it out as the season goes on.
The defense, though, is troubling. Really troubling. I kind of feel, well … just like I did last year after two games.
The big difference is New Orleans played against arguably the best offense in the league in New England in game two last year and arguably the worst offensive unit in Cleveland on Sunday.
The linebacker play on this team is awful. It doesn’t seem like they ever fill a hole.
The cornerbacks and safeties consistently look confused. The defensive end isn’t getting any pressure at all.
And has anyone figured out who Craig Robertson offended? Did he spit in someone's oatmeal? It’s beyond me why that guy isn’t on the field.
Then there’s Payton. He was understandably angry at his team’s performance Sunday. But he also needs to look in the mirror.
His effort was poor as well.
His second-down play-calling crippled the offense all day.
His game management disaster in the game’s final minute was criminal. YOU HAVE TO make Cleveland use its final two timeouts or YOU HAVE TO run the clock.
Wil Lutz’s field goal attempt can only not be the final play of the game if the Browns are out of timeouts.
As a head coach, that’s inexcusable clock management.
Speaking of game management, Cleveland offensive guru Todd Haley, as well as head coach Hue Jackson, should deflect much of the ire headed toward kicker Zane Gonzalez.
Once the fourth quarter arrived, the Browns’ play-calling was a complete joke.
Run the clock, fools. You’re dominating the line of scrimmage by that point and you have a running quarterback. What is he throwing the ball down the field for?
Why are you running double reverses?
Not only did Zane’s Stormtrooper accuracy bail out the Saints, but also his coaches. If they had managed the game better, it wouldn’t have come down to Zane’s late-game meltdown.
But in the end … 1-1 still provides that calm come bedtime that 0-2 can't.