Saints Preseason Game #3: A Picture Is Worth 1,000 Words

Him? Oh, don't worry about him. That's just Thomas Morstead, our Pro Bowl punter. Yeah, you know the guy on the football team that plays the least and watches this team from up close the most. I'm going to go out on a limb and say that his seafood wasn't undercooked last night, he just doesn't have the stomach for whatever brand of football the Saints were playing today. It appears last season didn't strengthen his immune system like it did mine. Either that or I was just privy to enough alcohol abuse to wash away that watery, acidic taste you get right before you end up bent over a garbage can.

Disclaimer: I know it's preseason football. With that said, if we weren't allowed to make premature judgements based on next to nothing then NFL players wouldn't have jobs when they retire (looking at you Troy Aikman), so I think I can let my 'voice' be heard too.

Seeing as meaningful football hasn't begun yet, I will do my best to remain optimistic. Let's start with positives. Drew Brees is still Drew Brees, and I'll have to double check the injury report, but I am pretty sure none of our players died. Good, glad that's out of way.

Now on to the negatives You know, like everything else. The defense looked pretty putrid. Once again, it was missing the vast majority of it's starting secondary. However, it doesn't lead that excuse much credence when the person getting burned for the majority of the first drive was the lone member of said starting secondary playing. The interior of the defense provided about as much resistance as a dead hooker, but hey, they got their first sack today so at least there's that I suppose. I still think when this defense is full strength it should prove to at least be a decent, middle of the pack unit. That would pretty much make them the '85 Bears in comparison to last year.

The offense, with Drew Brees at the helm and a rebuilt offensive line in front of him will surprise a lot of people. A lot of people that apparently didn't realize that Drew Brees has been turning nobodies into viable NFL receivers since far before Jimmy Graham came to town. Let's hope he still has a little bit of that magic in him, because the wide receiver depth behind Cooks, Colston, and an upstart Willie Snead makes a baby pool look like the Atlantic Ocean. I want to have faith in Brandon Coleman. I really do. Except I have been watching him since his days at Rutgers, and whatever the Saints brass has seen during practice is what I have been begging to see from Coleman on game day since I was in college. Let's just say you can count me as skeptic.

I'm not saying the Saints are going to have a second consecutive bad season, I am just saying I am not as confident now as I was after their second preseason game. There just wasn't all that much to like about today's performance. Don't believe me, just ask Thomas Morstead. Whatever, at least Sean Payton's tribute to the victims of Hurricane Katrina and the city of New Orleans made me smile, because the football certainly didn't.