All in all, what a fitting celebration to cap off a game that felt like it spent three and half hours swimming in place. I'm not sure if there's anything to the concept of teams "not getting up" for certain opponents, but - as pesky as the Jets have been this season - letting them hang around with Bryce Petty at quarterback felt like it required the Saints to go comatose during a lazy Sunday afternoon nap. Between the inexcusable turnovers, unimaginative offense, and subpar run defense, a must-win game spent far too much time within sniffing distance of a disastrous loss. I suppose some credit has to go to an opponent that didn't crumble while being the led by the most cookie cutter of questionable quarterbacks, but it's more so an indictment of the team that lacked focus during the most obvious of trap games. Now, perhaps it's not a surprise that the Saints couldn't keep the entirety of their attention on a bad out of conference opponent that was sandwiched in between rivalry games that became decidedly more heated as of last week. Still, it was mildly disappointing that the frustration from last Thursday combined with suspiciousness of some of the NFL's decisions since didn't have them thirsty for an ass-whooping. I think everyone from Sean Payton on down would tell you they expect a more complete performance come next weekend, but it would have been nice if they got a head start on playing complimentary football prior to playing heads up for their division. It's a nice change of pace that the Saints are finally talented enough to coast through the occasional game as if winning it was a forgone conclusion, but if they want to make the most of that talent then similar efforts are going to have them wondering what could have been sooner rather than later. A pass rush that is non-existent outside of Cam Jordan displaying an NBA Jam-esque ability to swat every pass that enters his orbit? A downfield passing game that's completely and totally reliant on Michael Thomas? Simply not going to cut it if this team wants to exact revenge on the Falcons, and exacting revenge on the Falcons would say a hell a lot about this team as it nears the postseason. Sidenote: Mark Ingram deserves all the credit in the world for taking advantage of a revamped offensive line and defying common sense by becoming a more dominant running back with age...
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