Saints 9-0..yawn.

Was there really any doubt that the Saints would take care of business against a truly pathetic 1-8 Rams team? There shouldn’t have been, but until late in the fourth there was. Geeze, how do we let the freaking Rams hang around and put a scare into us? I mean until Courtney Roby returned the second-half kickoff 97 yards for a touchdown, this thing was touch and go. The Rams were running the ball well, the Saints weren’t. (An all too common occurrence lately).

With Scott Fujita back in the saddle, we at least held the Rams to under 5.0 yards per carry, and their 141 rushing yards we the least we have allowed in three weeks. Another deciding factor which was also a little disturbing is that Strong Safety Roman Harper spent most of the night solidly in the box in run support. I would have thought that would have tightened up the run defense even more. With Bulger and that Rams WR corps, Harper wasn’t really needed back in coverage, a luxury we won’t necessarily have going forward. So our rushing defense is still a concern, and you have to wonder about Jonathan Vilma at MLB not stopping runners sooner, and our iffy DTs filling space. Hargrove is filling in for Sedrick Ellis well from a statistical perspective, but not from an NFL one. Ellis was like cholesterol on the line, plugging and generally slowing up progress. Hargrove is quicker and faster, but not as strong at the point of attack.
The Saints did rush for 203 yards against a Rams defense that had allowed an average of about 140 over the previous three weeks. Sounds good until you look closer. Take away the 41 yard scamper by Meacham and the 55 yard jaunt by Bush, and you are left with a more reasonable 107 yards on 27 carries for a 3.9 ypc average. And what the hell is going on with Pierre? 11 carries for 37 empty yards. Again in week ten it seemed Reggie Bush was getting the opportunities, although he deserves it. Bush had eight touches for 82 rushing yards, 15 receiving yards and two touchdowns. On the other hand, Thomas/Bell had 22 touches for not a whole heck of a lot. Maybe we had gone and written off Mr. Bush too early? At least this one writer may have. I was seriously starting to think he would be traded.

From a strictly fantasy perspective, the week ten version of the Saints was a disaster. Our vaunted defense managed just one interception and two sacks, and unless your team defense gets credits for punt returns, you got nada. Pierre Thomas was a no-show again, and he’s becoming a real liability to count on. If you played Mike Bell you have now realized (too late) that he’s not going to be much of a factor in this thing going forward, and Colston’s 2-17-0 was pretty shocking. QB Drew didn’t make my socks roll up and down either. A pretty pedestrian outing (for Brees anyway) with 223-2-2. Heck, Bulger had a better fantasy week by a long shot. If you happened to be hard up enough to start Reggie Bush, then you were truly blessed. He was on my bench in two leagues, and in both I started Pierre Thomas.

So what’s on tap this week for our beloved UN-DE-FEAT-ED Saints? Those Buccaneers , of course. 1-8, and they have scored more than 23 points just once. They almost came back and beat the also-bad Dolphins, but except for the inexplicable winagainst the Packers, bad teams find a way “not to win”. It should be a field day for everyone. The Bucs allow 167.3 yards per game on the ground, including 369 in the last two against the Fins and Pack. Offensively, they average just 98.9 yards rushing and 18 yards passing per game, and less than two touchdowns. In fact, over the last seven games, they have averaged just 160.5 yards a game though the air. To add to their misery, they have allowed at least three sacks in five of the last six games. Should be another cake walk. Let’s just hope we aren’t looking ahead to that Patriots matchup and let the Bucs hang around.