The Bengals gave the Saints their second straight loss at home and out played the Saints
in the process. Cincinnati played like a team that wanted to play and win and the Saints continue to play uninspired football with a losing record. They have now been defeated in 10 of their last 17 games including last years playoffs. They and Atlanta are now both 4-6 for the season.
All seven sports writers for the Times Picayune picked the Saints to win in Sunday's paper. They simply went with the line once again that had the Saints favored by seven points. Their reporting on what is wrong with the Saints has been all over the lot. One of the latest jingles is they have to finish the game. A problem this writer wrote about both last year and this year. Remember the call, "We have to finish strong?"
Part of the Saints problems are obvious. When they play the teams that are well coached on defense, Brees and Payton are not prolific or a genius like sports writers want to brag about. The players and coaches have problems and all is not well. This is the third straight year the Saints offensive and defensive play is not consistent. And to top it off, the players are not ready to play despite their huge salaries.
Any objective observer of the game must have noticed the difference in the two teams on the field the way each played the game. Cincinnati's all around play and execution was not only better than the Saints, they also stopped the Saints bread and butter offensive plays with a strong defense. They were better prepared. Paton needs to get a life on the sidelines and take the chip off his shoulders.
Allowing bounty gate to happen and hiring Spagnuolo as defensive coordinator were huge mistakes by Payton. School is still out on Rob Ryan but it is a fact that his defensive teams in the past before Payton hired him were not consistent. Sports writers tried to rate Ryan's performance based on last years results and now have second thoughts. That is unfortunately and so are their apple polishing stories.
The NFL is a weak league overall with only 30-35% of the teams end the season with a winning record. Records are not so hard to set against those teams that are losers and not well coached. Sports writers should be objective and take that into consideration instead of being carried away in their reporting.
The after affects of bountygate shows how arrogance can come back and take its toll. This writer still believes that is one factor of what is happening with the Saints. Payton received a big raise after bounty gate. So did Brees and Graham. NFL owners have deep pockets of wealth and the Saints organization failed to hold Payton accountable for allowing bounty gate to happen. And Brees and Graham still have not earned their salary. In the NFL, one can still be paid big bucks and still not produce. And sports writers who cover the Saints still lack objectivity.
The most satisfying part of the game was the young lady who belatedly was given the football. She was also nice looking.
Note: As of this writing the Saints have beaten only one team with a winning record, Green Bay. The other three teams they beat, Carolina, Minnesota and Tampa Bay have a combined won-loss record of 9 wins, 21 losses and 1 tie.
This commentry written by John Lucia.
