New Orleans Saints

Happy Monday, friends.  I'm writing from vacation, in lovely southern California.  It's been a quiet week for the site, because at my company, the price of going on vacation is doing two weeks worth of work in the week before you leave.  I remember a conversation I had with our VP of Operations, and I was expressing some concern that our revenue was going to tank during the last month of our fiscal year, because people would be taking vacation, so they didn't lose it.  Since our business sells billable hours, more vacation time seemed to me to correlate with lower billable hours.

The VP kind of laughed, and asked me what I do when I go on vacation.  Did my work just go unfinished for a week?  No, not me.  I'm a high initiative guy, you know?  I work hard before and after the vacation.  The VP gave me an important lesson in business that day, and that was that throughput expectations remained constant, even when there was a lot of vacation expected.  The workers could go on vacation, but the work needed to get done anyway.  In other words, vacation is a nice theoretical concept for employees to feel good about, but at the end of the day, we're doing jobs which take 52 weeks per year of work to effectively do.

That kind of reminded me of the NFL offseason.  It seems like not much is going on, but really, it's the best time of year to get better.  Players who want to improve are working hard on their skills and conditioning.  Coaches are working on their schemes, and scouts are figuring out which players can best help their teams.  

Welcome to the best part of the NFL year, friends.  I plan to work hard to improve this site, and really grow the readership.  And this week, while I am on "vacation" the work really starts in earnest.  I hope, if you enjoy the site, that you'll tell your friends to check us out.  For now, it's on to business.  Ready..... BEGIN!!!!

1.  They're still partying in New Orleans, and they should be.  After a week to reflect on the accomplishment of the Saints, I'm even more impressed.  If you remember back to 2005, (the end of the Jim Haslett/Aaron Brooks era), the team was as much of a disaster area as the New Orleans area was.  

Haslett, a good coordinator, never seemed to find the right approach as a head coach.  Brooks had a million dollar arm and a ten cent head.  The roster was talent-poor, and the psyche of the fan base was damaged.  No discernible program was in place, and remember, this was a team which had never known real sustained success in its history.

When Sean Payton came in in 2006, he established a program which ultimately led to the victory in Super Bowl XLIV.  They got lucky in landing Drew Brees, who wanted to go to Miami.  Their choice of Reggie Bush with the second pick in 2006 hasn't turned out to be a great value, in terms of statistical production for the money, but he opens up their offense in a lot of important ways.

The Saints have done a great job in identifying their type of players, finding them, and coaching them up.  If you think of guys like Jahri Evans, Carl Nicks, Marques Colston, Lance Moore, and Roman Harper, none of them was chosen with a premium draft pick.  Players like Scott Fujita, Scott Shanle, Jonathan Vilma, and Bobby McCray came through trades or free agency.

The success of the Saints should give all fans hope that a new program can deliver a championship, especially if you give it time to be effective.  As a Broncos fan, I know a lot of our fan base has tended toward taking every speed bump as a sign that the program is wrong.  I credit the Saints owner and fan base for having the patience to let a good plan work.

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Happy Monday, friends, and congratulations to the New Orleans Saints on their impressive victory in Super Bowl XLIV.  It was a total team effort, and I'll have a lot of observations to share to that effect.  I had planned for this to be short-ish, but the party I was planning to attend got canceled, due to a sick kid.  I had another invitation, by a friend who lives in the trendy Warehouse District in downtown Cleveland, but I decided to just make some shrimp jambalaya (which was awesome), watch the game from home, take good notes, and write a robust edition of The Mothership.  Let's get this thing underway, then.  Ready..... BEGIN!!!!

1.  Drew Brees won the MVP award for the Super Bowl, and he played a great game, and deserved it.  The real star, though, was Head Coach Sean Payton.  The Saints got behind in this game pretty quickly, 10-0, and the team's poise improved a great deal after a shaky start.  That's not what usually happens when you go down 10-0 to the Colts; most teams get that "here we go" feeling, and the rout is on.  The Saints got their act together, and played the way they can play.

A key moment in the game was when Payton elected to go for it on 4th and goal from about 1.5 yards away.  There were just under 2 minutes to go, and both teams had all three timeouts.  I loved the call, and judging from my Twitter feed, I was about the only one.  Of course, I understand clock and situation management very well, and most people don't.  It was the right call, without question, and I am going to explain why.

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Happy Wednesday friends.  As I write this on Tuesday night, I am feeling a bit better, and expecting to be back in my office tomorrow.  Once again, I worked from home today, and started to feel better as the day went on.  I haven't sneezed in awhile, and even went to a Chamber of Commerce networking event for a little while earlier (which is hilarious, if you're familiar with my political leanings.)  

Anyway, I promised some content for today, and content you shall have.  First, I'll start with some thoughts and observations from the two games from Sunday.

1.  New York Jets at Indianapolis Colts 

a.  I lauded the Austin Collie pick when it happened last April, and he's made me (and Bill Polian) look smart.  He's very reliable, and I was almost shocked when he dropped the first pass thrown to him Sunday.  I think Collie's combination of fluidness and precision in his routes are already near the top of the NFL for slot receivers.  I think he's a more sturdily built, quicker version of Brandon Stokley, and I expect him to have an excellent and long career.

b.  Speaking of previously unheralded Colts WRs, how about Pierre Garcon?  He was fantastic Sunday, but I have to clear up an uncommon misconception about him.  Well, it's more like a misconception about his college.  Mount Union College is a perennial Division III powerhouse, and is located in Alliance, Ohio.  Alliance is about 20 miles east of Canton, and is notable for being the site of the historic wedding after-party where I picked up my first woman out of a bar, 2 weeks after getting legally divorced.  (She's a co-worker of the groom, and we ended up dating for a few months last summer; she's the one who broke up with me during halftime of the Hall of Fame game last August, freeing me up to write a lot of words for MHR.)

Anyway, Rich Eisen was saying on TV that Mount Union is in New Jersey, near the Jets facility.  Not so much, Rich.

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It's Tuesday, and I have to go a bit abbreviated on you, I'm afraid.  I got stuck at the office a lot later than planned, and it's 9:30 PM as I start writing this.  I'll try to give you the most bang for the buck, in transcribing the notes I took over the weekend, and some brief video reviewing tonight.

1.  Arizona Cardinals at New Orleans Saints

a.  I mentioned this yesterday, but Carl Nicks has really turned into an outstanding LG for the Saints, and Jahri Evans has been the best RG for in the NFL for 2 years now.  The job those two do anchoring inside for the Saints is a huge key to the success of the offense.  Since Drew Brees is short, he's prone to being bothered by inside pressure, but those two make great pockets for him.  Nicks was a fifth round pick, and Evans was a fourth rounder, so you have to credit Mickey Loomis for picking them, and Aaron Kromer for coaching them up.  The average Jon Stinchcomb undeservedly made the Pro Bowl, but Nicks should have gone in his place.

b.  A guy for the Saints who I was really high on a year ago was Lance Moore, but he doesn't show much this year.  I wonder if he's still hurt, because the quickness he showed in the past was Welker-like, and he looks like just another guy now.  I was watching him not get open a bit, as Fox's camera work allowed, because I have to wonder what his story is.

c.  This hasn't gotten a lot of mention in the MSM (which is just shocking) but the Saints defensive backs did a fantastic job of re-routing the Cardinals WRs on Saturday.  That's how you beat the Saints, so they realize that it's also how you also beat the Cardinals.  You cannot let them get a free release, or Kurt Warner is going to hit them in rhythm, and kill you.  Add that CB success to the quick pressure the Saints were often getting from Will Smith, and the Cardinals never had a chance on offense.

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Happy Monday, friends, and welcome to The Mothership. After a pretty uninspiring Divisional Playoff round, we can only hope for more interesting games next week. I am incidentally re-writing about the first 1000 words because I clicked wrong button, and lost my work. CKEditor needs a save feature.

Anyway, let’s get to getting this big red ship underway. Somebody give me a push away from the pier in the port of Echo Chamber. Ready…. BEGIN!!!!

Happy Tuesday, friends. We're getting down to having fewer games, obviously, so I am getting less "call it like I see it" opportunities. On top of that, I had to re-allocate some time to snow removal tonight. That was a hoot. We'll see where we come out against the backdrop of "Ted was 90 minutes late to work today, and is aiming to get enough sleep tonight to ensure a reasonable expectation of timeliness tomorrow."

Wild Card Weekend -

1. New York Jets at Cincinnati Bengals

a. First things first. Michael Lombardi evidently agrees with me, but I have been saying this in various forms for two years. Carson Palmer cannot be considered a franchise QB anymore. He was on his way to being one before the knee and elbow injuries, but he's never going to get there. The velocity on his throws outside the numbers is way, way down. He can still be a solid starter, but he isn't what he's made out to be. It's no accident that the Bengals finally started having success when they decided to rely heavily on the running game.

b. Cedric Benson is a great player, and he's just hitting the prime of his career. I've beaten on the Bengals for ignoring character red flags before, and for liking bargains, but they sure came up with gold in taking a chance on Benson. The Bengals ought to get a reliable #2 RB, split the carries 75-25, and run the hell out of the ball, from a variety of personnel groupings and formations. Benson is one of the few contemporary backs in the NFL whom I'd want to use like a true workhorse.

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I'm back again with some more of the same, analyzing the NFC coaching trees.  Check out this piece from a couple days ago, if you're interested in the AFC trees.  Again, this primarily is filling a need I have to test some query programming on the team pages I'm creating, but I hope it's a value-adding read for you.

Dallas Cowboys -- Wade Phillips

Phillips is definitely descended from his father Bum.  Not so many Head Coaches come from Bum, but he is responsible for a distinct school of thought in the 3--4 defense, and that's very significant.  Wade's worked for Dan Reeves and Marty Schottenheimer, but it's fair to say that he was a practitioner for them, more than a learner in development.  We'll say Wade is part of the Bum Phillips Tree.

New York Giants -- Tom Coughlin

Coughlin goes way back to the Parcells Tree, having worked for him in New York during the late 80s and early 90s.  In terms of his approach to discipline and player procurement (size-speed), he's very similar to Parcells.

Philadelphia Eagles -- Andy Reid

Reid is definitely part of the Walsh Tree, having done all of his assistant work in the NFL under Mike Holmgren in Green Bay.  Reid played and briefly coached under LaVell Edwards at Brigham Young University, and there's more verticality to Reid's version of the West Coast offense than most others, which seems to probably be somewhat attributable to Edwards' influence.  Some of it is also undoubtedly attributable to the skill-set of Donovan McNabb, too, though.

Washington Redskins -- Jim Zorn

Zorn is part of the Walsh Tree, having come up under Mike Holmgren in Seattle.  His zealous adherence to the West Coast principles have been part of his problem, because Jason Campbell needs to be in a vertical offense where timing is less of an issue.  Zorn's about to be fired, and probably replaced by Mike Shanahan, who has his own tree. 

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