Pats/Saints

I sit here 30 minutes removed from a 38-17 debacle in New Orleans and I toss out a question that surely will be debated this week ..."Are the Saints really that good?" or "Is the Pats defense really that bad?"? I lean heavily towards the former as opposed to the latter. Ladies and Gentlemen - The New Orleans Saints are good.

The Saints have weapons galore - Marques Colston, Devery Henderson, Jeremy Shockey, Robert Meachem, etc. To think they were missing key members of their air attack - Reggie Bush and Lance Moore. One thing America should realize now (if they had not yet already) is that Drew Brees is an elite quarterback. The guy is deadly accurate, extremely smart, and possesses the competitiveness and fire you love to see in your field general. Whenever someone discusses top tier NFL quarterbacks, Drew Brees must be included along with Brady and Manning.

On the flip side, however, the New England Patriots defense was terrible tonight. I can't remember a Pats defense giving up so many huge plays. They simply had no answer for the Saints offense led by Brees and Sean Payton. Their inexperience and youth in the secondary was on display, specificially on the 75-yard TD to Devery Henderson in the second quarter where there was a clear miscommunication.

Is the Pats defense really that bad? No, of course not. They were just made to look terrible by an excellent football team. The Patriots are still a very good team. Don't be surprised if we see a rematch of this game in a little over 2 months down in Miami. If there is, I guarantee the performance will be different.