Changing Faces

Welcome Saints Fans A new defensive honcho on the sidelines, no more sentimental favorite Deuce, a capable when healthy CB Mike McKenzie, or bowling ball FB Mike Carney, among other changes -such as some name free agent additions in the defensive backfield, and the '09 Saints roster is beginning to take shape as the college player draft approaches in about a month. Who Dat Nation has been waiting for the re-enactment of the magic of the Post Katrina Saints of '06. Some pubs like Sports Illustrated had them among the Super Bowl favorites the following season. A mediocre .500 type club has taken the field since, not bad enough to bring a return of the disgust of bagheads of yore, but a major disappointment nevertheless. For two plus seasons the defense has been soft. Playoffs have way of magnifying weaknesses in the NFL, and this should have been obvious to Saints brass after Chicago ran all over them in the '06 NFC Championship at Soldier, thwarting the Saints 1st historic bid to get to the Super Bowl, where they would have made a far more entertaining opponent for the Colts than the Bears were. In '07 the club drafted Tenn. WR Todd Meacham in the 1st round, not only displaying a lack of priority on the defense side of the ball, but resulting in the peculiarity of the pick not even ready to dress out that season, and not due to injury. Last season, one thing the defense did reasonably well under now former def. coordinator Gary Gibbs was blitz. They did it way too little, choosing to "play it safe" but of course got burned through the air repeatedly anyway. The unit would have been better off going down swinging. It is no cliche that offense wins games but defense wins championships in the NFL. The Giants getting hot at rushing the passer down the stretch and the Steelers holding off the Cardinals at critical points in the Super Bowl are the latest examples. The Saints GM, coaching staff, and player personnel dept. have collectively fumbled in a) making defense a priority and b) evaluating the talent and implementing it since '06, when the unit and team was basically a happy-go-lucky, fun bunch of overachievers. Post K, it was motivated to achieve for a community cause greater than self, but that effect has dissipated. 2009 is setting up to be a critical season for the organization in Year 4 under offensive minded Sean Payton. The hiring of def. coordinator Greg Williams makes the duo as close to a Co-Head Coach arrangement as there is in the NFL. Stay Tuned. Will be posting every Saturday commencing April 11.