It was a pretty bad day of football yeasterday. The Rams, a medicore team with a journey man QB in a dome where even their own fans were quiet for most of the game, put it on the Saints for 4 quarters.

In the NFL, a game is never truly over, but this one was over at the end of the 1st Quarter, and sadly the Saints just came out flat and got their arse beat.

How could this team not be ready for this game? I imagine having to maybe weather a Rams rally from playing in their own place, but seriously, how could this team lay an egg with so much on the line?

Here are my thoughts from yesterday:

1. We are a terrible road team, and it's psychological. We go from a super force to a very average team on the road, and there really is no excuse for it or why it happens.

2. Brees played pretty bad, and there are rumors Payton chewed him out, which is great. $100 million or not, he isn't above an arse chewing. I hate that he doesn't rally the troops during the game and that he sits off with the QBs and looks at pictures. Would love to know what he saw when he limp wristed a floater into triple coverage.

3. Jimmy Graham dissapears when the going gets tough. He's a beast and probably the best player on the team, not counting Brees, but my God does the man give up when the team is playing down. Alligator arms, not going for the ball on short throws, no fight in him and I don't know why. The team needs his energy.

4. Hartley is done. He has to be, right? If indeed that was a shank, then it is over for him and good riddance. He is a head case.

5. The special teams coach needs to be fired. Our ST has been plagued with penalties all year, we tackle poorly, and we are terrible on returns. The big thing are the penalties.

6. The O-Line, which many called out since the beginning of the year, is very bad. Loomis and Payton fricked up. They thought these players were going to be "good enough" for Brees, and he is getting killed back there. Strief is a backup. Grubbs and Evans are both having a down year. DLP is terrible. Brown is so bad he had to be benched. Expect the Saints to work some kind of magic this offseason. They HAVE to for Brees' health.

7. The defense ws pretty nonexistant. Kudos to the Rams for controlling our pass rush while a backup journeyman threw to wide-open receivers. We need secondary help pretty badly, and I hope this is the last year we see Harper and Jenkins in the backfield.

8. The playcalling was bad, and this team looked lost from the very beginning. Too many screens, no attempt to run the ball, a terrible play to start the game when we should have worked to get out of the shadow of our own endzone.

So next week is the season. We win, and we get the #2 seed and a home playoff game with a chance of homefield all the way through if Seattle trips up. At this point though, and based on what we have seen all year, is there much faith at all in this team on the road?

For me, sadly, it's no. I see Carolina beating us in a game that will be close, but they will get the edge against a team with a bad O-line and from what it appears, one that has no confidence in itself.

Just a crummy way to end a promising season.