Cheerleader of the week & other Saints stuff

quote:

---

Cheerleader of the Week: The Saints took the latest ring, so Annie of the Saintsations is the inaugural cheerleader of the week. According to her team bio, she has a degree in communications from LSU and her favorite word is "shish kabob." TMQ wasn't aware that people had favorite words. Check the Saintsations roster page, where everyone is listing 45 degrees to the right. Is there a gravity anomaly in New Orleans?

---

quote:

---

Stat of the Week No. 10: Stretching back to last season, the Saints have defeated Kurt Warner, Brett Favre, Peyton Manning and again Favre -- four consecutive victories against teams headed by future Hall of Fame quarterbacks.

---

quote:

---

Defending Champion Notes: New Orleans is viewed by the sports world as pass wacky, yet in the Super Bowl showed it could play superior defense, and against Minnesota showed it could play a traditional power game on offense -- rushing for 70 yards in the second half against the Vikings' top-rated run defense. The Saints' rushes were nothing fancy, usually the line zone blocking one way while the tailback cut back behind the blockers. Every NFL team uses this run tactic. The Redskins used zone blocking plus a cutback run to convert a first-and-15 against Dallas on Sunday night. For New Orleans, the Saints showed they could use zone blocking plus power rushing in a high-pressure situation against a top defense. The five-minute clock-killer drive that iced the game for New Orleans couldn't have been more traditional if Woody Hayes had replaced Sean Payton for that possession.

In the second half New Orleans also played power defense, holding the Vikings to two first downs and four completions. Opening in a 3-4, when Minnesota expected a 4-3, was a nice touch. Flashy sacks weren't the essence -- rather, incompletions clanging to the ground, which is sweet music to a defensive coordinator's ears, although several incompletions may have resulted from poor timing and poor communication between Favre and his receivers.

Why did that happen? Maybe because Favre skipped minicamps and training camp. Chad Ochocinco was right to say that if he or Terrell Owens skipped camp he'd be roasted in the press, but Brett Favre gets a free pass. He looked rusty on Thursday night -- after all, he skipped camp, and quarterbacks need camp more than players at other positions. The game announcers and sports radio gave Favre a free pass, blaming his receivers. Reader David Storey of St. Louis notes, "Occam's Razor would suggest that instead of believing five receivers are at fault for lack of timing, the one quarterback who has shown an unwillingness to do the preseason work is likely to blame."

---

quote:

---

Hidden Play of the Week: Hidden plays are ones that never make highlight reels, but stop or sustain drives. Leading 14-9, defending champion New Orleans faced third-and-1 on its own 21 with 4:20 remaining, Minnesota holding two timeouts. If the Vikings could force a punt, they would have good field position to win the game on their final possession. Drew Brees play-faked a power dive, then threw a flare pass in the flat to blocking back Heath Evans for a first down. This play will never be on anyone's highlight reel, but was essential to the Saints' win.

---

quote:

---

My alternate-uniform Super Bowl pick -- from observing the television football touts I've learned that it helps to make several mutually exclusive predictions -- is Colts versus Packers. I hate going along with conventional wisdom, and there's a clear media bandwagon for Green Bay. I'm nervous about the Colts. The contrarian in me badly wants to forecast a final contest of Texans versus Saints. Could you imagine how delightfully miserable it would make Jerry Jones if the first Super Bowl in his new palace paired his in-state rival, Houston, against a New Orleans team that has drawn the regional glory away from the Boys?

---