Saturday, December 5, 2009

Lions Moral Victory

BY SCOTT MORGANROTH
The Detroit Lions may have only two wins this season, but the team can add a Moral Victory after the New Orleans Saints clobbered the New England Patriots 38-17 Monday Night at the Superdome.
When Saints QB Drew Brees threw for 358 yards and six touchdowns in New Orleans 45-27 trouncing of Detroit during the opening week, it was easy to chastise the Lions defense and woeful winless 0-16 record in 2008.
All the Saints have done is march to an 11-0 record. Brees has a QB rating of 112.6, 3,117 yards, 27 touchdowns and just nine interceptions. They've beaten playoff caliber teams like the Patriots, Miami Dolphins, Philadelphia Eagles, Atlanta Falcons and NY Giants.
Brees five touchdown passes and 158.3 passer rating against a Bill Belichick defense seemed unimaginable before the hyped national television contest.
But when Brees spreads the ball out to seven different receivers despite the fact that all-purpose running back Reggie Bush missed the game, and amasses 371 yards, the New England Patriots defense looked like it went to Pat O' Briens and were hung over by the famous Hurricane drinks.
I have to wonder if Washington Redskins Owner Dan Snyder was watching this game as former Defensive Coordinator Gregg Williams was hammering the Patriots offense and roughing up three-time winning Super Bowl QB Tom Brady.
If Snyder didn't see enough of Williams defense on television, his 3-8 Redskins will see it in Washington Sunday as the two teams face each other.
You can bet that Snyder is paying attention to the Saints undefeated record and whether he'll fire current head coach Jim Zorn at the end of the season & replace him with Williams, who wanted the Redskins head job in the first place, remains to be seen.
Or will Williams do what many big name coaches have done as they're also doing to Notre Dame and say, "Thanks But No Thanks?"
If I were Williams, I'd take my time, stay with the Saints, and find the right situation instead of working with a hands on meddling owner. Snyder's patience for coaches is well documented by the numerous changes he's made over the years.
It's inevitable that he'll get a head coaching opportunity if his Saints continue to have consistent success. These days defensive coordinators get snapped up for head coaching jobs very quickly like his opening week opponent Jim Schwartz of the Lions.
But in the meantime, even if Williams downplays his return to the nations capital, you can rest assure his defensive players will let their actions lead to his revenge.
It could be a long day for the Redskins, who this writer predicted lost to the Detroit Lions, which snapped their 19-game losing streak on September 27th at Ford Field.
Fail to the Redskins, who are about to enable the Saints to go 12-0.
As for the Lions, they were just the beginning of many to fall to the Saints, and to a quarterback that was selected in the second round of the 2001 draft by the San Diego Chargers.
Not all of the great signal callers are selected in the first round.
Monday Nights game featured a second round pick in Brees facing a 2000 sixth round selection in a match up featuring former Big 10 signal callers hailing from Purdue and Michigan.
While I'm not ready to hand the Vince Lombardi Trophy to the Saints at the moment because the road through the NFC leads to the Minnesota Vikings (10-1) and Brett Favre, the Saints are a super story.
They're easing the pain that lots of people are still experiencing from Hurricane Katrina on August 28, 2005.
They'll certainly be a sentimental favorite to advance to their first Super Bowl to be in a position to win their first championship. I can only imagine what the ratings would be on CBS for this event.
If the Saints beat everybody, the Saints will be dealing out more Moral Victories and the Lions will have plenty of company about what happened that Sunday against the Saints, as teams looked at film and finding out where they failed.
I can just imagine the party on Bourbon Street.
Yet it all began with the Saints defeating the first team in NFL history to finish 0-16.
Scott Morganroth can be reached at scottsports33@aol.com. My blog and photos can be seen at www.scottsports33.com

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