"The Beast" was unleashed on the Cowboys Thanksgiving Day

This past week’s Thanksgiving Day game against the Cowboys proved to be a real shoot-out with a much improved team led by interim coach Jason Garrett.  Chris Ivory a.k.a. “The Beast” was unleashed against the Cowboys for two rushing touchdowns in the first quarter of the game. By halftime, the Saints had a commanding 14 point lead of 20-6.  The Cowboys came into the third quarter with a chip on their shoulders and scored a 60 yard touchdown run by Miles Austin.  All the Saints could manage during this time was a 28 yard field goal from Garrett Hartley.  Later in the third, Reggie Bush made his comeback; although, it was not the way in which he had hoped. He muffed a punt return, which led to the Cowboy’s unthinkable 1 yard touchdown run by Marion Barber. This brought the score to 23-20, with the Saints holding a mere 3 point lead and the defense beginning to unravel. If Saints fans weren’t nervous by then, they were sweating bullets by the fourth quarter.  The Cowboys drove the field with only seven plays and a 1 yard touchdown run from Tashard Choice.  This gave the Cowboys a 4 point lead and left me with the same sick feeling I could read on the players’ faces. The 68 seconds it took to regain the lead seemed like an entire quarter. Our savior, “Breesus,” drove the Saints down the field in five plays for 89 yards. The Saints’ victory was sealed with a 12 yard touchdown catch by “Sir Lancelot” Moore.  The final score was 30-27 Saints.

In week 13, the Saints face off with the Cincinnati Bengals.  The Bengals are ranked eleventh in passing defense and twenty-fifth in rushing defense.  Our defense is currently ranked seventh overall in the league.  Our passing defense is ranked third, but our run defense is ranked twenty-fourth in the league. With a healthy Traci Porter and Jabari Greer as our corners, I’m not highly concerned.  Our pro bowl safety, Roman Harper, has been our shining star on defense in the secondary with Malcolm Jenkins.  Jenkins has really proven himself at safety this year while filling in for Sharper.  As Carolina’s Jonathan Stewart knows, a healthy Darren Sharper is a force to be reckoned with. I have yet to see the talent everyone else seems to see in rookie Patrick Robinson, but hopefully with time he will be a lock down corner. 

In this week’s game, I look for more and more pounding of the ball by the Saints.  Chris Ivory has proven that he is now a solid replacement for Pierre Thomas. NFL Insider reports that Ivory has won over the coaches in New Orleans, and that he will remain the premier inside running back for the Saints, regardless of the pending return of Pierre Thomas.  John Clayton also reports that Chris Ivory will be the future running back for the Saints, and that he and Reggie Bush will be paired together.  I couldn’t agree anymore with the coaches’ decision to keep Ivory as the premier inside running back.  I am aware that Reggie Bush is coming off of a broken fibula injury, but in last week’s game he dropped a touchdown catch and muffed a punt return which was recovered for a touchdown. Reggie apparently got a bit rusty during his time off. When Bush gets his mojo back, I believe he is needed more on special teams than in the running game. However, I am anxious to see what Ivory and Bush can do together since Thomas has gotten nowhere close to an agreement for a long-term contract with the team.  With Ivory playing like this, the Saints will have the upper hand regarding Thomas’s contract negotiations in the off season.

If Drew Brees is your fantasy quarterback this week, you can relax with the way he’s been playing. This week’s game will be a good match-up for Brees.  Yes, the Cinci pass defense is ranked eleventh in the league, but who cares when you have Brees as your QB?  I expect Brees to get two or three touchdown passes out of this game with his usual 300+ yards passing.  Who will be on the receiving end of those passes?  Look for “Spidey Man” Colston to grab at least one of those touchdown passes from Brees; and, if you have Meachem just sitting on your bench, go ahead and play him this week.  Lance Moore scored last week, so it’s Meachem’s turn to score this week.  If Chris Ivory was on your bench last week, I don’t have to tell you to put him in your line-up. He sat on my bench racking up points and outscoring most of my starters. In the past two games, Ivory has scored three times and proved he is a goal line back when it comes to short yardage plays.  This weekend’s weather report for Cincinnati predicts snow on Saturday and Sunday during the game with a high of 37 degrees.  If it does snow, this game will turn into a running competition. This might diminish Brees’s performance slightly, but he’ll still rack up some yardage.  My prediction this week is: Saints 30-17.