Last night I sat down at my TV with a plate of shrimp creole and my
Saints glass full of Barq's to watch the game and generate this report.

This was good old solid Saints football.  Strong defense, ball-control offense,
4 FGs by Morten.

Things started out kind of shaky.  The Oilers' run-and-shoot offense forced
the Saints into a weird one-LB, many DB defense.  Moon completed medium-length
passes seemingly at will to march the Oilers down the field for a TD.  After
the Saints couldn't move the ball, Houston started another drive.  However,
Rickey Jackson (who else?) forced a fumble that was recovered by the Saints.
This play was probably the turning point of the game.

The Saints' touchdowns came on a 2 yd run by Dalton Hilliard, Frank Warren's
47 yd return of a fumble (brought on by Sam Mills' sack of Moon), and Derek 
Brown's 2 yd run (set up when Vince Buck forced another Moon fumble).


Special praise goes to the following Saints:

* Toi Cook - he had an incredible game, which included: a breakup of a long
             Oilers pass, a sack, an interception, and a fumble recovery

* Eric Martin - with over 100 yds receiving (many on catches made while
                being interfered with), he showed that he is still the
                Saints' go-to guy

* Wade Wilson - he played mistake-free football, drove the team down the
                field efficiently, made the Oilers jump offsides on many
                occasions, and reacted very well to blitzes

* Derek Brown & - the rookie RBs gave the Saints the missing half of their
  Lorenzo Neal    offensive attack

* Jay Hilgenberg - with less than a week to get ready, he did a good job
                   filling in for his brother Joel


Other notes:

* Chris Port started instead of Jim Dombrowski.  Apparently Dombrowski 
  is not up to game speed yet or hasn't finished receiving his penance
  for holding out.  Port played well.

* Fred McAfee got the start at HB, but sat on the sidelines while Brown
  and Neal did their damage.

* Brett Maxie made a great play to break up an Oilers TD.


To be honest, I was surprised the Saints were a 3 pt favorite.  Frankly,
I didn't expect them to win.  They managed to win despite the absence
of Joel Hilgenberg, Brad Muster, and Reginald Jones.

I did give the Saints more credit than a lot of prognosticators.  Some
of them are finally starting to learn not to underestimate them.  Check
out _Sports_Illustrated_: after Dr. Z portends 8-8 for the Saints, he
acknowledges that he always seems to pick the Saints too low.

For those of you who missed my prediction, here it is: 10-6, wildcard.


I don't want to rain on the good vibes following the Houston win, but
keep this in mind: we've all seen the Saints play like this in the past.
Yes, they are a great team that doesn't get nearly enough respect.  However,
if they don't win at least one playoff game this year, the season can in
no respect be judged a success.  It's that simple.


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Frank Serpas III