Saints 34, Colts 7

Saints vs Colts: Good, bad and ugly

Drew Brees
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The Saints were coming off a tough loss and managed to bounce back nicely with a blowout win over the Colts. Here are my observations:

The Good

-The Drew Brees/Sean Payton pairing is arguably the second best quarterback/head coach tandem in this era of football. The synergy they have is unreal. Outside Tom Brady/Bill Belichick, you can't name a better duo. Props to Brees for breaking the all time passing touchdown record on another big stage. Brees went 29/30 (96.7% is a single game record) for 307 yards and four touchdowns.

-Michael Thomas is not human. He's Brees' favorite target. Teams know he's going to get targeted at least 10 times a game or more. He doesn't have take the top off the defense speed. Yet, he still gets wide open! Thomas had 12 catches for 128 yards and a touchdown. He's now 11 catches away from breaking the catches in a season record.

-Demario Davis is the playmaker the Saints have severely lacked at linebacker. He blitzes, covers, and stuffs the run better than any line backer this team has had since the Dome Patrol. I'm not saying he's a future Hall of Famer, but he's definitely making the team's Ring of Honor. Davis pressured Jacoby Brissett, as well as made key stops in both the run and pass game.

The Bad

-There was a play in the 1st quarter in which Brees got up from the turf and had to adjust his jersey, pads, and mouthpiece. That's something no saints fan wants to see, much less something Brees wants to feel. Keeping him clean is a high priority.

-43 seconds into the 2nd quarter, Brees threw his first and only incompletion of the first half short right to Latavius Murray. Bum! He couldn't complete 100% of his passes tonight because he missed that throw to Murray. What a joke! This bum deserves to lose his job!

-The defense played very well...until they put more backups in. That's when Saquan Hampton gave up an unnecessary pass interference call that set up the Colts' one touchdown with a shade over four minutes left in the game. So much for serving donuts.

The Ugly

-When right guard Larry Warford went down, so did the hearts of many Saints fans. He's been a lynchpin of that offensive line unit since he signed as a free agent from the Lions a couple years ago. His leg got rolled up on from friendly fire. Looks like he should be okay.

-An offensive pass interference call wiped out Brees' would be record breaking touchdown pass at the end of the first half. Tre'Quan Smith was flagged when the refs assumed his slight hand push gained him a significant enough advantage that the touchdown shouldn't count. I've seen way worse not be called or reviewed. At minimum, the booth should've upheld the touchdown. But then again this is like asking criminals to judge other criminals.

-With Sheldon Rankins and Marcus Davenport out for the season, it's time for the next man up mentality. While those guys will be missed, the Saints can't let up. They were fortunate to get by the Colts and their power run game without incident because they jumped out to a big lead. The Titans next week will present a different challenge in stopping the run, so will the Panthers if they decide to play for pride in week 17, as will every NFC playoff team outside possibly the Packers.

There's just something magical about the Saints and Monday Night Football in the Brees/Payton era, especially when Brees has a shot at breaking some sort of record. The Saints took full advantage of the opening created by the 49ers inexplicably losing to the Falcons by beating the Colts. The NFC race for the #1 seed is now wide open and up for grabs over the last couple weeks of the regular season. Maybe those blown coverages and questionable calls to go for two in the 49ers loss won't come back to haunt the Saints afterall. Or maybe they will. Only time will tell. There's still two more games left to play for everybody and anything can happen.

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The Jets have interest in Texans OC Bobby Slowik. Composite Getty Image.

The New York Jets interviewed Pittsburgh Steelers offensive coordinator Arthur Smith and Houston Texans offensive coordinator Bobby Slowik for their head coach position Thursday.

The meetings with Smith and Slowik gave the Jets 12 known candidates with whom they've spoken about their vacancy.

New York has also interviewed Aaron Glenn, Vance Joseph, Mike Locksley, Matt Nagy, Ron Rivera, Darren Rizzi, Rex Ryan, Steve Spagnuolo, Jeff Ulbrich and Mike Vrabel for the job. Vrabel has since been hired by New England as its coach.

Minnesota Vikings defensive coordinator Brian Flores and Green Bay Packers defensive coordinator Jeff Hafley are also expected to meet soon with the Jets.

The 42-year-old Smith, who was the Atlanta Falcons' head coach from 2021-23, was considered one of the Jets' top candidates in 2021 when he interviewed with the team before New York hired Robert Saleh. Smith was hired by the Falcons the next day and went 21-30, with three straight 7-10 finishes, before being fired after the 2023 season.

Mike Tomlin hired Smith last offseason to run the Steelers' offense, which improved in several categories this season with Russell Wilson at quarterback as Pittsburgh made the playoffs.

Smith spent 10 years with Tennessee, including the last two as the Titans' offensive coordinator in 2019 and 2020. He previously had a stint with Washington as its defensive quality control coach in between college stops at North Carolina (2006) and Mississippi (2010).

The 37-year-old Slowik met with the Jets in a video interview since the Texans remain in the playoffs and are preparing to face the Chiefs in Kansas City on Saturday.

He's in his second year running the Texans' offense with quarterback C.J. Stroud, who was last season's AP NFL Offensive Rookie of the Year and has been one of the league's most dynamic young playmakers.

Slowik, whose father Bob coaches in the CFL after several years as an NFL assistant, spent six years as an assistant under Kyle Shanahan in San Francisco before joining the Texans. The Princeton, New Jersey, native started his pro coaching career as a video assistant for Washington in 2010 before being promoted to defensive assistant, a role he held for three years. Slowik then worked at Pro Football Focus as a senior analyst for three years before being hired by the 49ers.

The Jets are also conducting an extensive search for a new general manager. They have interviewed 15 candidates for that position, including Green Bay Packers executive Jon-Eric Sullivan and Miami Dolphins assistant general manager Brian Gaine on Tuesday.

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