This matchup was hyped as one to determine if the Saints QB Drew Brees could demolish the Patriots with the amount of weapons at his disposal and if the Patriots QB Tom Brady could counter with his lack of weapons.  Well it turned out that Brees was missing one for the entire game.  TE Jimmy Graham was no where to be found.  He ended up leaving the game in the 4th quarter with an ankle injury, but it was weird to see Brees not even look for Graham at crucial moments of the game.  From what I could see Graham was in single coverage in those key spots.  Regardless the Saints were doing a good job staying ahead of the Patriots and the Saints defense did a good job keeping Brady out of the end zone.  That is until the final drive.  For some reason the Saints went to a prevent defense and some of their players went brain dead and tackled a Patriots receiver out of bounds in field goal range.  That extra timeout for New England setup the eventual game winning touchdown catch you see above.  New Orleans’ defensive coordinator Rob Ryan’s face after that play said it all. But again why would you do the complete opposite of your teams gameplan on the final drive of the game?  Alas the Saints are no longer undefeated and the Patriots can brag about beating a pretty good football team.

You know it’s bad when your home fans cheer seeing your starting quarterback being taken off the field due to injury.  That’s what happened when Texans QB Matt Schaub’s ankle was rolled over by St. Louis Rams DE Chris Long.  It wasn’t a dirty play by any means.  You see it all the time now in football.  What you don’t want to see is the fans that cheered Schaub getting hurt.  I get that he hasn’t been the guy you expected him to be and that most Texans fans would have expected a Super Bowl appearance by now let alone an AFC Championship game.  That doesn’t mean you need to lower yourself to barbarism and cheer someone’s pain.  I get that it was a select few, but they need to be called out for what it is.  In a football sense it was interesting to see if backup T.J. Yates would fair any better, but on that very drive after Schaub was hurt, Yates threw an interception that was returned for a touchdown by the Rams.  Guess that idea won’t work either.  If Schaub misses a significant portion of the season it doesn’t bode well for the Texans.  No matter how you look at it the Texans are better with him.  Going forward it doesn’t look that way.  If Houston should finish with a losing record this year it will likely mean a lot of coaches and players will be looking for work elsewhere next year. Possibly even some front office officials.  Regardless of their outcome the Texans are better than their record indicates and they need to start playing with some urgency.

I know, I know.  I’m the same person that said the Buffalo Bills were back a few years ago when they started the season 5-2 and then went 1-8 to finish the season.  Don’t doubt me now.  This Chiefs team is 6-0 and has beaten some tough opponents so far. The Dallas Cowboys were the closest team to beat the Chiefs losing by only one point at Arrowhead Stadium.  Their new head coach Andy Reid had them well prepared against his former team in Philadelphia.  At the time the Eagles offense was the talk of the league and the Chiefs defense made them look ordinary.  And although the New York Giants were 0-3 at the time they were still considered a good team when they played the Chiefs.  Kansas City’s next three games before their bye week should ensure that they stay undefeated for their Week 11 matchup with the Denver Broncos.  My hope is that Denver stays undefeated so that we can see a division rivalry renewed with two undefeated teams going at it.  After playing Denver and San Diego twice after their bye week the Chiefs only worthy opponent will be the Indianapolis Colts. Should the Chiefs win their home matchups with the Broncos and Chargers, but lose on the road and to the Colts their final record would be 13-3 at the end of the season.  Not bad for a team that was 2-14 a season ago.  With that top notch defense and a steady quarterback in Alex Smith the Chiefs are here to stay.