Stopping the Saints is No Brees
Drew Brees and the Saints will come marching into Land Shark on Sunday
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Drew Brees looked great in Week 1 -- will he also look great in Week 2?
The Miami Dolphins had a bye on Sunday, but watching Drew Brees carve up the vaunted New York Giants defense had to make JT and the boys feel like they had been in the trenches for four quarters.
The New Orleans Saints offense has to be as frenetic to watch as it is to play against.
They come at you from every angle and someone always seems to be open. They can run it up the gut or attack you on the edges. They definitely can pass it, whether it's in the short passing game or on the deep ball.
In the midst of all this chaos is the maniac maestro Drew Brees, who as far as we are concerned, is the QB that got away in Miami.
A few years back, pre-Bill Parcells, the Dolphins had their choice between two discarded QBs. Daunte Culpepper or Drew Brees. The Phins pushed for Culpepper and, as they say, the rest is 1-15 mythology.
Brees is now the Steve Nash of the NFL. You'd think even his behind the back passes would find their way through the hands of defenders and into the hands of a receiver who would take it the distance.
The unbeaten Saints -- easy winners in all five of their games, with the NFL's top-rated quarterback in Brees and the league's best offense so far in terms of points (38.4) and yards (430.0) per outing -- visit on Sunday, unquestionably the biggest test yet for a Dolphins team that had won two straight entering their bye week.
The Saints have beaten each opponent by 14 points or more and have yet to trail this season. The Saints looked even more dominant than those numbers while throttling the Giants, 48-27.
We hope the scoreboard operator has his game face on. Land Shark could light up in a hurry.
For fans, we expect the game to look a lot like the Colts game in the season opener on Monday Night Football - except it will be Chad Henne handing the ball off to Ronnie Brown and Ricky Williams to keep Brees off the field.
The Dolphins boast the league's top rushing attack and own the pointless stat of time of possession. But both of those stats could prove pivotal against the Saints.
The plan worked to near perfection that night, except for the final score. But the blueprint is there and has been followed to the letter in the Dolphins two wins.
Ball control, ball control, ball control.
But just like Nash and the Phoenix Suns, it doesn't take long for the Saints fast break offense to score.
Brees made the Giants defense look like it was playing two men short (those two men being Lawrence Taylor and Michael Strahan).
The Dolphins D, which has lacked a consistent pass rush and has a secondary that resembles Swiss cheese, hopefully took to the practice field around halftime of the Saints-Giants game.
Because planning to stop Brees and his attack will be anything but a breeze come Sunday.
Posted Monday, Oct 19, 2009 - 4:59 PM EST
