What a game - the Falcons almost…ALMOST….almost threatened the Saints undefeated season thus far (knock on wood) with their last minute efforts…seriously, the last minute of the game seemed to take FOREVER with the Falcons trying their best to claw at the Saints and sneak out of the Big Easy with a win. Luckily the Saints held it together long enough for the clock to read 0:00 which I was very relieved to see - that was a huge win for the Saints, because if they had lost the game the Falcons would only be a game out of first place in the NFC South (Saints would have been 6-1 and the Falcons would have been breathing down their necks with a record of 5-2)…now the Saints are 7-0 and the Falcons are 4-3…probably the best 4-3 team in the league, though their loses come from deep-playoff caliber teams (New England, Dallas, and now New Orleans).

Lets get right into the studs for the Saints in week 8 against the Atlanta Falcons.

First and foremost I am giving a star to quarterback Drew Brees, despite him fumbling the ball (and losing that fumble)….and what’s more is he also intercepted the ball too. You may be scratching your head as to why I would give Brees a star for fumbling the ball as well as throwing an interception. Well because Brees may have made a few mistakes but he also did a lot of good. Brees got back on track with his completion percetnage completing 25 of thirty-three passes, which is right around 75% completion percentage. That is important because his completion percentage had been dipping into the low sixties over the past couple of weeks, good to see he got in great rythm with his recievers. Brees completed two of those twenty-five passes for touchdowns and surmised a total of 308 yards for the game. He was also able to walk away from the game with a 111.7 quarterback rating. An underrated fact I think is very important to the Saints doing well from Brees’ performance is due to him passing to eight different recievers and completing at least two passes to each wide out.

Next is running back Pierre Thomas who got more than eight touches (thank goodness - because he also happens to be on my fantasy team). Thomas had a solid performance - MINUS fumbling the ball, I was not happy when I saw that…and it was lost. It is bad if a player fumbles the ball, but if they do it is injury to insult to lose the ball and not recover it. Thomas rushed 14 times for a total of 91 yards on the ground, getting into the endzone once through the running game and scoring again from a catch. Thomas had a total of two catches for nine yards.

Marques Colston has been on fire the past month it seems. Colston was the recipent of 6 passes from Brees to which Colston caught all six passes for a total of 85 yards, one of those catches being for a touchdown. Colston creates so many mismatches because of his great combination of athletism, hands, size, and speed.

Along with Colston, Shockey has been a beast for the Saints ever since the week 6 match up against his former team, the New York Giants. Shockey reeled in 5 balls for seventy-two yards, only not catching one ball Brees threw his way. Shockey is really developing into a great safety net for Brees, who is one of their key options on third downs. Shockey is a good third down converter, doesn’t fumble the ball, and is getting good yards after the carry. His energy and passion are undeniable and I believe the other players really feed off of his energy.

Now on the defense side of the ball, we have Safety Roman Harper who led the team with eight tackles, 7 were solo. Harper gave good effort making plays, on his own…making sure that he didn’t get beat by a reciever or juked by a running back.

Fellow secondary player, Tracy Porter…is turning into a real ball-hawk, getting another interception and returning it 18 yards. Porter also had a pass deflection as well as six tackles, all of which were solo. Porter is taking risks going after the ball and right now it is working to perfection. Porter must be spending plenty of time watching film and looking at tendencies of his opponents to make sure he has the advantage when the game starts.

Next, again in the secondary is Jabari Greer who had six tackles, five being solo. Greer had three pass deflections, an interception which he returned 48 yards to score a touchdown. Greer has really elevated his play and performance on the field. Based on his stats you can tell (even if you couldn’t watch the game) that Greer was all over the field, 3 pass deflections and an interception to go along with 6 tackles. You cannot ask for a better performance from your safety…..oh wait, he returned the inteception for a touchdown. Guess it got better ;-)

Next is the other Safety Darren Sharper who also had an interception, though surprisingly for Sharper he did not return it for a touchdown like he “normally” does. I suppose it makes since because the interception came on a hail mary by the Falcons, as a last ditch effort to pull off a miracle upset against the Saints. Sharper has contributed with 4 tackles, three being solo, and swatting at two balls - earning him two pass deflections. Another great performance for the veteran leader who still half way through the years is not getting the recognition he deserves and talk about a candidate for defensive player of the year.

Lastly, is defensive end Will Smith, who had 4 tackles (two being solo). those two solo tackles double as tackles on the quarterbakc behind the line of scrimmage, aka two sacks. Smith provided good pressure up front for the Saints, which directly resulted in Matt Ryan (Atlanta’s quarterback) being hurried and throwing 3 picks.

Recapping this week 8’s star studded Saints: Drew Brees, Pierre Thomas, Marques Colston, Jeremy Shockey, Roman Harper, Jabari Greer, Darren Sharper, Will Smith

Adding this list to the season total and now here is the most updated Star Studded Saints List:

(5) QB Drew Brees

(5) SS Roman Harper

(5) SS Darren Sharper

(4) WR Marques Colston

(4) RB Pierre Thomas

(3) Defense

(3) O-Line

(3) RB Mike Bell

(3) CB Jabari Greer

(3) TE Jeremy Shockey

(2) OL Jermon Bushrod

(2) FS Tracy Porter

(2) KR Courtney Roby

(2) DE Will Smith

(2) MLB Jonathon Vilma

(1) RB Reggie Bush

(1) LB Scott Fujita

(1) DE Charles Grant

(1) WR Devery Henderson

(1) P Thomas Morstead

(1) WR  Lance Moore

(1) LB Scott Shanle

Way to go Saints!

Big game this week against the Panthers - could be a trap game with the Panthers either play very well or piss poor. We shall see which team shows up to face the Saints.The Saints secondary should feed off of Panthers’ quarterback Jake Delhome who is tied atop the leader board with the most interceptions in the league. Hoepfully the ball-hawking Saints secondary will continue to pick to their hearts’ content when they face Delhome and the rest of the Panthers.

If the Saints maintain their focus at the work at hand against the Panthers and do not look ahead to playing the Patriots I see another Saints win coming!

Prediction: Saints WIN 35-24.