New Orleans Saints HC Sean Payton’s Pre-Game Checklist For Buccaneers
By Keith Null
New Orleans will take on the Tamp Bay Buccaneers tomorrow in a pivotal NFC South showdown, the outcome of which may have a significant say in their play-0ff aspirations.
Currently the Saints sit third in the NFC South, behind the Falcons and Buccaneers, struggling over the last three games resulting in a 1-2 output and 3-2 record overall.
An underachieving turnover plagued offense, porous rush attack and out of sync offensive line has Saints fans scratching their bewildered heads.
We keep waiting for the 2009 Saints to show up but when will they actually bring it all together?
Luckily head coach Sean Payton has gone back to the drawing board in an effort to revitalize his Saints team and get them back to playing the kind of football everyone knows they can, the kind that wins championships.
The goals he has set for the team have been prioritized in a pre-game check list to be addressed before kick-off against the Buccaneers:
- Juicy Fruit, two packs
- Patented Payton Pucker (see photo above)
- Ball Security drills
- Tongue lashing issued to offensive line
- Pep talk to Chris Ivory, Ladell Betts
- Finish sowing Julius Jones name on jersey followed by pep talk
- Re-issue tongue lashing to offensive line, make feel guilty for giving up sacks (note: single out Stinchcomb)
- Ball security drills again
- Beg medical staff to let Tracy Porter and Pierre Thomas play just one last time
- Confirm commitment not to rely on Jeremy Shockey during third down plays
The Saints know what they have to do to win and you can bet they know what has caused them not to win over recent weeks.
Saints fans have to find a way to expend the nervous energy that has bottled up leading to this game in hopes an improved unit hits the field at Raymond James Stadium.
What better way than to poke fun at the obvious problems.
Is it too much to ask to see the 2009 version of the Saints and not the 2010 version? Absolutely not — Who Dat Baby!
Check out Keith Null’s weekly article about the Saints on NFL.com by clicking here.
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