The NFL Puts A Hurting On The Saints

Yes, bounties have been happening for as long as anyone can remember in the NFL.

Yes, violence is apart of the game and always will be.

And for those wondering… Yes, Roger Goodell did the right thing with his punishments handed down to the New Orleans Saints this afternoon following “Bountygate.”

The NFL suspended Saints coach Sean Payton for the entire season as well as new St. Louis Rams defensive coordinator Gregg Williams who was the man behind the controversy.

The league also suspended Saints GM Mickey Loomis for 8 games and assistant Joe Vitt 6 games.

All suspensions are also without pay… I hope Sean Payton’s been saving his money because he’s now out $7.5 million this year.

Goodell who has developed a reputation of coming down hard on players for their transgressions maintained that rep when it came to those in authoritative positions in this case.

The suspensions handed down were fair and balanced. Payton was responsible for allowing these practices to commence right in front of him and didn’t attempt to stop them.

Williams instituted a system that was about bringing injury to all of his opponents and he had been doing it for years dating back to his days in Washington. If anything Williams should have received two years as punishment for paying players to willingly injure others.

I’m also pretty sure that Loomis was well aware of Williams actions and did nothing to cease them as well.

Everyone involved was wrong and now they have to pay.

It leaves the Saints and Rams for that matter in a bad predicament.

Williams was supposed to take charge of a young Rams defense that has lots of talent but couldn’t flourish under former coach Steve Spagnuolo.

Williams turned the Saints into a defense built on causing turnovers and could’ve turned this unit around very quickly with staples like Chris Long and James Laurinitis already in place.

For the Saints it’s huge because Payton was not only their head coach but play caller as well. Payton was at the head of the Saints offensive juggernaut that torched defenses on the regular last season. Without him Drew Brees and company may trouble producing the same results even though most of their best parts still remain on offensive.

The Saints may have just gone from a Super Bowl contender to a team that will be in the chase for a Wildcard spot.

However, none of this is Goodell’s concern. Goodell has been preaching player safety and has been coming down hard on players in the NFL to follow his lead.

Today he let coaches and the heads of the front office have it. Follow what I say or get burned.

Today the Saints went down in a four alarm blaze.

Plight Of The Seahawks

Yeah! We're the most mediocre champions ever!!

WOO-HOO!!! YEAH SEATTLE!! You are the first ever NFL Divisional Champion to ever have a losing record and make the playoffs!

You’re remarkable run has only been matched by the likes of the 2005 Boston Celtics who made the playoffs even with a mark of 36-46 and various NCAA Conference Champs who made it into the field of 64 with records like 11-18, 14-16 and 16-18.

You should be proud of making it into the playoffs ahead of more deserving teams with 10-6 records like the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and New York Giants who were in the race for divisional titles in the month of December before they were undone by inexperience (the Bucs) and… well… let’s not discuss how the Giants didn’t make it, the writer is still kind of salty.

You should be happy that you made it into the race for Arlington with a cast of faces you wouldn’t be able to make out at the nearest Kroger supermarket.

Charlie Whitehurst as your possible starting QB, not even the Clemson faithful saw him playing in the AFL.

Mike Williams? Wasn’t he on the couch last year weighing in like a defensive end? Yeah, well he’s your leading receiver.

Marshawn Lynch as a bruising runner with barely over 700 rushing yards. Not exactly the Joe McKnight or Reggie Bush type backs that Pete Carroll is used to but hey whatever works.

That defense sure helped through. When it wasn’t getting pounded by the leagues best offenses and losing each games by more than fifteen points it was stopping Sam Bradford and that Rams assault holding them 184 yards. Man just imagine if you can hold the rookie of the year in check with those great wideouts like Danarrio Alexander then guys like Drew Brees and Marques Colston should be no problem next week.

Yep that’s right Seattle you’re prize for winning a tough NFC West is a date with the 11-5 New Orleans Saints at one of the league’s loudest stadiums (I know what you’re thinking, a 7-9 team hosting an 11-5 Super Bowl champ, wow Christmas came late for us).

The only reason why the Seahawks have a chance... the crowd.

(side note: a finally have something to like David Stern for. It doesn’t matter in the NBA if you win you’re division, if you have a worse record than your opponent then you start on the road. It makes sense. You get your home court based on record not just because you won your division. This should be the case in every sport too. If that were the case then the Yankees would’ve had the Rangers at home in the ALCS and two years ago the Colts would’ve had the Chargers at home in the first round of the playoffs and two years ago the Canucks would’ve started out at the four seed against a tougher opponent than the one they received for automatically getting a first round advantage by winning their division even though they had the worst record of the three divisional champs. It makes perfect sense, win your division but win more than the guys behind you or your on the road. Wow I actually gave David Stern props, I feel dirty now. Quick say something bad about him… um, um… oh yeah, how about some competitive balance in the league instead of a five team race for the title. Whew… much better.)

You deserve it Seattle. Instead of grabbing a top 15 draft pick for being the mediocre mess that you are you won your division just for a meaningless banner and a first-round beat down courtesy of the boys from nawlins.

Trust me, you need players. This team ain’t a contender, it ain’t a champion in the making, it was a lucky beneficiary of happenstance.

You need a quarterback, running back, wide receiver (two actually), offensive linemen, defensive linemen and a corner or three. This team lacks depth at every position. That’s why they got stomped in games they lost because when Matt Hasselback went down, Marshawn Lynch couldn’t run the ball, and the defensive line couldn’t get any push up front they got murdered (I know this because I saw the Giants and Bucs put a whipping on this team). This team might be the worst playoff team in sports history when it comes to play on the field. I don’t think this team could beat TCU to be quite honest.

Do they have a chance to win though? Yep. Why? Because they’re at home at the loudest stadium in the league that cause two opponents false starts a game and gives you fits. Ask the Rams last night. Bradford hadn’t been in that environment like that since college and it wasn’t that bad at Stillwater and Columbia.

If the Saints go into Seattle and lose due to penalties and losing their composure not only should they be mad for losing the fame and to that opponent, they should file a junction to have the game stricken from the records because it would have been an embarrassment.

Hopefully all of this will be a moot point and the Saints get an unintentional bye week in Seattle. Hopefully.

No matter what though the Seahawks and their fans should be happy and celebrate their success. A divisional title and a playoff home game at 7-9. Something to smile about and be happy for. Good job Seattle, you deserve it for your hard work. Now give em hell next week and show em what you’re made of, which probably means a 42-17 beat down. Ladies and gentlemen your 2010 NFC West Champs!