Just the Saints on Halloween............

Since it is Halloween and weird and spooky things always happen on this unusual day I am devoting a special section for tonight's game between the Saints and Steelers at the Superdome. In their last eight nationally televised games the Saints are 7-1 and 9-5 overall since Sean Payton took over as head coach. The Saints are 6-7 overall against the Steelers since they first met in 1967. Sean Payton is 0-1 against the Steelers losing in his first season to Pittsburgh at Heinz Field 31-38 in November of 2006. An interesting fact that you may have forgotten is that the Saints do have a special connection with the Steelers. In 1987 on November 29th at the old Three Rivers Stadium the Saints won a close game 20-16 with an incredible goal line stand which gave the Saints their first winning season. Again, this is Halloween so generally crazy things happen. I honestly believe you can throw the records out for this game. This one will probably come down to who has the ball last. Possibly a Jeff Reed or Garrett Hartley FG. Unfortunately Saints fans as much as I love the Home Team, I must be objective. The Steelers are plus-9 in turnover ratio and the Saints are minus-5. Pittsburgh won 3 out of 4 games before their starting QB was back in the lineup. This will be a tall order for the Saints and Coach Payton. Any mistakes or turnovers in a game like this will be magnified. I have not seen the focus from any of the players that we had last year especially Drew Brees who at times this season has looked very average. For a Super Bowl MVP just 8 short months ago Brees seems confused at times and he and Sean Payton do not seem to be on the same page with regards to the play calling. The Saints must do what other teams have done to us. Long sustained drives. The Saints must run the ball and trust Chris Ivory with more carries especially when he is getting 4 and 5 yards a pop. This will keep "Big Ben" on the sidelines and wear the Pittsburgh defense down. We will not win passing the ball 50+ times. Now, the big question is can Sean Payton make that kind of adjustment? Tonight we will see. But until I see some consistency out of our home town heroes I can't objectively pick them to win. By the way on a side note the Steelers are 1 1/2 point underdogs in this game if you can believe Vegas. I say take the points and the Steelers. Pittsburgh will win outright. Let's just hope Halloween doesn't turn into FRIGHT NIGHT!