Line of Scrimmage: Week 8 - The new 'Greatest Show On Turf'

Published online on Wednesday, Oct. 28, 2009

The surface the New Orleans Saints play upon at the Louisiana Superdome is indeed artificial. And, since "The Greatest Show on Sportexe Momentum" doesn't quite have the same ring to it, the 2009 Saints are drawing direct comparisons to those St. Louis Rams teams that turned the Edward Jones Dome scoreboard into a veritable pinball machine- counter as the 20th century gave way to the 21st.

The resemblance, in many ways is uncanny.

In the Rams' stage production, the role of clinically-accurate signal-caller was played by Kurt Warner, who won two league MVP awards in three years on the strength of his right arm. Though smaller in stature, Drew Brees is, like Warner, a quarterback who can hit a target on either eye from 40 yards away and is generally impossible to pressure (just ask the Giants) due to a quick delivery and motherboard-fast decision-making ability.

Playing the role of savant-like play-caller, the one St. Louis filled with the professorial Mike Martz, is head coach Sean Payton. Like Martz, Payton attacks, attacks, and attacks some more, keeping opponents off balance with an intricate scheme built around the short pass but also fully capable of a ground-chewing power run or a highlight-reel-worthy deep throw.

With Payton as architect, the Saints have scored 40 or more points four times during their 6-0 start, and lead their closest competitor in NFL scoring offense, the Indianapolis Colts, by nearly 10 points per outing.

New Orleans is on pace to score 635 points in 2009, which would destroy the Patriots' record of 589, set just two years ago. In that respect, the team's show would indeed fall into the category of greatest.

In many ways, however, these Saints are nothing like the Rams of the Dick Vermeil and Martz eras. In many ways, they're scarier.

Though that St. Louis team had a great many skill-position weapons, including four Hall of Fame candidates - Kurt Warner, Marshall Faulk, Torry Holt, and Isaac Bruce - these Saints are deeper.

The Saints don't have one running back that can beat you...they have three. Pierre Thomas and Mike Bell have taken turns providing New Orleans with a power-rushing presence, and Reggie Bush - though not the Michael Jordan-like game-changer some had expected when he entered the league - has been a dangerous third-down back and pass-catcher.

Then, there are Brees' main targets. How many defensive backs must an opponent have active on gameday to cover the likes of Marques Colston, Lance Moore, Devery Henderson, Robert Meachem, and Jeremy Shockey? For opposing defensive coordinators, it's a game of Whac-a-Mole, except there are about four more moles than whackers. Forget the nickel and dime, you'd better bring a half- dollar to deal with this team.

But what really sets New Orleans apart from its counterpart at the beginning of the decade is the defense, the albatross that had hung around the organization's neck for the first three years of the Sean Payton era.

Payton went out on a limb, both professionally and financially, by hiring Gregg Williams as his defensive coordinator during the offseason. From a professional standpoint, Payton was taking a chance on a coordinator whose detailed scheme had alternately worked well (in stints with the Titans and Redskins) and poorly (in stints as head coach with the Bills, and in a disastrous 2008 season with the Jaguars). On the financial side, eccentric New Orleans owner Tom Benson forced Payton to reach into his own pocket to enhance Williams' contract by the $250,000 needed to get the coordinator to the Big Easy.