#csc.com

They say that the NFL is a week-to-week league, and they are right! Last week in Los Angeles, the sky seemed to be falling. Drew Brees got hurt, New Orleans had 11 penalties and looked in disarray in a 27-9 loss to the Rams. Looming was a daunting challenge against the Seattle Seahawks at Century Link Field. During the week, head coach Sean Payton and Saints players said all the right things: they would rally around Teddy Bridgewater, they relished the opportunity to show that the New Orleans Saints were not actually the Drew Brees Saints. And then yesterday in Seattle, the Saints did their talking on the field with an exhilarating 33-27 victory against the Seahawks.

· The last time the Saints won a game in Seattle was October 14, 2007, in just the second year of the Brees/Payton era. That Sunday night, the 0-4 Saints defeated the Matt Hasselbeck-led Seahawks 28-17. Drew Brees had two touchdowns passes, one to tight end Eric Johnson and one to wide receiver Marques Colston. It was the first of four consecutive wins, in what was an otherwise unmemorable year.

· In the Brees/Payton era, the Saints had been 0-3 in games that Drew Brees does not start. All three losses, interestingly, had been to the Carolina Panthers, while only one of those games was missed by Brees due to injury.

*

Five Numbers...That Don’t Lie

· 52: The net punting average for Saints’ punter Thomas Morstead yesterday in Seattle, which is outstanding. Morstead punted six times, with a long of 64 yards. He consistently pinned the Seahawks inside their red zone and forced Seattle to go the distance to score. A big day for The Leg.

· 25. The number of touches by Saints’ running back Alvin Kamara. The third year running back had nine receptions (on 10 targets) for 92 yards and one touchdown, while he rushed 16 times for 69 yards (4.3 yards-per-rush) and a touchdown on the ground. And though they’re not lying, the numbers do not tell the whole story of Kamara’s game yesterday: he refused to be tackled and basically carried the Saints’ offense in a tough road environment. Just exceptional.

· 15: The Seattle Seahawks were 15-0 at Century Link Field in September since 2010, the year Pete Carroll took the job. In fact, the Seahawks were the only unbeaten NFL team in September during that span. The Seahawks are now 15-1 in September since 2010, which further emphasize how unlikely and how massive yesterday’s Saints win was.

· 1: When rookie returner Deonte Harris returned a punt for the Saints’ first touchdown of the game, it was also the first punt return for a touchdown in the NFL this season. The Saints have high hopes for the speedy Harris, who was an undrafted free agent out of Assumption College in Worcester, Mass. If he could just avoid fumbling the ball when New Orleans is about to put the game to bed, he would save Saints fans a lot of heart medication bills.

The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly: Drew Brees, referees, and third down Saints defense

After a heart-stopping game, the good, the bad, and the ugly are broken down on a Saints season opening victory.

What a game! Every fan in the Superdome held their breath as Deshaun Watson took two completions to score a touchdown to get a go-ahead score in the final minute. All were hoping the Saints defense could prevent a devastating loss. Instead, the Superdome had to take one more deep breath as Drew Brees marched his team down the field to help secure the game-winning field goal.

Even with the vintage game-winning drive, and then ultimately the first win on the season opener in six years, not everything went to plan. While Drew Brees looked great (aside from an early interception), the referees seemed determined to undermine the Saints plans, while the Saints’ third down defense was downright awful.

Every football fan knows that if you give Drew Brees 37-seconds and a timeout, magic is bound to happen. On Monday night, it did, but the game was kept in hand long before Brees had to lead the march to victory. Drew Brees threw for 370 yards, 2 touchdowns, and one boneheaded interception. His percentage completion was a characteristic 74.4-percent.

Despite bad play calling in key situations, Brees regularly put the team in a position to find success. Luckily his play, as well as the rest of the offense could do just enough to earn the victory.

Here is the fun part, the bad part of this game. Over eight months have passed since the infamous “no-call”. The referees may have short term memory when it comes to their mistakes, but the city of New Orleans surely doesn’t. Fans dressed up as referees in Monday’s game as a protest, and the referees did not disappoint.

The most notable mistake the referees made in Monday’s game against the Texans had to be the poor decision to run the clock down 10 seconds to 16 seconds when there clearly should have been 31 seconds left in the first half after a Michael Thomas first down. On top of this, the officiating crew seemingly held a Saints’ timeout hostage.

Finally, the UGLY. The Saints third down defense is the culprit this week. Overall, the defense played poorly from stopping the run all the way to the defensive backs. However, the third down defense was by far the worst.

The Texans converted 7-of-13 of their third downs on the evening. Every successful conversion seemingly went for a huge chunk of yardage while the Saints’ defense did little to nothing to stop the Texans and get the ball back in the hands of the offense. The outcome of the game most likely would not have had to come down the heroics of Brees and Wil Lutz had the defense stopped the Texans on third down.

3 ups and 1 down from yesterday’s win over the Seahawks Three “Ups” and one “Down” from the game.

Maybe the Who Dat Nation doesn’t need to panic just yet after all.

It was still a roller coast over a game, with plenty of “Ups” and “Downs” along the way, though. Here are a few that stood out:

Up: Alvin Kamara

When the New Orleans Saints lost Drew Brees to injury, you knew they were going to have to lean on Alvin Kamara if they wanted any hope of winning games in Brees’s absence. And lean on Kamara they did.

In Week 3, Alvin Kamara finished with 69 rushing yards (leading the team in rushing), 92 receiving yards (leading the team in receiving), and two scores. In the home of the infamous BeastMode run from Marshawn Lynch, Kamara had himself mini-BeastMode runs where he seemingly bounced off or ran through tacklers to get positive yards on every attempt.

He’s something special.

Up: Officiating

If we’re going to point out when the NFL officials have bad games, we need to also recognize when they have a good one too. There were a few ticky-tacky pass interference or holding calls that could have gone either way, but you expect those issues every game. But for what felt like the first time in a long time, it didn’t feel as if the Saints were actively having to play not just against the team on the other side of the football, but the zebras too.

Of note, the referees properly let a questionable fumble call play through which the Saints returned for a touchdown. Upon further review, the call stood, but it was a stark contrast from the Week 2 blunder against the Rams.

Down: Penalties

There were a lot of considerations for a possible down this week. Deante Harris muffed a punt, but he also returned one for a score. The defense gave up huge plays, but also scored a touchdown and made key stops on fourth down. The Saints cornerbacks gave up contested catches, but also had several passes broken up. However, if we’re taking something away from this game to fix, it would definitely be the sloppy play that resulted in numerous penalties - especially on offense.

Granted, playing on the road in Seattle is always tough for opposing offenses, but when you’re already missing Drew Brees, you can’t afford to shoot yourself in the foot with holdings, false starts, or illegal blocks.

Hopefully this gets cleaned up at home next week.

Up: Thomas Morstead

Thomas Morstead is the best punter in the NFL.

His ability to consistently pin teams within their own ten yard line is absolutely uncanny. When the Saints needed Morstead to flip field position, Morstead performed like the Pro Bowler he is and his performance is what helped keep the Saints in the game.

40 is the new 35 when it comes to NFL quarterbacks like Tom Brady and Drew Brees

Back in the day, it was less common for quarterbacks to excel past their mid 30’s. Sure, there was Warren Moon, Vinny Testaverde, Brett Favre, Kurt Warner, and John Elway. But that short list is dwarfed by a painfully longer one filled with Hall of Fame quarterbacks who seemed to crap out well short the 40 year marker.

Even these all time greats experienced precipitous drop offs in their mid to late 30’s. For Roger Staubach, Steve Young and Fran Tarkenton, it came at 37. For Bart Starr, Jim Kelly, Dan Marino and Dan Fouts, 36. For Johnny Unitas, George Blanda, Bob Griese, Joe Montana and Terry Bradshaw, 35. For Otto Graham, Joe Namath, and Troy Aikman, 34.

This makes it all the more amazing that so many older quarterbacks are still playing at an elite level in today’s NFL. There might very well be five to seven future Hall of Famers starting in the league right now. Tom Brady and Drew Brees are officially in their 40’s. Philip Rivers and Ben Roethlisberger are both 36. Aaron Rodgers is 34 and Matt Ryan is 33; and both signed extensions in the past couple years at times in their careers when former quarterbacks usually retired.

It’s true, quarterbacks are more protected by the rules of the NFL than ever before, and this certainly has played a part in their new found longevity. In 1978, the league restricted contact between defensive backs and receivers to within five yards of the line of scrimmage. This resulted in a dramatic increase in passing attempts per game, which in turn suddenly made the quarterback position more valuable.

Since 1993, quarterbacks could simply escape the pocket and throw a pass out of bounds without incurring an intentional grounding penalty. This made it harder for pass rushers to get to them before they got rid of the ball, therefore avoiding a sack or quarterback hit.

Roughing the passer penalties have become more and more common as the definition has broadened to include late hits, forcible hits below the knee, hitting the helmet, and landing on the quarterback with one’s own body weight.

Last year, former Packers linebacker Clay Matthews was flagged twice for roughing the passer while making what seemed to be perfectly executed sacks. Ironically, it was probably a hit on Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers the previous season that may have led to the rule change that cost the Packers two victories a season later.

One would think that with these modern day quarterbacks dropping back more times throughout a game than ever before, their careers would be shorter, not longer. That’s why I think there’s more to it than the implementation of more rules that inherently protect the quarterback.

Because they played before GMO’s and modern day fast food chains, many old school players of the past had access to better food. But that doesn’t mean they took full advantage of their timely access to healthier lives. Joe Namath smoked cigarettes on the sidelines for god’s sake.

I doubt they were paying attention to the pH of their foods like Tom Brady or paying upwards of $200K a year like James Harrison did on therapy treatments like massage and acupuncture. The modern day athlete has to be almost obsessive in their quest for success. Talent alone won’t cut it anymore if you want to stick around in today’s NFL.

Extremely strict diets, fitness, and recovery programs have taken the place of binge eating like Babe Ruth, snorting cocaine like Diego Maradona, and binge drinking like Lawrence Taylor. The two oldest current quarterbacks in the NFL also happen to keep two of the strictest diet and fitness regimens across all sports.

Drew Brees has been working with Todd Durkin in San Diego, CA since his days with the Chargers. Brees loves working with Durkin every offseason. “Whenever I come back for the summertime to get in the best shape of my life for training camp, he’s always got something new or a few new things that make me feel like we’re way ahead of everybody else.”

What’s interesting to me, however, is that even though Brees isn’t Durkin’s biggest, fastest, or most agile athlete, he may have benefited the most simply because he’s willing to work harder than everyone else. And that’s saying a lot considering Durkin’s vast client list also includes Carson Palmer, Aaron Rodgers, Darren Sproles, LaDainian Tomlinson, Mark Sanchez, Alex Smith, Brandon Cooks, Reggie Bush, Charles Tillman, Zach Ertz, John Brown, Dontrelle Inman, Malcom Floyd, Ryan Griffin, Chase Daniel, Sean Canfield, Josh Freeman, and my fellow Saints Ignatius College Prep alumnus, Igor Olshansky.

”Drew Brees, first and foremost, is a special person. I will probably not have the opportunity to work with a guy like that in the next 20 years. His concentration and focus are amazing, and he works extremely hard. He’s not the biggest guy or the fastest guy, but he’s going to beat you with his athleticism, his smarts and because he’s such a competitor. I don’t care what it is, the dude wants to win at anything. He’s always restless and never satisfied,” said Durkin.

Brees is absolutely methodical in his training and game preparation. “I know where I’m going to be at a specific time,” he says. “I know what I’m going to be doing; I know what needs to be accomplished for me to feel confident and go out there and play at the highest level.”

His focus has shifted from the archaic meathead approach to training he learned in college at Purdue to a more functional and efficient approach. “I think maybe those [exercises] served the purpose at the time.” Drew says. “But now I’ve wised up to the things that I need to do in a position-specific and functional fitness kind of way to benefit me as a quarterback.”

If you have 30 minutes to kill, watch this video of Brees’ workouts with Durkin.

I’ve been a fitness trainer and instructor for 12 years and I’m telling you, Durkin is the real deal. I love his approach to fitness. I stopped lifting heavy weights years ago and have focused more on agility ladder work, TRX training, yoga, and generally maximizing my strength and endurance gains while also minimizing sheering forces on my joints, tendons, and ligaments.

Tom Brady takes his fitness protocol in an even more holistic, and dare I say, Eastern direction. He and his trainer/business partner Alex Guerrero founded the TB12 training facility next to Gillette Stadium in 2013. Guerrero, though highly controversial, isn’t a total quack in my opinion.

Of course claiming his supplements could curemultiple sclerosis, AIDS, concussions, and other diseases with no shred of testing or evidence based proof was incredibly disingenuous and downright dangerous. Settling with multiple investors out of court for defrauding them is no better either.

But I have to hand it to him: he has kept Tom Brady in phenomenal shape to survive and thrive in the NFL past the age of 40. Guerrero earned a Masters Degree in traditional Chinese medicine from a school in LA that closed after losing its’ accreditation. He is not a physical therapist and does not hold any Western degrees that would qualify him to do a lot of the work he does with his clients.

Yet, Guerrero is highly respected and retained by many professional athletes including Rob Gronkowski, Julian Edelman, Wes Welker, Danny Amendola, Willie McGinest, Jimmy Garoppolo, LaDainian Tomlinson, and Chris Hogan. Instead of focusing on lifting huge weights and tearing muscle fibers, Guerrero prescribes more body weight moves and exercises with resistance bands that are designed to increase the muscles’ “pliability.”

Brady often sees Guerrero twice daily and receives intensely specific massages in which he tenses the muscles while Guerrero massages them. The goal is to lengthen the muscles and increase their flexibility so that Brady can withstand the weekly car crash that is an NFL football game.

The other main focus is to reduce inflammation in the body by maintaining a strict diet. Brady does not eat white flour, white sugar, MSG, iodized salt, coffee, caffeine, alcohol, fungus, dairy, nightshade vegetables and most types of fruit. This diet may sound strange, but it’s most likely derived from the Ayurvedic tradition which is over 5,000 years old and trusted throughout Asia as much as we trust Western medicine.

The part where Brady and Guerrero lose me is by making sweeping statements like everyone should drink 25 glasses of water a day, or eat this exact diet, or that everyone needs to consume TB12 branded electrolytes or wear TB12 branded muscle recovery pajamas.

I’m not 6’4” and 230lbs; I’m 5’6” and 130lbs, so I don’t need more than 65 ounces of water a day, unless Tom wants me to get hyponatremia and die of brain damage. Don’t just replicate a professional athlete’s diet and fitness regimen. These have been specially tailored to them. If you work for Google and sit at a desk for eight hours a day, you probably shouldn’t eat and drink exactly what Tom Brady does.

It’s okay to be skeptical too. Brees isn’t much more trust-worthy with his shameful peddling of Advocare products. It’s important to rely on evidence-based research conducted by independent bodies without a financial stake in the products they test. Even more important, think for yourself and do your own research before listening to athletes that have a financial stake in the health philosophies they are sharing with the public.

If you aren’t hip to eating according to your Ayurvedic dosha (My dosha is roughly 70% Pitta, 20% Vata, 10% Kapha) like Brady seems to, you can go the Western route and still learn something about how to function at a higher level, no matter what your lifestyle is. Drew and Brittney Brees got food sensitivity blood tests done back in 2004. That’s when Brees found he had significant sensitivities to gluten, dairy, and certain nuts.

“As you can imagine, I was shocked because I was consuming most of these things every day. And just to think how long I’ve had these sensitivities and had continued to feed them. Guys coming in fresh out of college are used to going to the training table and eating and drinking whatever they’re given.”

“In many cases, I see myself as a veteran player – pulling those young guys aside and, as part of teaching young players how to be a pro, talking to them about their diet, their sleep habits and their recovery. They’ll start to ask questions like, ‘Hey Drew, what do you do?’ That’s when I explain to them that I use coconut milk and almond milk products.”

It’s not just Brees’ direct teammates like Reggie Bush, Sean Canfield, Chase Daniel, Brandin Cooks, and Ryan Griffin who have followed his lead when it comes to diet and fitness. “It took the fourth or fifth time hearing, ‘You need to do this,’ and then reading about Drew Brees and Tom Brady and others who are your peers doing it,” Kirk Cousins said. “I realized, ‘If I want to hang with these guys, then it’s time to stop playing around.’”

18 of the 32 quarterbacks starting in the NFL are over 30 years old, and by September that list will grow to 21 with the 30th birthdays of Cam Newton, Tyrod Taylor, and Andrew Luck. Even though five quarterbacks were drafted in the first round last year, there’s a good chance less than a third of the starting quarterbacks in the league will be younger than 30 years old.

Retain assistant coach Dennis Allen

Immediate offseason priorities for the New Orleans Saints

Contact extension for Michael Thomas