Writing the Pine

AP Photo/Patrick Semansky

Fresh off of an another grand Thanksgiving, a year in which I prepared a large majority of the big meal at home, I learned three valuable lessons:

1) The NFL needs to do revise their Thanksgiving Day lineup.
2) As great as the meal is on Thanksgiving, the leftovers consumed on the following days (or hours) are just as satisfying if not more
3) Take the extra time to brine your turkey overnight. The cooking results are well worth it.

Now, before you stop reading and start leaving negative comments for delivering a culinary lecture meant for Rachel Ray’s loyal fans, realize that these three points, in some peculiar way, tie into my thoughts leading into this past Monday’s highly anticipated matchup between the Patriots and the Saints.

Football fans were served a full course meal throughout the long weekend starting with Thursday’s appetizers, which is a fitting name given how awful and irrelevant these games have been since the trio of Aikman, Irvin, and Emmitt broke up and since the great Barry Sanders retired. The addition of a Thursday night game of the NFL network sounds like a great idea on paper, but sadly, most of us football fans (casual and diehard) fall victim to a losing bout against food coma by 8 PM Eastern. In any event, I’ve realized that perhaps the NFL makes the Thanksgiving Day games intentionally bad to get us to look forward to better football on the weekend, a natural escalator ride up in football quality.

The main course comes during the weekend starting first with ‘Rivalry Week‘ in college football on Saturday. The NFL follows up with its usual slew of Sunday games, but these games grow with significance as teams vie for important playoff positioning. For instance, the Titans rally to victory against the Cardinals gave the Titans their 5th consecutive victory after starting 0-6 to put them one game out of a wild card spot. Sunday’s action is capped off by an intense divisional rivalry game between the Steelers and Ravens, a game in which Dennis Dixon attempts to perform his best Vince Young impression in trying to lead the Steelers to victory.

Finally, we get to the leftovers on Monday and it’s no accident that this game was hyped up throughout the entire week. Hands down, it was course that was supposed to satisfy our football appetites the most. Being the crazy Saints fan that I am, this was a game that I had circled in the preseason. I made a bold prediction and Dave (the artist formerly known as YJ) can confirm this prediction that I made back in August: the Saints and Patriots would both come into this game undefeated to cap off the biggest matchup of the year. Granted, the prediction was only half right, but there was no doubt in my mind that this game would have playoff atmosphere written all over it.

For weeks now in my Power 10 (sorry fans, I took a Thanksgiving sabbatical this week), I’ve emphasized time and time again that I thought that Peyton Manning was the clear frontrunner for MVP. My argument for the Sheriff (as Jon Gruden likes to call him) was that Manning was doing the most with the least. The Sheriff has lead the Colts to an undefeated record, but without an Adrian Peterson or the depth at every position that the Saints have. I am biased when I say this, but I would be appalled if Brett Favre was awarded this season’s MVP given that he’s not even the best player on his team.

Fast forward back to Monday Night: the stage is set for a showdown between Tom Brady and Drew Brees. The knock on Drew Brees has been that he’s racked up statistics against lesser teams and hasn’t been able to deliver in the big games. For years now, he’s been an afterthought when talking about the elite quarterbacks in the league. People have just neglected to put Brees in the class of Tom Brady or Peyton Manning. It’s true that both have won championships, but Manning still held the title of ‘Best Quarterback’ in the eyes of many even before he won his first Super Bowl in 2006. Yet, since Brees came onboard with the Saints in 2006, he has thrown for more touchdowns and yards than any other quarterback in the league. Simply put, Brees’ afterthought image can be viewed as Thanksgiving leftovers: overlooked in favor of the main course, but equally, if not more, effective.

Watching the Saints on a weekly basis, I’ve always known how deadly accurate Brees is. But as I’m watching him pick apart the Patriots on Monday Night, I start noticing the intangibles in his quarterback play that’s elevated him, in my eyes, as the clear frontrunner for this year’s MVP. On the Saints’ first offensive play, he throws a 30 yard pass into double coverage on the sidelines to Devery Henderson for a completion. There was only one spot to put the ball in order to complete the pass and Brees put it there. On the Saints’ first touchdown score, Brees stares down and fakes a wide receiver screen to Robert Meachem, but after what seemed like an eternity, he made an about face to hit Pierre Thomas for a screen on the other side. Yes, part of the success comes from the genius of Sean Payton, but Brees subtle motions dictate the motion in the ENTIRE defense. Case in point in what many thought was a blown coverage in Devery Henderson’s 75-yard touchdown, in which Brees eyed the left side of the field and threw a pump fake to bait deep safety, Brandon Meriweather to torpedo himself towards that side of the field leaving Henderson all alone.

I’ve always agreed that the Saints have a deeper and more balanced team on both sides of the ball than the Colts do. And while this may be true on the defensive side of the ball, I believe that the presence of Drew Brees has really “elevated” the play of all the players on the offensive side of the ball. The offensive line has an easier time that most lines given that Brees has amazing footwork in the pocket. Since 2006, he’s been the least sacked quarterback amongst his peers that have been regularly quarterbacking. The running game definitely benefits from the Saints’ deep passing game and multiple receiver sets in which opposing defenses are forced to play more defensive backs in deeper positions. And finally, the receivers are all aided by their telepathic connection with Brees and Brees’ deadly accuracy. Receivers run their routes sharply on every play knowing that their quarterback is an equal opportunity quarterback. Last season, when Brees threw for over 5000 yards, there was shockingly not a single receiver that finished with over a 1000 yards. All in all, so while the Saints appear to have “better talent” than the Colts (keep in mind that the Colts have more former first rounders on offense than any other team) do, these points support the notion that Brees does a better job elevating the play and the threat of all of his teammates.

This brings us to the final lesson that I learned this Thanksgiving about the importance of brining a turkey with due time and diligence. Drew Brees can be compared to that of a great Thanksgiving chef. As great as he’s been over the past few years, his teammates haven’t always been quite there, evidenced by a lack of a running game and an inconsistent receiving corps in years past. Since his arrival to New Orleans in 2006, Brees has spent the past few years raising the play of his teammates, essentially brining the entire offense over the course of 2-3 seasons, and finally his lovely turkey has finally come out of the oven at its finest, highlighted by an epic Monday Night performance. Hopefully by next Thanksgiving, Drew Brees will have firmly established himself as regular on the main course along with the likes of Brady and Manning.