Mike Triplett makes an interesting case that Brees nearly threw the Saints' season away on those three picks. Triplett summed up this notion by saying this:
"If the Saints are going to dig themselves out of this rut they're in, they can't just lean on Drew Brees looking kinda, sorta like Drew Brees this season. They need him to find a phone booth during the bye week. They need Superman."
As for Superman, Brees judged himself on those interceptions last Sunday dispassionately. Brees, in the post game interviews, admitted the two interceptions should not have happened. Triplett, on Brees' two forced interceptions, understands that the Saints superstar QB is likened (regarding his QB play) to that of a Brett Farve mentality. For those who have followed Drew Brees stellar play throughout his years on the NFL gridiron, they know the QB has a high risk, high reward attitude while moving his troops down the field on offense. As Triplett puts it, Brees has a strong will that he can make the big plays out of thin air; this sentiment never really goes away because Brees, due to his near robotic accuracy with throws, usually makes the big plays that put his Saints on top of grid iron dogfights.
Nevertheless, those who watched the game saw two uncharacteristic bad reads by Brees for interceptions. Another uncharacteristic sight was that of New Orleans Saints Head Coach chewing out Brees on the sidelines for his second interception. Brees was getting pressured and often hit when he was trying to force big throws against the Buccaneers secondary. One of those interceptions lead to a pick-six (on a very under-thrown ball to Saints WR Robert Meachem) and would force Brees and company to fight back from a 31-20 hole in the fourth quarter avoiding a near loss as the Saints won in overtime. Overtime aside, Triplett stated (accurately) that the game should have never gotten out of Brees' control, as the Saints would have had a nice lead and buffer if it were not for those foolish throws.
Furthermore, there has been doubts this season of Brees' arm strength and his ability to rifle in deep ball throws. While Brees and Triplett are against the idea that Brees arm strength is not what it used to be; Brees has struggled this season on the deep ball, according to statistics. While Brees was 2 of 6 on 20+ yards completions on Sunday, his season total is only at 7 of 18 20+ yard completions with one interception and one touchdown. Certainly not Brees-esque numbers on long balls. Although, Triplett states that Brees is still 7 percentile higher than the NFL standard of 31% efficiency on deep balls this season. Despite those who are doubting the QB's arm strength and the numbers placed against Brees, Triplett believes that is simply not the case when you watch the tape of the first four games. Triplett defends his position stating that Brees' arm looked fine and rather the defensive coverages paired with not enough long shots to get into adequate rhythm may be the culprit. Brees is of this assertion as well:
"I think some of the plays that maybe you're familiar with seeing ... we dialed those up, but the coverage is just not giving us those...I would say there's some go routes that I can do a better job throwing. And I think that's just practice and time on task and just kind of getting the feel for that again. But we haven't taken a lot of those shots, and part of that is on me...You certainly want to pose that threat to opposing defenses with, 'Man, those guys can run by you. They can beat you with the underneath passing game. They can run the football. They can do a lot of things that we have to be ready for.' So, yeah, that [deep-ball] element has to come back."
While the 2-3 Saints have a heavy chip on their shoulder this season, they are a team coached by genius Sean Payton with a great set of running-backs and respectable defense with one of the most cerebral QBs in the league. Brees still took hold of his squad like the future Hall of Fame'r he is to bring his Saints back to victory on Sunday. Brees still carried his team well, notably being mistake free, on those first four games of the season. As the New Orleans Saints head to their bye week, they will be looking to get their rhythm back to the Saints' standards of a deadly, multifaceted, feared and revered offense with 'Superman' back in the helm.
References:
Photography/ Image Courtesy:
Drew Brees: Ed Schipul
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