Speaker #0who that to the who that nation welcome to the who that's a podcast your podcast for the new orleans saints here on the kb radio network i am your fellow who that and host kevin reed and week four of the nfl season is upon us and this is falcon hate week and has been extended one extra day because the New Orleans Saints We'll host the Atlanta Falcons in the Caesar Superdome this Monday night live on ESPN for your viewing pleasure. This is the Saints' first primetime game in over a year. And how fitting, how poetic that this is the 20-year anniversary, or a few days removed from the 20-year anniversary of... the new orleans saints reopening the dome after the devastation caused by hurricane katrina and all and played atlanta that night ironically enough and the rebirth of a city began that was uh one of the most epic nights of sports of being a saints fan i have ever experienced and I'm not a big... anniversary guys especially when it comes to hurricane katrina i'm done with it and a lot of new orleanians are done with the katrina talk oh it's the anniversary it is the anniversary we're tired we really are move on we've had about four or five storms since then it's so let it go let's just let it go let's move on but it's something special about that night i i never Really read into it, you know, in the moment 20 years ago when they reopened the dome. I was just happy that we got a Saints game on television. You know, I was happy at that. And being around the city that day, I mean, traffic was crazy. I remember that much. It was bananas. Couldn't get nowhere. Everybody was in town for this game. And. Going home, my cuz, he had came over to the house so we could watch the game. And the game began. And when they pulled the banner off of the front of the Superdome and the crowd, that's one thing that sticks out more to me, other than the game, other than the fact the Saints won that game 23-3. And that score didn't reflect. And part of it is Atlanta. I think Atlanta really did. did not want to win that game you know for this you gotta understand the weight of that game as much hate i put on the atlanta falcons you know being division rivals a part of me believes that atlanta really came in and just gave it now the saints went out there and did what they did they beat them but it was more atlanta not really putting forth their best effort in that game because i mean come on man It was so much riding on this game, not for Super Bowls and positioning in the division and all this here. It was for the emotion of the city. The city needed this, bro. I mean, in the worst way. Everybody was in FEMA trailers, you know. Everybody was gutting out their houses. Everybody was trying to figure out what was what. It was... close to the apocalypse if you can get you know here in new orleans and to get that moment when steve gleason blocked that punt and oh boy i'm getting choked up thinking about it when he blocked that point punt and to hear the crowd in that stadium in that superdome just erupt you knew it was more than a block kick that they were releasing at that moment it was the devastation of that storm it was the the devastation of family members being relocated or in worst case dying in that storm it was it was the release of the pain of gutting out your house uh uh family emblems and and memorabilia that you collected in your family for Decades gone, you know, uh... eating mrt's for the last year you know in the fema trailer all that being released in that moment that that was the loudest i don't think it was that loud when the saints uh uh nfc championship win i don't think it was that loud then that i have never and i was at home you could hear it on the television i have never heard anything that loud in my life and it's still i've been fighting back i'm fighting back talking about it i still get choked up thinking about that moment it is unbelievable that with all that being said this game has none of that weight this has nothing to do with all that other than to commemorate the fact that is 20 years since that game and the same team same stadium blah blah blah none of that is connected to this game we we're in the position now it's it's currently we're fast forwarding to the present now this is a this is about as close to a must win game as you can get this early on in the season for the new orleans saints i don't want to put that much pressure on kelly moore and the team but to be honest he put this pressure on the team it it was look look you've played three games so far very highly contested games three games you can argue you should have won all three and then you can also flip it and make the argument you should have lost all three and i can't argue either one and that's the problem The problem with the New Orleans Saints, I have no idea what kind of team this is. What is their mission statement? What is the offense about? Are we a run team? Are we a pass team? Are we a well-balanced team? What are we? I don't know. They don't come out with any type of fire. Last week was an outlier. And even last week, they didn't come out hyped. up. They didn't come out with a goal to score on that first drive because they didn't score on the first drive. They end up scoring on the second drive, giving them an actual lead going into the second quarter, something they haven't done in over a year. And so that's, it's crazy. But let's just stick to last week. Let's go back to last week in a game that the Saints should have won. Saints was in firm control of that game. the entirety in the in the entirety up till the midway point in the third quarter it's the craziest thing because those are the two points in the two previous games when the saints started to get their act together as opposed to last week when everything fell apart middle of the third quarter what is it about that point in the game that the saints either or hot and turn cold or cold and turn hot. What is it? It's crazy to me. But last week, the Saints looked like they were on their way to a victory that would have given them an early edge in the NFC South race, only to squander in an 11-point second-half lead to the Las Vegas Raiders. And let me say this. The Raiders, I made this statement. that the raiders did nothing to win that game and i got some pushback on that i just want to say i stand by that statement the raiders did nothing to win that game in the second half nothing i don't care who gets mad saints committed four turnovers these weren't forced other than that last fumble they were you boneheaded turnovers and that shouldn't have happened shouldn't have been throwing the ball you had the lead you want to milk the clock this is this is situational awareness that's that's supposed to be embedded in an nfl player at this at this stage you milk the clock not the saints not kelly moore let's let's drop back and throw and you put your quarterback which is who is basically still a rookie, you're putting him in a situation to make a play. Mind you, your star left tackle is out. You have a reserve player in there who did a decent job because you didn't hear his name throughout the game. But he can only hold up so long. He is a backup player. Let's keep it real. And so, what did you expect? It was just a matter of time. And sure enough, the pressure got to him. Throwing pigs. Getting sacked. fumbles, you know, just boneheaded things that took place in that second half that the Saints, they can clean it up. He'll probably stand up at the podium. I didn't even watch the post-game press conference. Didn't want to hear his mouth. He probably stood up there, you know, if we clean up the turnovers, we could have won the game. Whatever. I don't want to hear it. I honestly don't want to hear it. Because even with all those turnovers, even with the four turnovers, if you take one of the four, just one, you can win this game. You could have won this game, I should say. That's how bad it was. That's how I'm amazed by Raiders fans who were mad at me for making the statement they did nothing. And I get it. That's your team. I get it. Look, congratulations. But come on, bro. Come on, bro. You can lie to me all the live long day, but be honest with yourself. It's not that y'all did not cover that dome and take that game away from the Saints. Saints gave that game away. But in the in the words of Jim Moore, our former head coach, coulda, woulda, shoulda. It is what it is. The Saints are one and two. going into this game as well as the atlanta falcons coming off of a big victory in lambeau field last week by defeating the green bay packers and b john robertson just went bananas nuts crazy last week rushing for 194 yards and two touchdowns you had uh drake london he had nine catches for 194 yards as well they they looked they looked unstoppable michael pinnix had 256 yards passing in that game. They look like a well-oiled machine. But once again, not trying to take nothing away from the Atlanta Falcons, but Green Bay is not a good team. That's not a good team to have a lignis test on if you're good or bad. They used to be, but not anymore. They're not that team. Now. I have faith in Mike LaFleur. I think Mike LaFleur is a good coach. They'll turn it around. They'll get it together. They just haven't gotten it together yet. Hopefully it'll be after we play him. I think we play him, well, it'll be later in the season, so yeah, that ain't good. But in any event, Atlanta did what they did. B. John Robinson did what he did. He always does that. He's a beast. He's a problem. And he's going to be a problem Monday night for the Saints defense, which leads me to this Saints defense. Saints defense, going back to last week now, the Saints defense actually played well enough to win. Were they great? No. But they played well enough to win. I don't know this week. It's going to be a little tougher. I think we have a couple of people who are questionable for Sunday. Well, not Sunday. but Monday night's game against Atlanta, poignant players in the linebacking core. I think Caden Ellis is a little banged up. Pete Warner is a little banged up. So I don't know. It's going to be rough, especially when you've got to go up against this juggernaut. Do you realize in the first four weeks of the season, the Saints have played three of the best running backs in this league? the gibbs henry last week not so much with the uh raiders which is why they had a little bit more success on defense but this week you're going up against bijan robertson that's going to be another test defensively opening up that passing game with drake london and uh kyle pitts jr it's going to be tough it's going to be tough especially if you're banged up in the most important position on defense, your linebacking core. Going up against a top-tier running back. Man. Boy. I don't know. I don't know. Bouncing around, you know, since we're talking about top-tier running backs, as you know, Travis Eachen Jr., he went down last week with that hamstring, looked pretty devastating, non-contact, probably had the best run of his tenure here in his short tenure here in New Orleans, pulled up, grabbed the back of his leg. And then everybody in the dome just went, damn. And it was confirmed it is a hamstring, and he has been placed on injured reserve, killing his season. I am disappointed beyond disappointment with him. And it's not him. I'm just disappointed in the situation. I like Travis Eachen. You know? liked him in college liked him in jacksonville was excited when the saints signed him a little questionable about how much they signed him for but whatever you know it's not my money i i just didn't i i didn't get what i was paying for here uh for lack of a better expression i i didn't i didn't see what i saw in jacksonville out of him he just looks dejected you ever notice that he He just looked like he didn't want to. be here last for the for the first three we get i don't know what the problem was i don't know if it was the offense that they're running which i can understand him being upset at that but it just it just looked disjointed i can't think of another phrase here it's weird it was just weird and then last week when he finally broke free when they finally start to have a little commitment to the game. He looked a little more loose, a little more free, a little more excited to play. And then, boom. It's like they're cursed, man. This team is cursed. And then to put salt on the wound here, we released two running backs before the start of the season. Devin Neal, who I liked. And estimate who I liked as well. Two really, really good running backs who... came on last year really saved the saints in a run game last season they're gone gone okay you cut them i was under the impression especially when they cut estimate i said okay they probably bring him back when injuries come up come about but unfortunately other teams watch film too both of them not one both of them signed with the minnesota vikings this week Both. That's crazy to me. I think we play Minnesota next week. But that is crazy. It's like they knew. It's like they did that just to troll the Saints. You know, oh, y'all didn't want them? We'll take them both. And on the week, on the week, like maybe the next day or the same day, it could have been, I got to go back and check, that we put our big money running back or an injured reserve that is that is so that is so petty i'm telling you that gotta be that has got to be a petty move buddy and i'm saying it good because i i love petty i love i love when people do that it's funny no it ain't too funny now because it's i'm being affected by it But it's hilarious to me that they did that. Not one of them, both of them. One of which we could have used. We could have used them, especially in Estime. I think Estime was the best running back on this team. Now, he got hurt, and they released him on an injury clause or injury settlement or something like that. But I ask the question now, how injured was he? because Minnesota didn't care. Minnesota brought him right in. I don't understand. See, this is the stuff with Mickey Loomis that makes me want to choke him because I'm trying to get on board with this team. I'm trying to get on board with Mickey and his decision-making. He's made some awesome decisions in the offseason. This particular offseason kind of swinging me to the other direction with him because if you follow the show, you know I'm not a fan of Mickey Loomis. But I'm a fan of what he did this offseason until we got. leading up into this, the start of this season. And then the wheels are falling off all of a sudden. You didn't bring nobody in to kind of replace Estime, you know, or each end, not Estime. Well, both, to be honest with you. You didn't bring nobody in to replace. Okay, you still have Kamara on the team. You still have Kendra Miller on the team. You still have C.J. Donaldson. There are some players that can run the ball. I have faith. Well, let me take that. Let me roll that back. Let me roll that back. I like Kendra Miller. I think Kendra Miller is an awesome running back when he's healthy. The problem with Kendra Miller, every time he gets the ball, I get a knot in my stomach. Like, oh my God, is this the play? Is he going to get hurt here? Is he going to get hurt on this one? Oh, go down, go down. Just go down. You know, I'm so scared every time he has the ball because I don't know if he's going to get injured or not. You know, because he gets injured every year, every other game. Look, in order for the Saints to be successful, we saw it last week. When they were running the ball and running it consistently, had a balanced offense, the Saints were dominating that game against the Raiders. When they stopped running the ball, that's when the wheels fell off. Same thing the previous two weeks, or the, yeah, three weeks, I should say. The previous three weeks. Detroit, you didn't run the ball. Game got out of hand. You was down by 21 points. Started off the same way in Baltimore. Didn't run the ball. Game was getting out of hand. You had to finally start, you know, clawing your way back into that one. Last week. you kind of got the picture you you started off good with the run game and then you just stop and you stop when you was in control of the game i don't get them i just don't get it but the saints have two ways to win this game and they're two simple ways and i know i'm saying that behind a microphone not on the field but run the ball and stop the run that's your two things two factors i know that sounds we you know simple and cliche is oh oh that's easier said than done yeah i get it but those are your focuses so that's the two elements that will get you a victory will it be flashy no will it be a a blowout victory over them probably not all i care is a win i don't care if it's by half a point i just want a win i need a win And especially at this point in time, in this division that is hot garbage, nobody, the Saints, do you realize the Saints, with one victory, are tied for first? Now, it's early, but this is how it's going to be all year, all season. This division is garbage. Tampa looked like they just went into hibernation. Carolina. i can't put my finger on carolina i don't know what i don't know they look good at moments and then the next you blink and they look like but atlanta is atlanta atlanta they came out firing last week but i think they had to i think that was more of a pride day than it was oh they figured it out i i think it was a pride day but i'm not i'm not sold on them and Honestly, and this isn't who that in me talking is, isn't the black and gold oozing out of my veins talking. This is real football fan talking here. Saints are the best team in this division on paper, but mentally in that locker room, I don't think they feel that way. In the locker room, I think they feel that they're probably third or something, but they need to get out of their own head. mainly Kellen Moore. Going back to the defense of it all, stopping the run. Look, B. John Robinson is a beast. He's going to do what he do. Focus on stopping him. This is me as a defensive coordinator for the day. If they hired me for the night on Monday night to stand on the sideline and call plays on defense, I got one. I got an index card. I don't have that laminated long sheet of play calls. I got one index card because there's only two plays. I'm stacking the box. I'm stopping the run. I'm going, man, I'm having just a man on Drake London. Look, if Michael Penix Jr. throws for 450 yards and four touchdowns and beats me, I'm going to live with it. I'm going to go ahead on and surrender. Okay, you got me. But you're going to have to beat me, Michael Penix. Michael Penix is going to have to show me he is. who he say he is that's that it won't be getting trampled over for close to 200 yards in your house not that's not no come on bro we have to stop something make sure it's bijan robertson you do that defensively you run the ball keep it honest if you if it's there is there for you tyler shuck you don't need to go deep every play take what's given to you boom saints win yeah it won't be pretty nah i don't care about pretty if i want to see pretty i'll go watch a beauty pageant i'm here to watch football i want it i want to win and i want to win by any means necessary because to go back to my initial point that this is kind of a must win for the saints this is a division game you don't want to lose a division game this early especially at home because that'll put you a game and a half behind the atlanta falcons i think i think carolina has a uh division win do they not did they beat atlanta or tampa i think they played all right i can't remember but somebody has some well it ain't tampa we know that much but somebody has a division win other than uh uh uh whoever comes out of this game with a with a win So you don't want to go behind this early because it's going to be too tightly contested. It's basically going to be week to week with this division. Unless you can find a way, find a way to get you some elbow room going forward, I don't see, you need to take advantage of games like this. Let's go over season leaders right quick. Three weeks into the season. Passing leader for both teams, Tyler Shuck, of course, with 917 passing yards, eight touchdowns, and three interceptions. Michael Penix, Jr., who only played one game. He only played last week coming back from injury with 256 yards passing, one touchdown, and one interception. Leading rusher for both teams for the New Orleans Saints is Travick Eachin, Jr., with 128 yards rushing. And that will probably be it for him this season. Before the Atlanta Falcons, B. John Robinson with 349 yards on the ground and two touchdowns, both of which came last week. Do you realize, I wanted to make this point earlier, that was the first time Atlanta scored in the red zone all year. I'm sorry, not just scored in the red zone, reaching the red zone. in that game so and you're gonna tell me that green bay is a good team anywho's going back to uh our receiving leaders for the new orleans saints of course it is chris olave with 375 yards receiving and one touchdown uh i thought he had more i thought he had a couple but whatever uh for the land of falcons you have drake london with 274 yards through the air uh sack leader for the saints it is chase young with 3.5 sacks so far this season uh zadarius smith for the atlanta falcons with 2.5 tackling leader for both teams kate nellis who played with atlanta the last couple of seasons uh now back with the saints He has 24 tackles and for the Atlanta Falcons, Jesse. Bates the third with 17. Let's go over our injury report for Monday's game against the Atlanta Falcons in the Caesars Superdome. Now this this show this show is recorded before the final injury report so I'm only giving the report that I have access to and that's uh on a Saturday morning so As of Saturday morning. The New Orleans Saints have four players who are questionable. Nobody has officially been ruled out as of right now, but we do have four players who are questionable as of Saturday morning. Two linebackers, Pete Warner with a neck injury and Caden Ellis with a calf injury. They both are questionable. Noah Fant is questionable with an abdominal injury and Carl Grandison. We saw him go out last week against the Raiders. He has an ankle injury. He is questionable for Monday night's game. For the Atlanta Falcons, they have a couple of questionables as well. Kendall Daniels, their linebacker with an Achilles, he is questionable. Devine Diablo, linebacker with a hamstring, is questionable. And Samson Ibakim. uh defensive end he is questionable with a hamstring oh well my final predictions on this game now espn itself has uh projected that the saints will win this game they're giving the saints a 62.7 chance of winning that's a little high for me it's it's way too high uh of odds i don't think i think this game is a little more evenly matched than that But, you know, with the addition of the rivalry element of it all, I don't think it's going to be Saints dominating this game. But my prediction is that the Saints will come out victorious in this game. I think the Saints have enough to beat the Atlanta Falcons. I think they're the better team. It's just a matter of the Saints. The Saints have beaten themselves twice this season. twice and if they can get out of their own way the Saints will be undefeated right now honest to God all due respect to Detroit all due respect to Las Vegas but Saints defeated themselves Detroit walked away from that game feeling like they got away with one Dan Campbell said as much uh the Las Vegas Raiders walked away from that game feeling like the Saints gave it away and that is the honest to god truth and so it's really saints saints saints we if we have to learn to focus get a game plan and this is my biggest knock on kellen moore game plan he goes into every game he probably does have a game plan but the game plan is is garbage because they look disjointed. They look like they don't know what they're doing out there on the field. You remember, and I hate to compare him to this because he's not this, but it's the only thing I can compare him to. Sean Payton. Sean Payton would come out here. He even does it in Denver. You see it if you ever watch Denver Broncos play. Sean Payton used to come out there, him, Drew Brees, whatever, stripped out the entire first drive, maybe even the first two drives. of a game and it looks like a well-oiled machine they dictate the tone of the game they they controlled what went on in that first quarter of a game and then from there they can play off of that and that's how sean payton operated now i'm not expecting kelly moore to be sean payton but all coaches script the first drive or two of a game he doesn't And if he does, that's even worse. So I'm giving him a little leeway and say he doesn't script it. Because if that's his scripted plays coming into a game, we got deeper issues. So I must say he doesn't do it. He needs to go ahead and do it and start. Let's put a game plan together and try to execute it. You may sacrifice the first drive or two. that Sean Payton did, Drew Brees did, not every opening drive they scored on. Not every one, but the average was pretty high. It was like a 60% or 70% scoring radius or something to that effect. And so they had something going there. You went a whole year, maybe a little longer than a year, before you scored in the first quarter. So you can't tell me? that you strip your play that you have a game plan coming into a game and so let's let's try to flip that narrative huh let's get a game plan together let's run the ball let's stay committed to the run consistent with the run even if you only get two yards a pop that's fine keep the defense honest because eventually those two yards gonna turn to four those four yards gonna turn to Eat. Those eight yards are going to turn into a 15-yard run down the field, and then so on and so forth. And eventually, if they get tired by them or before then, they're going to start creeping that safety up into the box. They're going to start crowding the box. And guess what you're going to do now, Kellen? Guess what you're going to do now, Tyler? Then you can drop back, play action, throw over the top, like you was doing last week. Sold. get out of your head that's all i'm saying i think the saints will come out victories in this game i'm gonna say 27 to 27 to 17 i'll go that i think saints win by 10 but don't don't don't go on uh what is it mgm bets or uh one of these parlays and all here and make a bet on my prediction because if you lose your money don't come over here mad at me i'm just giving a opinion you know i'm not even taking that bet but i would like to know what are your thoughts what do you think is going to happen monday night in the dome against the atlanta falcons will the saints come out victorious or will we fall to those hated falcons on hate week here. man i've been looking on social media looking at all these falcons fans bro god bro they make you just want to fight they really do and i know this is a friendly rivalry it doesn't have all that foolishness and all this here but they just do stupid stuff that makes you want to go off on a falcons fans because they live in this delusional world like they're somebody they haven't won nothing and they're not going to win Monday night. Subscribe to the kbradionetwork.com website where you can be notified of new episodes dropping here as well as previous episodes. You can go back and listen to. Also subscribe to the KB Radio Network channel on YouTube and like this video while you're there. Don't forget about the five stars, the reviews, and sharing this show if you're listening on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, iHeartRadio, wherever you are currently listening to the Who That Say podcast, your podcast for the New Orleans Saints here on the KB Radio Network. Everybody, thank you for joining me as we preview the week four Monday night divisional matchup, New Orleans Saints versus the Atlanta Falcons. Oh, boy, can't wait for Monday night. It's going to be lit. Uh, not looking forward to it though. Uh, cause of course, after the game, uh, come back, join me as we recap that game. So that means I'm going to be up all night long. I will not be getting sleep to maybe three in the morning, but I'll be sleeping soundly after a Saint's victory. Uh, till then everybody. Enjoy your weekend, enjoy the game, and all I'm gonna be screaming is WHO THE HECK?
