September 13, 2018
DENHAM SPRINGS vs FONTAINEBLEAU… Coming off a remarkable 64-63 loss to Ponchatoula, Denham Springs returns to action this Friday night, September 14, as the Jackets entertain Fontainebleau HS. You can catch all of the action on Family Radio, 91.9 FM and on the net at JonFineProductions.com. 6pm is Sport N Center Jackets Warm-Up, with Josh Ward, Andy Duckworth and yours truly, Jon Fine
Brusly HS vs Belaire HS
Brusly plays host to Belaire HS and you can tune in on KBRS, 106.9 or on the net at Jon FineProductions.com… Lionel Franklin will be calling play-by-play, with Jason Manola on color commentary. Airtime 6:30pm
SULPHUR HS vs CE BYRD HS… Bruce Merchant on play by play, with Patrick Frey on color commentary on SportsRadio, 1310AM—KEZM—Lake Charles and on the internet at KEZMonline.coM.
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BATON ROUGE AREA BROADCASTING SCHEDULE:
FRIDAY, 9/14, 6pm… Denham Springs HS Football vs Fontainebleau HS… Family Radio, 91.9 FM and on the net at JonFineProductions.com…
Josh Ward, Andy Duckworth, Jon Fine
FRIDAY, 9/14, 6:30PM… Brusly HS vs Belaire HS… KBRS,106.9 FM…
Jon Fine Productions.com
Lionel Franklin and Jason Manola
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Friday, 9/14, 6:45pm… Sulphur HS vs CE Byrd HS, Bruce Merchant, Patrick Frey
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Assistant Basketball Coach and Head Swimming Coach at Central High
Warning. I am writing this at 2:43 on Sunday as the Saints are getting embarrassed at home by Tampa Bay. Nobody is escaping my wrath today.
I don’t engage with social media, and this article is a testament as to the reason I don’t. I wrote plenty on Sunday, and it wasn’t too kind to anyone in the Saints organization. Sitting here on Tuesday night, reading over what I wrote Sunday (I left the opening alone), I am thinking better of many paragraphs I wrote on Sunday. Some will stay, but others will be cut.
The top people to blame for Sunday are myself and every Saints fan who expected anything different. The Saints looking terrible while favored at home against a backup quarterback is as close a guarantee as there is in this world. This principle holds true for the Saints playing rookie quarterbacks too.
Remember that great draft class from last year? Outside of Kamara, they stunk it up on Sunday. I have ever seen an elite corner get worked over like Lattimore was by Mike Evans. Evans is good, but not an elite receiver. When Ramczyk wasn’t being called for holding he was on his heels allowing pressure on Brees. Hendrickson only played 14 snaps on a day when the defensive line was non existent. As for Marcus Williams, in four preseason games and one regular season game he does not look like the ball hawking safety I keep reading about.
The defensive backs played the preseason like they were competing in the Drew Brees flag football league for youth, and that continued on Sunday.
Speaking of flag football, how are 290 and 300 pound men expected to pressure and tackle a quarterback without their helmet touching the quarterback or landing on him? The Saints stand no chance against Cam Newton if all games are officiated like the one Sunday.
Back to the Saints. The Saints made a ton of roster moves from the final cut until noon on Sunday. They cut defensive lineman that pressured the quarterback. Mike Gillislie was chosen to be the backup running back and his fumble turned the game around. It all reminds me of last year when De’Vante Harris struggled in the first few games, but kept getting chances. Then Harris missed a team meeting, Crawley got his shot, and the rest was history.
In short, the Saints were not ready for the regular season to begin. The home opener last year was a pretty ugly too. That was acceptable last year as the Saints opened against two of the top four teams in the NFL last year (MInnesota and New England). This year is not the case and I hope this loss isn’t the opening death blow from 2014 when the Saints lost to Atlanta 37-34. The defense looked terrible that day and the top receiver, Colston, had a key fumble like Thomas did this year.
If the Saints are to stand a chance against all the teams I mentioned last week, (Steelers, Rams, Eagles, Vikings, Redskins, Ravens, Cowboys, Falcons, Panthers, and now Bucs) it won’t be because of any skill players. For as bad as the secondary looked, the blame rests on the defensive line.
Please understand I am not bragging, but in my preview of the Saints last week, I hypothesized this team would go as far as Rankins, Jordan, Okafor, Davenport, Davison, and Onyemata took them. On Sunday, that group took the Saints to giving up 48 points at home. I was glad to read this week that they blew many assignments. It better be correctable.
Finally, the officials don’t get a mulligan on blowing a play dead when Michael Thomas wasn’t touched. That is a not a regular run of the mill mistake. Then I read that of the 15 penalties thrown for illegal hits to the quarterback in week one, 2 of them were deemed to be the incorrect call. One of them was against the Saints. So to be clear, in an 8 point game, the officials gave Tampa Bay (who didn’t need help) a first down and took away a touchdown from the Saints.
Right now you should be thinking, “This was the edited version?” Yep. Have I mentioned I am actually a huge Saints fan? Sunday hurt.
Of course, Sunday’s game wasn’t the only game that was hard to watch.
It is disappointing to think that LSU needed a Hail Mary and a botched snap to cover a rather low spread against SELU. Even if LSU looked past SELU, the talent discrepancy is supposed to lead to a bigger win.
For two games, LSU cannot convert third downs or create many explosive plays. For as optimistic as I was about Burrow in week one, I am just as concerned this week. His decision making and comments about sliding after the game led a lot to be desired. I was glad to hear him clean all of that up during the week, though.
For some reason Giles is wearing #7 but can’t get a target in the passing game. I suspect he will be more involved this week.
We are only two weeks into the college football season and we constantly overreact, especially when our favorite team is involved. So let’s gain some perspective. Miami did show they are a good team in their blowout this week. Florida lost to Kentucky. LSU’s defensive continued to show some depth as the linebackers held up when Phillips went out of the game. The special teams still look good. The offense was playing without the best offensive lineman.
What does all this mean heading into the Auburn game? At this point, Auburn is better than LSU just like everyone thought before the year. So is Georgia, Alabama, and probably Mississippi State. LSU must get better. How? Here are a few ideas of mine.
At Auburn, LSU needs to approach the game like the underdog and take some chances to create explosive plays. 10 play drives just don’t feel realistic. But those chances for big plays will have to happen on first and second down. On third and long, LSU won’t have a shot to protect Burrow and get the ball downfield.
On defense, it is time to rotate the defensive lineman more frequently. Let Shelvin, Farrell, and other guys play on first and second down, then bring in Fehoko and Lawrence in for third down every once in a while.
On special teams, look for every opportunity to steal a possession. A fake punt, field goal, or just a big play like last year is a must.
Remember this, no matter how bad LSU looked against SELU, the defense should still be good enough to keep LSU in the game against Auburn.
I want to close this week’s article with one constructive thought. NFL teams are proving that preseason games are completely worthless for starters. In reality, preseason is for rookies and other players trying to make a team. In other words, it is exactly the reason we have junior varsity and minor leagues. We have heard for a while that the NFL wants and needs a minor league system. Do you see where I am going with this?
Keep the same number of games, but split the season. Play 2 JV/minor league games in August, then start the season. Play the first 8 games of the regular season. Eliminate the bye week, and have 2 more JV/minor league games. Then finish the season.
Maybe that is a foolish idea. Maybe I just want the Saints to find a way to avoid starting the year 0-2… again!
HEY REF
Dennis Dearie takes the week off.
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