And you thought Oakland and Kansas City were bad.

A few weeks ago, I made the following assertion: "Without Drew, this team is Detroit."

I stand corrected. Detroit is in a class of its own. I mean… just… wow. Our old pals Moran Norris and John Owens don’t deserve this.

I suppose we’re supposed to accept this as the quid pro quo from the NFL’s schedule-makers. In exchange for the home game in London and the 42 days away from the Superdome, we got the Detroit game as our General Purpose Non-Denominational Federal Winter Holiday gift. And, as is often the case with socially-mandated gifts from casual acquaintances, we politely say "thanks" and make a point of enjoying it for a short period of time before adding it to our ever-expanding stash of clutter.

Which isn’t to say that it wasn’t enjoyable, because it was.

Lots of people will take the attitude that it was a meaningless win at best, and at worst, it was counterproductive from a long-term standpoint. There’s the perfectly valid (though only barely significant) point that the Saints didn’t do themselves any favors in terms of draft position, and there’s the downright silly notion that "they’ll use this as an excuse to not do anything in the offseason."

I consider each of those points a perfectly legitimate basis for acceptance of a late-season loss when you’re already eliminated from playoff contention. But I don’t consider them legitimate reasons to hope for a loss, or to turn your nose up at a dominating win, even if the opponent is 0-14 going in.

Not that I haven’t hoped for Saints losses before, or been disappointed with meaningless wins. But that kind of thing is for when you’re 3-11 and are in desperate need of an organizational housecleaning. Not when you’re 7-7. For the benefits of losing to outweigh the benefits of winning, you’ve gotta be at Detroit Rock Bottom. That’s not where the Saints are. Not by a long shot.

So allow yourself to enjoy it for what it was. I mean, why not? Sure, maybe it was full of sound and fury, signifying little. But it wasn’t completely worthless. And it sure as hell was better than losing to an 0-14 team, draft position be damned. We only get 16 opportunities a year (give or take a couple) to watch our heroes compete in a game that counts. And in years like this one, half of them just end up pissing us off. What’s the point of denying one eighth of the joy Saints football has offered us this season?

We’re Saints fans, for crying out loud. We can’t afford to shit upon what, at the end of the day, was a dominating, pretty win.

Then again, maybe I ought to practice what I preach. I wasn’t so long ago when I was pissing all over the Oakland and Kansas City wins. And Tampa and San Diego, for that matter.

Meh, maybe it’s just the General Purpose Non-Denominational Federal Winter Holiday turning me into an overly-sentimental, blessings-counting, sweatervest-sporting douchebag.

So… uh… yeah. Sorry about being That Guy. And sorry about being Can’t Blog, Too Busy Pouting Guy last week. And now that I think about it, I just realized I’ve spent the last three paragraphs being It’s All About Me Guy. Shit. The 2008 Saints have turned me into any number of internet caricatures. Damn you, Marteen Gramatica!

Early in the game, it sure did look like Meachem was getting a full-blown audition to assume the role of Jack Hunt for next year and beyond. The reverse was a thing of beauty, and it sure looked like Meachem did his part on the bomb shortly thereafter. The ball looked either underthrown or late, and it clearly would have been 6 with better timing and/or a better throw.

In my opinion, it’s fortunate that the results were mixed. Not that I don’t like Meachem, because I do. But nobody plays the role of Jack Hunt like Devery does. Nobody does 2 for 96 like Devery. And amongst Saints fans these days, 2 for 96 is every bit as underrated as 30 for 100 is overrated. The threat of 2 for 96 is every bit the catalyst for offensive success as is Reggie Bush’s "playmaking" or "commitment to the run." This team needs Devery, and hopefully Meachem’s audition Sunday underscored that for Sean Payton and Mickey Loomis.

Pierre Thomas: 475 rushing yards at 5.1 yards per carry over the last six games now. That’s a pace of 1267 rushing yards over a full 16 games, and with an average of only 15.5 carries per game. Is there any doubt left that this guy is our "workhorse" tailback for next year? The best part is that the 15.5 carries means that Pierre can produce without it being at the expense of passing plays, and there’s still room for a couple handfuls of carries for Reggie. There’s no need to waste a bunch of snaps for the sake of "getting him into a rhythm."

And, oh by the way, Pierre has also accumulated 202 receiving yards over the last 6 games. Add that to the rushing yards and Pierre is producing an average of 112.8 yards from scrimmage over this span, which is a pace of 1805 total yards from scrimmage over a full 16 games. At a rate of 6.04 yards per touch.

This guy… this is my kind of guy.

Which brings me to the larger point that I hope Sunday’s performance solidified:

• 28.8 points per game. Read that again. Twenty-eight point eight. Best in the league. By a lot.
• 410.3 total yards per game. Four hundred ten! Best in the league. By a lot.
• 307.3 passing yards per game. Best in the league. By a lot.
• And, don’t look now, but the Saints have scratched and clawed to 23rd in the league in rushing offense, over 100 rushing yards per game (102.9) and there’s no reason that shouldn’t continue to improve if you assume that Sean Payton has finally seen enough out of Pierre to give him the damn rock 15 times a game.

The point? It’s time to shout "Bullshit!" in the general direction of the old truism that "if you’re not going forward, you’re going backward." Just bring back everybody on offense (with the possible exceptions of David Patten and Mike Bell) and call it a day. Yeah, even Dulymus. If he’s willing to renegotiate to something a lot closer to the vet minimum and can deal with being a 100-carry "coach on the field" then you’ve gotta bring him back. Other than that, offense ought to be completely off the table this offseason with the possible exceptions of center and tackle.

In fact, I think I’ve come to the conclusion that this team would be wise to take a(n arguable) step "back" offensively pending high bids on a "Pro Bowl" left tackle and, yes, a certain jet-setting supermodel-fucking shirtless "playmaking" "tailback."

There, I said it.

It’s going to warrant its own treatise, and I’ll get right on that as soon as I can. But the upshot is that I’m no longer convinced that Reggie is a legitimate "difference maker" in this particular offense. And that’s less about Reggie’s abilities, and more about this offense’s ability to get along just fine in his absence. In short, he’s an asset that the Saints can well afford to sell off. And I don’t for a second buy into the notion that there’s no chance Reggie’s value in a trade could meet or exceed his value on the roster. I’ll just leave it at that for now, until I have time to fully make the case.

But until then, I’m sure it’s obvious that my blogging mojo is still in need of an MRI and maybe a few more days on the stationary bike. I’ll do better, I promise.

In the meantime, we here at moosedenied would like to wish all of our friends a merry Christmas, a happy Chanukkah, a kwaaaaazy Kwanzaa, a tip-top Tet and a solemn, dignified Ramadan. And now a word from my god, our sponsors….