How about we put it all this way: Is it true the Saints aren't a top five defense? Sure. Maybe. But you can say without a doubt that their coach is leagues better than Jacksonville's. Payton is excellent at utilizing talent in schemes for certain gameplans, and this week's plan was to take Chark away, and force Gardner to stay in the pocket with less time to think. Their D may not be great compared to some others in the league, but they were clearly coached well enough to make Minshew's day extremely difficult. That's what good coaching does.

So, is it the sixth round rookie's fault that he made mistakes? Sure, it is. To a degree. But it's also against one of THE BEST teams in the NFL. I don't care what you want to say about their defense; in pure statistics, it's true they're not elite. But the Saints as a whole team are a superbowl contender, and there is no mistaking that. I wouldn't say that holding them to a close game is a moral victory, per se, but it does show that this team is lacking in real coaching, and for that i'm thankful Payton and co. quite sufficiently demonstrated this for Jacksonville to see. Gardner has REAL ability to be something in this league. I'm not giving up on him unless he [BLEEP] the bed these next two or three weeks, and by [BLEEP] the bed, I mean he's throwing interceptions left and right, and clearly running around like a chicken with its head cut off.

I worry more that this team will never achieve consistency under Marrone. i'd like to be wrong but i'm getting the feeling that won't change unless he's replaced at some point later on.

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