Bodog Colts vs Saints Preview

Former Colt Jason David looks to corner his old friends

Sept 4th, 2007

By Adrian Brijbassi
Bodog Nation Contributing Writer

After the Colts won the Super Bowl in February, cornerback Jason David reveled in the joy of others. The young cornerback said his satisfaction came from the exultation of his teammates who had tried and failed to achieve ultimate victory so often. David was a fourth-round draft pick in 2004, and although he had started at right corner for two years, he knew the win over the Chicago Bears meant more to the men around him. Many of them got pegged as losers and underachievers and were beseeched by reporters after the difficult losses.

David was off the media's radar, a position that allowed him to observe and digest.

"To see Tony Dungy finally hold that trophy was all worth it," David said of the commitment it took to seize a championship. "Then winning the game for all those guys who have come so close the past five years really meant a lot. Seeing those guys smile and get excited felt real good."

At the time, David sounded like an outsider, which may have been a premonition. On Thursday, he will see the championship banner raised at the RCA Dome when the NFL regular season kicks off, but he will watch from the opposing sideline. In April, the Saints signed the 5-foot-8-inch, 175-pounder to a four-year contract even though he was a restricted free agent, meaning New Orleans also had to give the Colts draft picks as compensation. The move, touted by the Saints' fans as the one that puts their team over the top, has pushed David into the spotlight. He unseats the often-lambasted Fred Thomas as a starting corner, strengthening an underrated defense that finished third in the league in yards allowed per game in 2006.

In the preseason, the Saints owned the league's second-ranked defense, which may not seem like much at first, but consider the others in the top five were stalwarts Baltimore, Chicago, Jacksonville and Dallas. The Saints don't have big names, but they manage to make enough plays on defense to keep them in games. In David, they hope they've gained a player who can be a shutdown corner. The accuracy of that assessment will be gauged right away.

The 25-year-old Canadian will be a pivotal player in Thursday's opener. He didn't do much in the Super Bowl - he was credited with two tackles - and that's not a bad thing. When your cornerback makes the highlight reel it usually isn't for a positive reason. The less the Colts see of their old teammate the better it will be for his new ones. With two of the NFL's most prolific passing offenses on display, the opener is expected to be high scoring, and if David can limit the effectiveness of Goliaths Marvin Harrison and Reggie Wayne, he will not only provide a neat story angle for sportswriters, he'll be the difference in the outcome.

New Orleans is a six-point underdog, meaning oddsmakers and bettors still love the Colts. Perhaps many aren't sure if the Saints' feel-good march to the NFC Championship Game was a fluke or if the fact they faced only three opponents with winning records last year is a warning sign for the more difficult road ahead.

Astute NFL bettors know that the first month of any regular season is a period of adjustment for sportsbooks. Trends have yet to develop, allowing bettors to make money on a team like the 2006 Saints, who started 4-0 against the spread. I'm bearish on the Colts and think others will be too as the season progresses.

The Indianapolis secondary is young and aggressive, making them susceptible to Sean Payton's wizardry on offense. In last year's opener, the Saints rushed the ball 37 times against Cleveland, which finished 30th against the run in 2005. The New Orleans' head coach has, no doubt, underscored the Colts' 2006 ranking versus the run: 32nd, dead last.

Reggie Bush and Deuce McAllister are going to approach a dozen carries each Thursday, baiting the Indianapolis defense closer to the line of scrimmage. That will leave the Colts vulnerable to the play-action pass later in the game. Assuming the Saints are successful in taking a lead or staying close, it will be up to their secondary to stop Peyton Manning in the fourth quarter. Having a guy who has lined up against Harrison and Wayne in practice for three years will help. David may have been happy for the Colts in February; now he seeks to prevent them from again celebrating before his eyes.

If the Colts are victorious, it shouldn't be by more than a field goal. I'm predicting the Saints to win outright as the fading of Indy begins. That's the nature of pro sports: victory is fleeting, no matter how hard it is to come by.

Random Thoughts on the NFL

* The Jaguars made the right move in cutting ties with Byron Leftwich. The quarterback controversy has overshadowed everything else about the team for the past three seasons. Even if David Garrard isn't the answer - and I don't think he is - then at least Jack Del Rio has taken the leap toward finding out. For Leftwich, the decision is brutal. Even if he were to get another contract immediately, it will take him at least four weeks before he's comfortable enough with a new playbook to take the field. The year's probably a write-off for him.

* Remember when John Elway turned marginal talents like Vance Johnson and Ricky Nattiel into playmakers? Vince Young is about to do the same with Brandon Jones and Roydell Williams, who aren't as good as fantasy football addicts make them out to be. The more I see of Young, the more I want to see more. This guy is pure freak. He's the reason the Titans are the one team I will flip away from the Cowboys to watch.

* The playbook trend to keep an eye on this year is the running back split wide in spread offenses. Over the past few years running backs have been so fragile that rotating two or three backs into the offense has crept in as a regular format. And of course that means specialization: feature backs, short-yardage backs, third-down backs. Backs who are equally adept at running and catching the ball will be the next role to develop. Reggie Bush, Maurice Jones-Drew and Leon Washington are examples of running backs who are unlikely to get 25 carries a game but they might get that many total touches as offensive coordinators move them around the field.

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