things kevin hates

I’ve been asking people who they thought was the MVP of last night’s Saints win. Walking out of the Dome, my parents were uncertain. My friends at school opted for Drew Brees—3 TDs, no picks, a QB rating over 100—and Tracy Porter—who forced a fumble and made the crucial interception late in the game to keep the Vikes from having a chance at a long field goal attempt to win the game. My facebook friends chimed in with a number of other suggestions: Vilma, for a forced fumble, fumble recovery, and interception; Hartley, for the game-clincher; Pierre Thomas, with 99 yards from scrimmage, two TDs, and a crucial 40-yard kickoff return in overtime when he filled in for the injured Courtney Roby; and the entire d-line for the pressuring Favre. If I had to pick one of those guys, I’d probably go with Pierre Thomas or Jonathan Vilma. Brees wasn’t as accurate as he usually is—and I give the Vikings defensive line a great deal of credit for that. They didn’t sack him, but they kept him uncomfortable. Porter was picked on and gave up a pass interference penalty in the end zone. But there’s one guy who stood out above all the rest on a day when the Vikings outgained the Saints by a huge margin. One person tipped him as an “unsung hero,” then misspelled his name. That man? Thomas Morstead. He is, without a doubt, the MVP of the Saints’ victory. And though he may be considered an “unsung hero,” in this post I will sing of legs and the man.

The Saints offense had great TD drives in the 1st and 2nd quarters, but after that the offense mostly fizzled. They scored on their first possession of the 2nd half after a superb Roby kickoff return to the Vikings’ 37. Aside from that drive, and the touchdown after the Saints recovered a Vikings fumble, the Saints’ 2nd-half drives went like this: 3-and-out, 3-and-out, 3-and-out, 3-and-out, end of game. The Saints had a critical opportunity when Vilma pounced on a Bernard Berrian fumble at the Saints’ 5-yard line. With 9:37 left in the game, a sustained drive with three or four first downs could have taken a ton of time off the clock and been the deathblow to the Vikings’ hopes. Instead, a 3-and-out. Similarly, after Minnesota tied the game with five minutes remaining, a lengthy drive could have gotten the Saints into range for a game-winning kick. Again, a 3-and-out.

Minnesota piled up the yards in the game, with 475 yards of offense to the Saints’ 257. Never before has a team had such a huge differential and lost an NFL playoff game. Anytime a team piles up the yards and still loses, they either gave up special teams or defensive touchdowns, or else they lost the field position battle. Obviously, in last night’s game it was the latter. The turnovers were a huge part of the field position battle, and the Saints’ defense deserves a lot of credit. But Thomas Morstead’s role, both on punts and kickoffs, was woefully underrated.

First, his kickoffs. He was fifth in the NFL during the regular season averaging 67.7 yards per kickoff.* He was 7th in the NFL with 26.7% of his kickoffs going for touchbacks.** In the playoffs, he’s been even better, leading all kickers with a 71.6 average, and taking 2nd place with a 46.2 touchback percentage. His kickoff game against the highly-rated Percy Harvin (who was 9th in total kickoff yards and tied for second with two touchdowns) was superb. Three of his five kickoffs went for touchbacks. The other two were returned for just 33 yards total, well below Harvin’s regular season average of 27.5 yards. One of Minnesota’s most dangerous weapons was effectively neutralized as Morstead handled that aspect of his game flawlessly.

Likewise, his punting was stellar. He didn’t have a great regular season, but he put on a superb punting display last night. He punted seven times, averaging 51.3 yards. More importantly, the Vikings only managed three returns for 15 yards, giving him a net average of 49.1. Thanks to that effort he leads all punters in the post season with a net average of 45.0. With the Saints offense frequently stalling on 3-and-outs, Morstead’s big leg was vital in making the Vikes move the ball down the field. That gave them more time to fumble the ball, which they did. Repeatedly.

You’re probably still thinking, how the hell can a punter be the MVP of the game?

First of all, the fact of the matter is that the Saints were solidly outplayed on both sides of the ball. Many of my fellow Saints fans don’t want to admit this; the Times-Picayune gave three (out of four) fleurs-de-lis (fleur-de-lises? fleur-de-lis, but pronounced with an “s”?) to the offense, three and a half to the defense, four to the special teams, and four to the coaching staffs. I’d have said those are all a half-point too high. The defense needs credit for forcing turnovers, but let’s face it: Adrian Peterson’s fumblitis was world-renowned even before this game, and Brett Favre was due for one of his customary play-off blow-ups. Most of the good things that happened for the Saints’ defense were the Vikes shooting themselves in the foot, and the defense needs to play much better to have any chance against Indy. I’m confident they can play a lot better—look at how we shut down the Cardinals, for example—but it was a ho-hum performance against a fellow offensive juggernaut, masked by the turnovers. So I have a hard time saying that someone like Vilma or Porter was player of the game when the Vikes’ offense played so-well.

Likewise, the offense had a few great drives, but coupled that with too many 3-and-outs. We lost the 1st down battle 31-15, a staggering number. Drew Brees only completed 55% of his passes, well below his NFL record 70% in the regular season. Likewise, he averaged just 6.4 yards per attempt, compared to 8.5% in the regular season. It wasn’t a dreadful game by any stretch—3 TDs and no interceptions is always nice—but he didn’t dominate the game as he has so many others. Pierre Thomas also had a good game, highlighted by his touchdown on a screen pass, but again, it wasn’t a dominant performance. Had he pounded the ball for another 40 yards on the ground and helped the Saints keep possession, it’d be another story.

It’s just too hard for me to pull the game’s MVP from either of those units. I think we have to turn to special teams. I wouldn’t disagree too much with picking Hartley as the MVP, but most NFL kickers make that. I’m not trying to take anything away from him and the pressure he faced, but the average NFL kicker makes that kick. But very few punters can turn in a performance like Morstead’s. He had a superlative game when he was called upon 12 times. Hartley had one field goal and four extra points.

Even if you disagree, I hope this is some food for thought. Morstead was by far the most consistent Saint yesterday, and he’s a big reason why we’re going to the Super Bowl!

* I exclude two kickers who only kicked off once during the regular season.

** Excluding a guy who kicked off three times.