ESPN’s Marcus Spears on the 20th Anniversary of Saints’ Steve Gleason Punt Block

Twenty years ago, the Superdome reopened and the loudest building Rich has ever heard nearly lifted its own roof off. On Monday, with the Saints and Falcons closing out Week 4 on Monday Night Football, Marcus Spears stopped by in his usual Monday spot to revisit that night, then spent the rest of the hour sorting out a league where four weeks in, nobody has a clean read on anything.

Rich was in the building in 2005. NFL Network, then just three years old, sent him with Steve Mariucci and Marshall Faulk, who grew up in the Lower Ninth Ward and once sold popcorn in the Superdome as a kid. Rich remembered a detail most people forget: before Steve Gleason blocked the punt, Michael Vick fumbled and the ball rolled out of bounds. The shriek when it was loose was the loudest he had heard a stadium, and Faulk leaned over and said, "We would've had to put the roof back on again if that ball was recovered by the Saints." Two plays later, Gleason blocked the punt, Curtis Deloatch returned it for a touchdown, and the city, as Rich put it, "was officially back."

Spears was in Dallas, early in his career, doing outreach with the Cowboys at the convention center where so many displaced Louisiana families had landed. He talked with women in their late 60s and 70s who had never left New Orleans in their lives. "You could just see the unknown in their eyes," he said. That night in the Dome, he believes, "every person that had anything to do with football was a Saints fan." He went further: "I felt like it was divine the way it went." The rivalry is still real, too. Rich noted that Sean Payton, now in Denver, joked this preseason about all the Falcons fans who showed up as empty seats.

Then to the present, and the question nobody has answered yet: who is the best team in football? Spears did not hesitate. "San Fran." Even banged up, he sees Brock Purdy playing well in what was probably his worst game, George Kittle making an impact, Christian McCaffrey still there, and Mike Evans catching passes through a rib issue "that looks painful every time he caught the football." His pick for the most unsung signing in the league is Deebo Samuel's return to Kyle Shanahan's offense. "It changes everything about what they do," Spears said. If the 49ers avoid catastrophic injuries and Purdy stays consistent, they are "as complete" as anyone.

Rich offered three struggling offenses and asked which turns it around: Vikings, Eagles or Chargers. Spears took Minnesota, citing Justin Jefferson, Aaron Jones, a strong tight end and a Brian Flores defense that will keep handing the offense extra possessions. The issue with Kyler Murray, in his view, is that "inconsistency has kind of followed him," and the fix falls on Kevin O'Connell tailoring the system to what Murray likes to do. His proof that tailoring works: "Ben Johnson has called plays for three different quarterbacks and they all look like they're going to the Pro Bowl." Murray also missed time in the preseason and then with a concussion, so the connection is still catching up.

On defense, Rich made Spears choose between the Bills, Cowboys and Lions. He wanted to say Buffalo, but went with Dallas. Against Houston, he pointed out, the Texans went into halftime with 16 points, six of them on field goals from 50-plus, and the Cowboys made critical stops at key moments to get off the field. "It's just popular to say because they've been so bad the last couple years," Spears said, but he sees "a young defense that's going to continue to get better," with Joey Porter Jr. bringing physicality to the secondary and Quinnen Williams disruptive for a second straight week alongside Rashan Gary.

The Texans got a different diagnosis. "The only word I can attribute to it, to be honest with you, is complacency," Spears said. Houston was one dropped Kamari Lassiter interception away from beating Buffalo, and against Dallas, Lassiter could not have covered the George Pickens catch any better. Last year's defense lived on strip sacks and takeaways, and those have not shown up. Spears still believes the Texans will improve, calling it "a recalibration," and noted that the film shows plenty of pressure on Dak Prescott. "A large majority of that game, Dak just played out of his mind."

Rich then borrowed the show's Friday game, What's More Likely, and gave Spears three options for this season: the Chargers move on from Mike McDaniel midseason, the Lions turn to someone other than Kelvin Sheppard on defense, or Sean Payton takes play calling back from Davis Webb. Spears picked Payton. "I believe Sean Payton thinks he has a really good offense and it's just not getting maximized," he said. After the 49ers beat Denver 24-14, he expects Payton to start thinking, "I'm good for two touchdowns." He called Payton an "uber competitor" and gave Webb credit for the opportunity, but "when you start to talk about it's do or die now, we know that things change quickly." His closing point: "This team was in the AFC Championship game last year. So Sean is not fooled about what they have the potential to be." Sheppard was his second choice, with Detroit's injuries complicating that one.

The last stretch was about the pile of 2-2 teams, and Spears gave a useful filter for them: be optimistic about teams whose style is "repeatable and transferable." The Colts can take Jonathan Taylor to any stadium, though he worries about the quarterback play. Asked whether Joe Burrow's play should worry Bengals fans, he said Burrow has "built enough credit," and with Ja'Marr Chase and Tee Higgins on the field, history says that offense will be more productive than it looked late against Jacksonville. He believes in the Patriots, having already put the Bills on upset alert because Drake Maye was "too talented" to keep looking that bad.

The Packers are his concern. He is not sold on a three-point win over a hampered Tampa team, and he cannot get past Bijan Robinson running for 194 yards and Drake London nearly reaching 200 receiving yards against Green Bay. "We were ready to move Atlanta to the Canadian Football League before that week," he said. The Rams, at 2-2 with Puka Nacua just back, do not worry him. "They'll be fine."

Then Spears flipped the interview and asked Rich whether the Raiders' showing in Kansas City changed his view of the Saints' loss to them a week earlier. "I'm in," Rich said. Spears is too. "I'm telling people right now, the Raiders are a problem. This ain't the same Raiders." His broader warning is about the knee-jerk read. Marcus Mariota beat Seattle, so the overreaction says Seattle is bad, when sometimes, as Spears put it, "it's just one of those weeks." The film, he said, is where the real answers are.