The New Orleans Saints opened the NFL season by taking their
25 new faces on a field trip to the desert, so that they could learn one of the
Saints traditions – bad trips west.
The Saints lost to the speedy Arizona Cardinals 31-19. They showed a little promise and a lot of
vulnerability.
Offensive Summary
The Good News – Drew Brees was
fairly sharp, going 30 – 48 for 355 yards with one interception on a ball that
Marques Colston popped up into the air.
The Bad News – throwing 48 passes in a game is not a recipe
for success, especially on the road, and much of the yardage came on a few long
runs after catch. Otherwise it was dink and more dink.
The Good News – The offense produced some big plays. Ingram had a long run with a flair pass that
he should have taken all the way, and Willie Snead’s only catch went for over
60 yards. Most of the passes were dump
offs with the hope they would be converted to something more. Running Backs accounted for 14
completions.
The Bad News – The offense never found a real rhythm and the
new receiving corps is not going to make anyone forget the Super Bowl run just
yet. The Saints throw an awful lot of
screen passes, and it appears the league has noticed.
The Good News – Payton tried to call running plays
The Bad News – Mark Ingram is still the featured back, and
his next juke will be his first. Khiry
Robinson showed some fight, but overall the running game was terrible. As usual.
The running plays just appear to be slow to develop. The Saints were outrushed 120 – 54 and
averaged 2.7 yards per carry, which is a slow train to nowhere, which is
apparently where Pierre Thomas is lounging, thinking about his career average
of 4.5 YPC.
The Good News – the Saints got into the red zone 5 times.
The Bad News – they settled for field goals 4 of those
times. Yes, Jimmy Graham would have
helped, but it doesn’t appear that Brees has any confidence in throwing into
the end zone with this group yet, so if you like swing passes (that get
stuffed) this is the team for you.
The Good News – the offensive line protected Brees pretty
well.
The Bad News – the offensive line didn’t open any holes for
the runners
Defensive Summary
The Good News – the many youngsters on defense played fairly
well, showing speed and pursuit
The Bad News – they got torched on a few plays
The Good News – the defensive backs made some good
breakups.
The Bad News – they made it rain yellow flags too
The Good News – the defensive line showed signs of a pass
rush. They put a little pressure on
Carson Palmer
The Bad News – they did not control the Cardinals’ running game.
Couching Summary
The Good News – The offense accounted for over 400
yards.
The Bad News – And I really hate to say this but Payton’s
offense is getting stale and predictable.
He relies on run after catch, instead of throwing the ball over the down
marker or into the end zone. Is he
feeling burned by last year’s interceptions?
Has he lost his nerve? Has the
NFL caught on to the route tree? And the
really bad news is that with only 4 wide receivers on the roster, there are a
couple of problems. Brandon Coleman may
eventually be the red zone threat to replace Jimmy Graham, but there’s no
confidence there. Brandin Cooks is
obviously our only threat, and defenses are going to double team him all
year. Willie Snead looks good, but
contributed a drop. And the worst news
is that Marques Colston does not look good.
He didn’t play much in preseason, and either is not being counted on, doesn’t
appear ready for the season, or has lost another step which he could ill
afford.
Let me sum up by saying that this is a very young team with
a lot of talent but lack of discipline.
There are new bodies everywhere, and you can’t teach experience, you
have to get it. There were several times
during this game when the Saints could have gone for it on 4th down,
but instead played it safe. Kicking the ball away when you are behind and there's less than 2 minutes on the clock, as they did, is a gamble that only a dominant defensive team takes. The Saints definitely aren't that. For the
Saints to win while gaining experience, they are going to have to turn up the
gambling quotient. They’re going to need to
go for it on 4th down, onside kick now and then, and just go for broke a
few times. Reliance on the screen pass,
which Brees throws as well as anyone, is not going to advance the cause.
Also, not to be forgotten is that the Cardinals are a
playoff caliber team that would have been top seed in the NFC had they not lost
Carson Palmer to injury last year. A
much better measuring stick is next Sunday, when a rebuilding Buccaneer team
comes to the dome. The game is critical,
as an 0-2 start to the season would be a disaster to rival the Presidential
campaign.
The tide will turn, or a tsunami will ensue.
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