I know that quite often around here we give the nola.com Saints Beat Patrol the blues. Between Varney's wardrobe, Jeff Duncan's height and weird v-log location choices, we take some cheap (and sometimes even funny) shots at those targets.
But one thing that is done really well each week on the nola.com (aside from the Feelin' the Brees graphic) during the season is this feature: Jeff Duncan's Film Study.
Make the jump with me to learn more of what i like about it, as well as highlights from his 2011 inaugural edition.
The Film Study series articles usually come out a few days after each game, and in it, Duncan shares detailed notes and observations from his review/analysis of the game film (or, to be more accurate, the section of his DVR hard drive that contains the game recording). For me, it is excellent stuff, and in reading it I find myself saying both, "Yeah, I noticed that, too." and, "Dang. I completely missed that!" or "Now that you mention it, Jeff, that was going on in the game!"
In this week's edition, subtitled Green Bay Packers dominated the New Orleans Saints in the trenches, after describing this large theme that greatly impacted the game,
Green Bay's offensive and defensive lines dominated their Saints counterparts for most of the night en route to a resounding 42-34 victory.
Duncan identifies a Player (Darren Sproles, 'nuff said) and Play of the Game (Mark Ingram's failed third-and-one rush that preceded the fourth-and-one play-action disaster).
He follows that with his Pressure Report (a summary of how Gregg Williams applied pressure to the opposing QB), and I'm sure we can all agree with his overall assessment:
The Saints rarely were able to harass Aaron Rodgers and the Packers quarterback had a field day against the Saints' overmatched secondary.
Next comes the Zebra Report on what kind of game he feels the referees had/called (in this case a good one), and then the Didja Notice? segment, which this week pointed to the slippery footing of the Saints in the early going of the game.
The bulk of the article consists of his quarter-by-quarter Notes and Observations on individual plays and specific parts of drives.
Here are some gems from this section:
Somebody on CSC asked about P-Rob's playing so much, and Duncan notes this...
Cornerback Tracy Porter moved inside to handle the slot receiver for most the night, allowing Patrick Robinson to stay outside where he is most comfortable. This is a new position for Porter in the nickel coverage. Randall Gay and Malcolm Jenkins played the slot in previous years.
And this next part was my main GAAAAA! for the night (and I screamed that A LOT):
Saints played a soft zone on third-and-12 and the Packers ate it up. Somehow the Packers' five receivers beat the Saints' eight cover men.
How about this nugget?
Colston's fumble was a rare occurrence. He's now fumbled five times in six seasons.
Remember this?
The Saints burned Green Bay on a third-and-1 by throwing deep out of "heavy" personnel. The Packers had to be thinking run when the Saints employed two tight ends along with fullback Jed Collins and Brees took advantage by play-action faking to Thomas and firing a strike to Meachem, who beat Tramon Williams in single coverage with no deep safety help.
This one is pretty good (emphasis added)...
Horrible coverage by Harper on an in route by Cobb that produced a 32-yard touchdown catch-and-run. Harper was supposed to have inside leverage but allowed Cobb to beat him inside for a too-easy connection over the middle. Cobb showed his open-field ability by juking Jenkins, the Saints' best tackler, at the 15-yard line and cruising into the end zone. It was revealed later that Cobb actually ran the wrong route on the play.
I absolutely EAT THIS STUFF UP, and that was only from the first quarter!
Duncan closes each Film Study with the Personnel Breakdown, that reviews trends of and tallies full counts of the various personnel groupings Payton actually deployed on offense in the game.
Here's Duncan's synopsis of it (for the full breakdown, click on either the above or below link to the full article itself):
While rookie Mark Ingram started the game he finished wit the fewest snaps of the three backs. This was dictated primarily by the score. The Saints were forced to play a lot of three-receiver sets as they were in catch-up mode. By their standards, the Saints were fairly basic, using only six personnel groupings. The absence of Lance Moore clearly affected his play-calling. Instead of using Adrian Arrington, he elected to go with tight ends Jimmy Graham and David Thomas as wideouts in spread formations. Arrington played only played one snap. All of the fullback snaps went to Jed Collins. Korey Hall strictly played special teams.
After reading this article, I always feel much better informed about what the Saints did well and not so well in the game.
As the title of this post indicates, I consider it a "must read" every week and give it my second highest recommendation (it's almost as important as catching my "Hot Reads" each week - sorry, SSP), so if you missed the link to Duncan's Film Study above, here it is again.
Please share your own opinion of the Film Study series and/or Duncan's specific observation and notes in the comment section below. Do you enjoy it/get as much out of it as I do, or is it more one of those, "meh" deals for you?
The Saints are done for the week but the rest of the NFL is just getting started. If you're hanging around the house today and checking out the competition, keep it here to talk about all the action.
A list of today's games can be found after the jump. To check out the TV distribution map and find out what games are being shown in your area, click here.
I can tolerate a defense getting flat out beat when they play a superior opponent, and that was definitely part of the problem in this game. But I cannot tolerate poor technique and lack of poise. Those things were entirely too prevalent in the Saints' defensive "effort" against the Packers, and I use the term "effort" very loosely.
Prepare yourself, the grades are bad. The bottom line is the tackling by the Saints was an abomination across the board. No one wanted to wrap and tackle, instead concerned with just putting a candy hit on Packer ball carriers. No expletive can do that performance justice.
The defensive line got no pressure and they were repeatedly pushed way off the ball. The defensive backs were routinely toasted in man coverage and slow to the ball in zone. The linebackers weren't as bad at tackling as they were slow to the football and completely absorbed with blocks, unable to shed anything. The secondary put together probably one of the most atrocious tackling efforts I've ever seen. There was everything in this game: poor tackling, broken assignments, broken coverage, poor coverage, terrible angles, slipping, and even the very few times in this game the Saints were in the right place, they still got beat.
Performances really don't get much worse than this one in the NFL. It was an embarrassment. The Packers make people look like that, no doubt, but to call that performance by the Saints defense anything less than incredibly alarming is just naive. And I don't think any of us are stupid enough to believe Will Smith's addition after Week 2 is going to make a lick of difference.
One player missing isn't the problem, the problem is a team-wide inability to tackle or shed blocks. To me, that's just playing with a higher sense of urgency, effort and composure. I do believe those things can be fixed internally without outside help, but it also doesn't get fixed overnight. I reluctantly give you grades that aren't pretty in the least.
Jeff Charleston: C+ (2.33) He finished with 3 tackles and he wasn't awful. His pursuit was good and he tried his best. I just don't think he's starting quality, but he's able to come in and give the Saints effort. He seems to have added some weight so he looks stronger, but he was just slow to the play too many times.
Junior Galette: C+ (2.33) He finished with 3 tackles and half a sack. He tackled Rodgers for a loss on a busted play which was a gimme, and he helped finish off a sack that was initiated by Harper. Other than those two positive plays, neither of which he really did much to inherit, he was largely stonewalled and not much for a factor off the edge.
Turk McBride: C+ (2.33) To me he was the most promising defensive end on the night. He finished with just 1 tackle so statistically he didn't do much, but he received numerous double teams so clearly the Packers we worried about him. He did a decent job of getting pressure and he was really the only one. Rodgers' release is just too quick, though, and McBride was always a step late. He held his ground best of the d-line against the run too. While he didn't have an amazing game I did leave with some hope that this guy could turn out to be a pretty good player for the Saints.
Cameron Jordan: C- (1.67) He finished with 3 tackles but he was pushed off the ball quite a bit and got no pressure whatsoever on the quarterback. He did not look like a 1st round pick to me.
Sedrick Ellis: D+ (1.33) One of the worst games I've ever seen Ellis play. He finished with 2 tackles and was completely manhandled in the trenches. He looked slow, weak and disoriented out there. I know he'll rebound because we've all seen this guy play at a high level but he just didn't have it.
Aubrayo Franklin: C- (1.67) At times you can tell why he's so highly praised as a premiere run defender. He definitely absorbed contact well and got a little penetration at times. That said, he was double teamed a good amount and I saw him get knocked clear on his butt at least two times which created a huge running lane. Maybe he's not 100% yet but I hope the Saints can get more out of him than that.
Shaun Rogers: D- (0.67) This guy was supposed to be a mammoth run stopper. I'm glad he looks the part, but so far that's it. He was a ghost out there. He made absolutely no impact whatsoever. The short yardage situations he came in, his supposed specialty, the Packers ran right at him and had their way with him. He never helped the Saints stop the Packers in short yardage situations, not even close. He was terrible and invisible in this. Finished with one tackle.
Mitch King: D+ (1.33) It's weird that he was so good in the preseason and the minute the regular season light came on, his hustle decreased and he was pushed around like a ragdoll. He finished with 1 tackle.
Scott Shanle: C+ (2.33) A mixed bag from the veteran. To me he was most active against the run and he was one of the few players that actually came ready to tackle someone. He made a huge stop behind the line of scrimmage in the red zone on a 2nd and short, only to turn around and give up a 1st down reception on the very next play by giving way too much cushion to Tom Crabtree who is hardly a receiving threat. He finished with 7 tackles and I thought his pursuit and tackling was decent, but he slipped a few times and he looked a little slow out there. His coverage looked very spotty.
Will Herring: D (1.00) The Saints praised this guy and said he was ready to assume a full time starting role after being more of a spot duty coverage linebacker with the Seahawks. Well, I certainly saw his coverage ability, and it wasn't that good. He did have a couple good coverages on Jermichael Finley, so I'll ease up on him there. Against the run, though, he was useless. Completely useless. The Packers ran right at him several times and he was completely swallowed by any willing blocker. He would often get a passive hand on a runner which did absolutely nothing. He finished with two tackles. I have to say, I'm not impressed with this pickup so far. I miss Danny Clark.
Jonathan Vilma: C (2.00) As the game wore on he found his bearings and got better. He finished strong and ended with 7 tackles once the Packers tried to milk their lead and become one dimensional with the run. Before that happened, though, he was out of place and victimized often. He was well on his way to a D or worse until the 4th quarter, where he redeemed himself with good tackling and physical play. Prior to that, he looked slow, and like Herring he couldn't shed any blocks. The Packers' blockers did a good job of finding him, getting a hat on him, and completely erasing him from the play. His coverage was not good.
Jonathan Casillas: C+ (2.33) He was great on blitzes and not good at anything else. He sacked Aaron Rodgers once and hit him viciously getting there just a step too late. He finished with two tackles. The Saints dropped him in coverage a few times and his awareness was poor. Sometimes in zone you have to break off your assignment when you see a wide open receiver a yard away from you. Instead, he stayed put and gave up a huge gain on a third and long. His ball and play awareness there were not good. He didn't provide the Saints with enough of a physical presence when he was in there, but I would have liked to see him in there against the run more.
Patrick Robinson: D (1.00) He was beaten badly in man to man coverage and the Saints had to move Harper from the box, run more zone, and use traditional shell coverage to make up for the fact that when left out on an island, Robinson was getting abused. On the opening drive he gave up a long pass to Jordy Nelson, slipping, and the touchdown pass to Greg Jennings with little resistance. He finished with 5 tackles and was always a step slow to the ball. His tackling was extremely poor as well.
Tracy Porter: C+ (2.33) He wasn't targeted much, and his coverage was the best of the group. He finished with 5 tackles, most accumulated leaving his assignment to help teammates that couldn't tackle. He did take a horrible angle on one short flare pass and gave the receiver and inside lane, slipping and missing the tackle badly. He wasn't immune to the team wide inability to tackle.
Jabari Greer: D+ (1.33) Rodgers went after him a lot as well with mostly good results. Greer did have good coverage on a couple 3rd down plays which would force a punt, but it's telling that when Rodgers needed a first down he was usually going after Greer. Greer's tackling was absolutely awful. I remember numerous times where the Packers would flare a pass at the line of scrimmage, isolating Greer one on one to make a tackle. He missed almost all of them. It was shameful. Give him credit for one very nice pass breakup. He was also flagged once for a not obvious pass interference call. He had a lot of trouble covering Greg Jennings.
Roman Harper: F (0.00) Documenting all of his screw ups would take way more time that I'm prepared to give. Needless to say, he was absolutely atrocious. His coverage once again was victimized constantly and it was basically a carbon copy repeat of his performance against the Seahawks in the last playoff game. That performance, by the way, earned him an F as well. He did lead the team with 9 tackles and had half a sack, so there's that, but make no mistake he was picked on all game. A very very bad performance throughout the game.
Malcolm Jenkins: C (2.00) I gave his grade a boost for that monstrosity of a hit on Donald Driver. Seriously, how did Driver get up from that? Jenkins completely obliterated him. WOW. I still can't get over that shot, it was quite impressive. Jenkins ended with 5 tackles and had a couple of good plays, but again, his game was defined by taking bad angles and missing tackles. The biggest runs the Packers had were extended by Jenkins' inability to put an end to them. He's the last line of defense and there was way too much diving at people's ankles.
John Kasay: B+ (3.33) I'm not going to give him a better grade than that for converting on two field goals inside 40 yards, but give him credit, after scaring us to death in the preseason he did what was asked of him well. He made all four extra points, both short field goals, and hit an onsides kick decently that didn't work out.
Thomas Morstead: B- (2.67) He averaged 49 yards on two punts (only 36.5 net) and had one go for a touchback. On his kickoffs, he blasted them deep in the end zone almost every time. Unfortunately for him, Randall Cobb took one out from 8 yards deep and well, yeah, you know what happened.
Courtney Roby: B (3.00) While he was relieved of his return duties, he still made the most of his time on the field. Give him credit for a monster block that sprung Darren Sproles on his punt return for a touchdown. That was a thing of beauty. He was also one of the first men down on almost every single coverage unit exercise.
Isa Abdul-Quddus: D (1.00) Two big mistakes by Abdul-Quddus in this one. First, on Morstead's touchback punt, he showed very poor ball awareness and was unable to locate the ball to maybe pin the Packers inside the 5. Also on a punt which would end up luckily being called back for a hold, he had a chance to make a one on one tackle with Randall Cobb and he completely blew it. Yet more evidence of poor tackling. He looked lost out there on special teams.
Leigh Torrence: C (2.00) The touchdown wasn't hit fault and he did have a tackle on special teams. It's good to see him out there as a veteran that knows how to play special teams, especially with Pierson Prioleau and Chris Reis both gone. Hopefully he can help young guys like Abdul-Quddus in a hurry.
Note: I already graded Darren Sproles out at an A in the offensive grades, which included his special teams reps, so that's why he's not listed here.
My Defensive Player of the Game: Scott Shanle (had to pick someone!)
My Special Teams Player of the Game: Darren Sproles
The New Orleans Saints front office is currently in the process of doing damage control, debunking rumors that the team is interested in signing Randy Moss, after earlier reports by WWL-TV said the veteran wide receiver had been to the Saints facility in Metairie for a visit today.
Mike Florio of Pro Football Talk spoke with Greg Bensel, who says these reports are inaccurate, plain and simple.
Tonight, Saints spokesman Greg Bensel told PFT by phone that the WWL report isn't accurate, on either count. Per Bensel, the Saints aren't interested in Moss, and Moss didn't visit the team's facility today.
Mickey Loomis has also been putting out fires this evening, telling Adam Schefter:
"There is absolutely no truth to it," Loomis said. "It's a made-up story, irresponsible reporting. There's zero to it."
Looks like WWL-TV is going to have to start doing some damage control of their own. Sorry to disappoint, Moss lovers, it appears he'll remain retired for at least a little while longer.
As one of our final mental well-being exercises, a bit of Web Therapy (anybody else enjoying this Showtime original as much as Mrs. Hans and I are?), if you will, in regard to Thursday's disappointing loss to the Packers in the NFL Back to Football Opener, let's take a look back at my Hot Reads and see how they turned out.
After the jump you'll find each of my Hot Read choices, along with what I said I wanted to see, and then a breakdown of what actually happened, and then my take on what kind of impact it had on the game itself.
Primary Option: Protect Brees
What I'd like to see: With nearly an entire year to work on it, I hope to high heaven that the coaches have come up with something, anything, to help our guys deal with this kind of scheme, because I imagine we'll see it quite a bit this season. I don't know what it'll take to stop it, but I think I'll know it when I see it, or at least know it when I'm NOT seeing it. Good communication, no missed assignments, helping each other out, and crisp/clean center-QB exchanges, would at least be steps in the right direction.
What I actually saw: From the view on my couch, the protection was BARELY OK. Looking at it statistically, the line gave up three sacks and allowed six quarterback hits.
If they give up 3 sacks per game, that projects to 48 for the year, which is waaaay too high for my liking. And further, two of these sacks were very fruitful for the Packers. One of them was on third and two at the Green Bay seven, forcing the Saints to kick a FG (four point swing), another was on third and four and caused the Saints to punt on a three-and-out drive right after the Packers went up 15 in the 4th Quarter, and the other sack came earlier in the game on a second and two, but the Saints were able to convert the third down on the very next play, so no loss there.
But it also seems you could say that the pressure they did bring to Brees did not cause him to melt down and throw four interceptions, but while Brees did have a good statistical night, there were a number of throws that were off-target, so maybe the pressure was effective in some respects.
Other protection notes: The protection was utter crap on the 4th and short play in the Packers red zone. Brees rolled out of the play action into a heap of trouble and barely escaped with an incompletion (as opposed to a strip/sack/crunch fumble TD return)...Jahri Evans did commit a holding penalty (on a play when it looked like he was trying to block two, maybe three Packers at once, so I'm not sure if that's entirely his fault)...Darren Sproles and Jermon Bushrod each badly missed on at least one block that I saw (but I'm not sure if these led to sacks or QB hits or what).
Impact on the game: As I said above, I consider the performance to be barely ok. It didn't directly cost the Saints the game, but if they had played better, they might have won.
What I'd like to see: A blowout in which we take a huge lead early so that it just doesn't matter how Kasay performs. But since I don't really see that as happening, I'll settle for a game in which he gets and succeeds on a couple of mid- to short-range opportunities, and hits all the XPs (putting us on the good side of any of those low-scoring outcomes I listed above).
What I actually saw: Exactly what I asked for (except for the huge Saints blowout) -Kasay had a perfect night in which he did everything that they asked him to do, which while not much (4 XPs, 30- and 38-yard FGs), considering his debut against the Titans, should be considered a roaring success. It didn't seem to me that Payton had to alter his game plan to avoid attempting a long FG, so that was good, too.
Impact on the game: Kasay's kicks kept the Saints right in the game, and he definitely did not lose the game.
Checkdown # 2: Balanced Offense
What I'd like to see: That's all good and well, Hans, but just what in the hell does that mean? The Saints need to be strong in running, able to convert that third-and-short on the ground so the Packers can't just jam the TEs and WRs and disrupt that quick pass to stop a drive, and late in the game if the Saints need a grind-it-out, clock-consuming drive. On the other hand, the Saints also need to have the passing game viable at the mid- and long-range levels to bail them out in case they get into the occasional second- or third- and long, for simple variety of attack, and to help open up the running game. (I feel like this needs more here, but I just can't quite formulate it coherently right now, so maybe someone who agrees can help with more explanation in the comment section.)
What I actually saw: Straight-up huge discrepancies between the passing and running game in certain statistics - almost 4:1 ratios - not even close to even balance. 20 passing first downs to five rushing, 396 passing yards to 80 rushing yards, 49 pass plays to 21 rushing plays. The only balance was rushing yards per half: 37-44. Whoop-dee-freaking-doo.
Even using my qualification of just being able to run it when you need to and just enough to keep the defense honest didn't help. There were some decent rushes spread throughout the game, but the Saints could not convert many short-yardage runs when needed (two second half examples: Ingram ran for no gain on 3rd and 1 in the red zone, followed by Brees's incompletion on 4th down; and then we all saw what happened on the untimed down at the end of the game), and the running game was far from effective, reliable, and consistent.
The only bright spot was the opening drive of the third quarter. Five of the first seven plays were Ingram rushes for a total of 26 yards and two first downs. Nice! But beyond that, the rushing game brought almost nothing to the table.
Impact on the game: To put it plainly, it cost the Saints the game. The lack of a rushing game forced the Saints to be one-dimensional on offense - 49 attempts is too many and this puts Brees at severely heightened risk of injury when he has to throw that much. Also, converting on both of those second half short-yardage opportunities listed above would have won the game for the Saints, and succeeding on just one of those would have tied the score (or cut the Packer lead to one). The rushing game had two chances in the second half to bail out the terrible defensive showing, but it failed.
Safety Valve: Field Position
What I'd like to see: These new guys need to cover the actual kicks well, bring down the return men hastily, and not commit penalties in order to keep Green Bay far from the end zone at the start of each drive. Morstead will also need to kick it well. Lots of touchbacks and fair catches would be nice.
On the flip side, those same guys need to block well on returns to allow Courtney Roby and Darren Sproles to make clean catches, run straight ahead while following the blocking schemes in place, and hang on to the ball when they get hit, giving our team better field position.
What I actually saw: Barely decent overall performance (considering the big picture).
The Packers only had three returns in the whole game, and while one of them did go for a 108-yard touchdown (the Saints cancelled it out with a TD return of their own, so that's a wash), the other two were nothing special. One of them was the 27-yard KO return on the opening drive for the Packers (and the way their offense was clicking, they could have started that drive from anywhere on the field and they would have scored a TD), and the other was a 5-yard return what would have been a 31-yard return if the Packers hadn't committed a penalty on it (and on that drive, the Packers burned off almost five minutes of the clock in the 4th, but did not get any points). Three returns, one of which went for a TD, and the other two provided not good, but not bad field position.
The Saints had five returns in the game: one was the Sproles 72-yard TD, one was a 57-yard kickoff return that jump-started a 3-play TD drive, one was a 19-yard KO return to the Saints 19 that led to a FG, one was a 20-yard punt return to the Green Bay 49-yard line that we wasted (ended in the 4th down red zone incompletion), and one was a seven-yard Jed Collins return to the Saints 26 (this was the "we're NOT kicking it to Sproles again" kick), that led to a three-and-out by the Saints. Five returns, two that contributed significantly to TDs, two that were neither here nor there, and one that we totally wasted.
Impact on the game: I've done the math a number of different ways, and it always seems to come out as a "no advantage" final rating. The Saints had two good returns that led to TDs, and another that gave them a great starting point, while the Packers had only one of those. So, they win that one easily, right? But the Saints completely choked on one drive that started at the Green Bay 49 and got nothing, and if you consider the fact that the Packers turned this 4th down failure into a long TD drive of their own, it was actually a 14-point failure. Holy crap, this assignment was more difficult than I thought it'd be. My gut and stat study tell me that field position didn't cause a make-or-break difference or clear advantage for either side in the long run.
* * *
Alrighty, then. There's my first installment of analyzing and assessing my Hot Reads. Jump in below and give me your thoughts on them. Maybe I drew the wrong conclusions, and maybe I missed key points of the game. Maybe I was right on like Donkey Kong. Fire away!
Today you get your links as a mid-day presentation, while I take the early afternoon to complete the HansDat's Hot Reads analysis follow-up to get that up for you later today (Pre-reply: TWSS).
The Saints players lifted weights, looked at film, and got injury treatment yesterday. They are off today and tomorrow (so lots of navel-gazing tweets are sure to ensue), then will have a light day Monday before being off again Tuesday before jumping into Da Bears preparations on Wednesday as they get back on a normal game-week schedule.
JonVilma51 24hr rule...time to move on and get ready for them bears!
hakimdropsball "@DangerGuerrero: Under no circumstances -- EVER -- should anyone watch 'Stepmom' on a Saturday morning." or any day for that matter.
MalcolmJenkins Morning tweeps! Remember if you are in the Greater New Orleans area including Northshore, Houma, and Thibodaux stop by@Raising_Canes today!
MalcolmJenkins When you mention The Malcolm Jenkins Foundation 15% of your purchase will be donated to help underprivileged youth! Please come support!
ChaseDaniel Proud of my Mizzou Tigers regardless of the outcome last night! James Franklin with 403 total yards and 3 TD's...he was an absolute warrior.
Still confident in ‘D’ | The Advocate Brett Martel - Sean Payton remains confident in the moves the Saints have made to improve their defense, even if he wasn’t particularly happy with the nearly 400 yards and five touchdowns the unit gave up in a season-opening loss at Green Bay.
Report: Colston out four weeks with broken collarbone | nfl.com Saints WR Marques Colston could miss significant time after suffering a broken collarbone in a loss to Green Bay Thursday night. HansDat note: Glazer with the scoop...again. I think he and Payton have something going - maybe a short guy's gentlemen's agreement?
When you look back on this game it's hard to blame the offense for this loss. Yes, you can look back and criticize two plays that had a critical impact on the game. Whether they were poor play calls or poor execution, the 4th and half a yard play and the last play of the game were the two things that stick out. Had they turned out better the outcome of the game could have been different.
Make no mistake though, the Saints put up 34 points on the road against an extremely good defense despite the fact that they were turned one dimensional because they were playing from behind the entire game. The two-minute drill at the end of the game was run flawlessly and you have to give huge kudos to Brees for putting his team in a position to possibly tie the game. The fact that they even got in that position was a miracle.
I present you our very first grades of the season, hope you enjoy. Remember, the letter grade represents the player's performance for that game, whereas the GPA behind it represents the cumulative effort for the season. For now, the GPAs will match the letter grade because this was the first game, but that will change as the season progresses. As always, your comments are encouraged and appreciated.
Drew Brees: A+ (4.33) I can nit pick and find some decision Brees made that I didn't love, but overall he played a fantastic game. Despite getting rocked numerous times after he got rid of the ball, Brees continually put on a clinic out there. There were two plays where I would have liked to see the ball come out and he didn't let it rip. Instead, on those two plays, he ended up getting sacked once and throwing the ball away on the 4th down play. Those were negative plays that hurt the outcome. Still, how can you possibly blame Brees for this loss? He was 32 of 49 for 419 yards, and 3 touchdowns. No turnovers, too. And if the run game bails him out on that last play, is there any question in your mind he comes back and gets the two point conversion? I don't really think he could have played much better, though he was fortunate on a few poor throws that could have been intercepted. Still, he really did play a magnificent game and it was great to see him rebound from a "down year" last season.
Mark Ingram: C (2.00) It's really too bad he got stuffed on the last play of the game for no gain because overall I saw some good things from him. He ran hard to the hole and showed some good things out there. He had more than double any other Saints' rusher in terms of carries and finished with 13 carries for 40 yards. While a 3.1 yard average won't blow anyone's mind he showed some physical running and potential out there.
Pierre Thomas: B+ (3.33) This was classic Pierre Thomas. He finished off runs the way he always does and he was incredibly slippery and hard to tackle. Arm tackles were not bringing him down. He finished with 5 carries for 31 yards and 4 catches for 37 yards. He really made the most of his touches and I hope to see the ball in his hands more next week. Maybe the Saints are slowly working him back into the groove with his still fragile ankle.
Darren Sproles: A (4.00) I probably give him an A+ if it wasn't for his poor pass blocking. He whiffed badly on a blitz that got Brees sacked and drilled pretty hard. Outside of that, he was explosive, quick, terrific in open space, and everything we all hoped Reggie Bush could be consistently. If this guy can duplicate a performance like this one with any sort of consistency, this offense looks terrifying to anyone. He had just 2 carries for 7 yards, but did most of his damage catching the ball and on special teams. He had a whooping 7 catches for 75 yards (!!) including a big time 36 yarder early in the game on a 3rd down conversion to bring the Saints team to life. He also ripped off a 57 yard kickoff return, a 20 yard punt return, and a 72 yard return he brought to the house. This guy had a special game and the Saints are lucky to have him. I already take him over Bush any day after seeing one game.
Jed Collins: C (2.00) He alternated the very good and the not so good. I did see him destroy Charles Woodson on a corner blitz off the edge once which was awesome to see. He did have some nice collisions at the point of attack to open up lanes for Ingram mostly. His lead block on the last play of the game was terrible, though. I think he missed short yardage blocks that could have made a difference.
Marques Colston: C- (1.67) He had a couple drops but if you look at his stats he had a respectable effort: 6 catches for 81 yards. The catch he made down the seam on the final drive was an incredible grab reminiscent of vintage Colston. In the end he could never get out of the shadow of that first fumble he made on the Saints' opening drive. That handed the Packers a 14-0 lead right from the get go and the Saints could never come back from it. That fumble was a back breaker and he's got to do a better job of securing the football. That was a bad mistake.
Devery Henderson: A (4.00) I can't really criticize anything he did in this game. Out of nowhere, Henderson turned into a reliable medium range receiver. I will say his speed isn't what it used to be. I saw Charles Woodson and another corner run step for step with him down the sideline. He did get separation thanks to a nice move on his touchdown reception, but overall I just don't see the explosive straight line speed from him anymore. That said, he's made up for that with better hands, strength and route running. The guy has improved all other areas of his game as he's aged. He used to be incredibly fast and not good at anything else, and now he looks like a complete receiver out there with decent speed. I was proud of him and he laid to rest the critics that say he should be cut at least temporarily. He was sure handed and finished with 6 catches for 100 yards even and a touchdown.
Robert Meachem: B+ (3.33) He had an atrocious drop early in the game but came back later on that drive and made a 31 yard touchdown reception that was just an unbelievable catch. He finished with 5 receptions for 70 yards and a touchdown. He went vertical, he made a couple plays underneath, and overall I thought he played a pretty good game. I think there's a couple drops he wishes he had back, though.
Jimmy Graham: B (3.00) He was a little quieter than I'd hoped and the Packers did a great job of containing him. I will say I was overall pretty impressed with his blocking, and he showed great hands. He didn't get very good separation so his route running needs work. He finished with 4 catches for 56 yards and a touchdown late to keep the Saints close. I expect bigger and better things from him as the season progresses.
David Thomas: D+ (1.33) His blocking, which is supposed to be his forte, got eaten alive in this game. The one pass attempt to him was poor timing with Brees and he showed poor awareness of the ball in the air. He didn't contribute much to the offense at all.
Jermon Bushrod: B- (2.67) I've been hearing many people trash his performance, and yes, we can all point out the 3-4 plays where he was victimized, but overall I thought he played a fairly clean game. His protection by and large was solid and he got nice push off the line of scrimmage. No one is into crucifying Bushrod when he plays poorly more than me, trust me, but I thought he held his own out there. He was left out on an island with Strief struggling and he did well for the most part. I'm not going to pretend he was flawless or awesome, he wasn't, but he got the job done.
Carl Nicks: C+ (2.33) There were plays were he was his usual mammoth self out there getting big time push off the line, and there were times he really didn't do well. He had his hands full with B.J. Raji, no doubt about it. That guy is every bit as good as advertised and an absolute beast. I've never seen a guy give Nicks that kind of trouble in the trenches. Still, kudos to Nicks, he battled and did some nice things.
Olin Kreutz: C- (1.67) Am I the only one that thinks this guy seems incredibly light in the pads for an interior lineman? Maybe standing next to Jahri Evans and Carl Nicks dwarfs him unfairly. I just didn't see what all the praise is all about. Maybe the guy is washed up. Twice he was slow to rotate over on simple and basic pass protection schemes and that got Brees in trouble. On running plays he had very little push whatsoever. I'm going to tell you guys right now, the guy I saw out there didn't have the lateral quickness nor the strength of Jonathan Goodwin. I wasn't impressed. Hopefully he turns it around. The Saints did have a ton of snaps out of the shotgun and all his snaps were perfect, so I will give him that.
Jahri Evans: B- (2.67) I'd say he was the best offensive lineman overall on the day for the Saints, but he got distracted too often trying to help Strief. He also got flagged yet again for holding, which is becoming his trademark calling card. I saw the tape on that flag and there was no doubt about it, a blatant hold. He did have a really nice pull on a swing play to Sproles getting over to chip Clay Matthews Jr. which allowed Sproles to make the sidelines and turn the play into a first down. I thought he was solid in pass protection and he gave Brees a clean pocket to step into. He didn't have that initial surge push like Nicks on running plays, though.
Zach Strief: D+ (1.33) He was positively abused by Clay Matthews Jr. on pass rushing downs and it was painful to watch. Luckily Brees got rid of the ball so fast for the most part it wasn't a factor, but that didn't stop Brees from getting lit up like a Christmas tree as he released the ball a few times. Payton, to his credit, picked up on that quick because on the next series I saw Charles Brown, Big Jahri, Pierre Thomas, Jed Collins and Jimmy Graham all taking turns chipping or double teaming to Strief's side. On running plays the Saints couldn't take advantage of his size because he was too slow to his blocks. Hopefully he'll get better matchups as the season progresses.
Charles Brown: B (3.00) He didn't play much but when he came in I thought he was good. I think he maybe deserves a shot to start if Strief has another couple spotty starts. He was the 3rd tight end on blocking downs and he helped Strief out in pass protection a couple time and his size off the edge was a welcomed help.
Forecast: Saints fans, don't panic just yet | wwltv.com New Orleans Ralph Malbrough / Contributing Writer To all the people who think Sean Payton made the wrong play calls when the Saints were in third and fourth short yardage situations, I agree with you. He should have thought outside the box.
Aaron Rodgers, Green Bay Packers picked up where they left off - Peter King - SI.com GREEN BAY -- "Do we play some of the most dramatic games in NFL history?!'' Greg Jennings said to me on Lambeau Field Thursday night, still short of breath from the end of Packers 42, Saints 34. I should think so. Let's try to make sense of the 10th Thursday night opener, the best one since the league went to the new concept in 2002:
NFL season jumpstarts the economy - Other Sports - MiamiHerald.com When the NFL and players struck a deal to end the league's lockout, they didn't just save the football season that begins its first full day of games on Sunday. They saved the most profitable sport in America, the most popular show on TV and billions of dollars that would have disappeared from the economy.
"From a scheduling standpoint, today is much like a day after for our players in that we’re watching tape, lifting weights, and going through the game tape and getting it graded and critiqued. They’ll be off the next two days. Monday we’ll have a light practice that will be closed. Tuesday will be their normal day off and then Wednesday will be the first day we’re back with the normal routine of a work week. Like I said afterwards yesterday, it’s disappointing any time you lose a game, even that much more so when you get close there in the end and you have an opportunity to get back in it. A handful of things statistically going into that game we felt were going to be important. The turnover ratio we thought was going to be important. We talked about that all week. Those red zone trips with the way that game unfolded, obviously it was a high-scoring game. We weren’t as efficient in those situations having to settle for field goals and then coming up short on a fourth-and-one. Lastly, protecting the quarterback. Both teams threw the ball and had success throwing it. I thought we were under more duress throughout the night than Green Bay was. There are a lot of little things that we’re going to get busy working on that we have to clean up and we’re going to have to make a lot of improvement from the first game to the next game. We’ll have some time to do that."
How do you and Gregg Williams plan to address some of the struggles on defense?
"You really get back to the details and fundamentals. There are a lot of things to work on and I mentioned at the onset here – alignments, the proper fits, those things are no different than offensively where we didn’t have success or we came up short. The kicking game as well, we had a big return last night which really gave us a good boost and kind of got us back in it, and then we gave up a return on kick coverage later in the game. There’s a lot we have to do and certainly defensively that’s part of it. We saw one of the better offenses and when we needed the stops late in the game we got them. That’s kind of the way last night’s game unfolded. You have ideas of what you’d like to have happened, and yet you have to be flexible enough to understand what’s actually taking place. We’ll get back to working on all the fundamentals and the little things."
On the last handoff to Mark Ingram, what did the film show you?
"It’s a goal line play. It’s a pretty standard play. It’s a slant, 32 blast. They were in their goal line defense and we didn’t execute like we had hoped. There were a lot of things that were done well there and yet we came up short. Green Bay made the play and we didn’t."
It appeared that Green Bay may have not necessarily known the play, but anticipated it coming. Is there a pattern that teams are seeing in red zone situations?
"No, I don’t think so. I think we look very closely at it. When you get into a goal line situation on the one yard line, there are two or three runs that you’re going to run. So to answer your question, no."
Earlier in the game you went with pass plays on fourth and short. How much did that affect your decision to go with the run at the end?
"There are two different situations. When you’re on the one yard line in goal line offense, there are a handful of run versus the front that they play, two or three runs, and then it’s play action pass. We felt pretty good about our matchups inside. Looking back at the tape, those guys inside did a really good job for us. The penetration came from outside which really ended up stopping the play. The fourth-and-one, you have a lot more flexibility as to a number of different plays you’d want to call. We felt like at the one-yard line, this was a chance for us to punch it in, we felt good about the play and I think collectively our group felt pretty good about it."
What do you tell your team after a game like that besides, "Hey, it’s a tough loss, but it’s just game one?"
"I think the most important thing we have to do is certainly pay close attention to the film and make that improvement from week one to two and really find ourselves pretty critical of what we do. That’s not just the defense or offense or kicking game, it’s us as coaches looking closely at the tape and really evaluating that loss as hard as that is and getting ready to play next week."
Defensively, the broadcast showed how far of the cornerbacks were playing the wide receivers. What were your thoughts on that alignment?
"It varies whether we play off or whether we play bump-and-run or whether we play a cloud with safety help over the top. A lot of it varies with the defense we have called and a lot of it varies depending on the situation in the game. Oftentimes, there’s going to be an underneath throw. Sometimes you’re going to have safety help, other times you’re not going to. They did a good job of executing some of those back shoulder throws especially in the red area on third down. I think the key component is just having a mix and making sure that we continue to do that and Gregg (Williams) and those guys do a good job with that."
"He came up big. The touchdown pass was a little slow go route. He caught the corner flat-footed. He did a good job with his release and Drew (Brees) did a real good job with locating the throw. It ended up being a big play for us and he had some other big catches in that game. It’s kind of the nature with our business. You’re rarely going to be fully healthy and you’re going to have to count on other players to step up and play big. Darren Sproles obviously played very big in a lot of areas last night. Those are good things to look at and it’s good to see when you have that depth."
What were some positives you saw from the defensive front?
"We had some young guys get some playing time for the first time and getting a lot of reps. Cameron Jordan got a lot of snaps in his debut and Turk McBride, a lot of those younger guys were in there and playing with real good energy and effort. Jeff Charleston coming off the injury he had a couple weeks prior. Junior Galette, those are guys without a lot of playing experience that received a lot of snaps and I think that’s going to benefit them as we go down the road in the schedule. As a coach, you’re always anxious to see how your young guys are going to play and perform. Those guys did some real good things last night."
Do you think Charles Woodson should have been tossed for his personal foul?
"We don’t get the same looks that you guys do in regards to the visuals. I’ve only heard it. In hindsight, there is a protocol that’s supposedly followed and obviously it wasn’t last night."
Do you have a main concern about the defense?
"I wouldn’t point to one area. We played what we feel like is a really good football team last night. We feel like we’re a really good football team. I think the most important concern that I have as a head coach is just in the things that we can control between now and next week in that improvement, our work, week, and when we get back together on Monday putting a good practice together, having a plan in place to get ready for the Chicago Bears. Obviously we have some younger players playing on both sides of the ball and in the kicking game there’s a learning curve that goes with that, but I think just the improvement – making sure that from week to week we’re getting better not just as a defense but as an offense and as a team."
On Randall Cobb’s kickoff return, were your guys surprised that he returned it from eight yards deep in the end zone?
"Looking at it, that really wasn’t the culprit. He made a great play and there were some missed tackles in there and some mistakes by us in coverage, not fitting the right lane, and then giving him what should have been a decent gain to a touchdown. I do know that there wasn’t any letup because the ball went into the end zone."
Did you use Darren Sproles the way you expected to?
"We felt like we were going to get a returner and certainly we saw that last night, but we also felt like we were going to get someone who would help us out in the passing game and the running game. He has great versatility, he’s smart, and he’s awfully competitive. He’s been a great addition to what we do as a team and he helps us out not just offensively, but he helps us out in the kicking game and I think he’s someone that’s very well-respected in the locker room. It’s great to see him play well early."
With the changes on the interior defensive line, is it matching up to what you expected?
"I wouldn’t want to, after week one, start evaluating or making grades or measuring up grades on what guys are doing. We have a lot of football ahead of us and we feel really good about the players we’ve acquired. Obviously it’s always disappointing the day after a tough loss, but that’s kind of where we are at. We’re paying close attention to the film, we’re going to make the corrections and work hard to make today productive and then Monday get ourselves ready to start with the Chicago Bears week."
Was it an easy decision to sit Lance Moore?
"We kind of knew before the plane was going to leave. The nature of his injury was one that we felt collectively that a setback would be one that you almost start all over again with the type of injury he has. I don’t know if he was close. We listed him out at the end. He practiced the first day of last week and then it was just a matter of trying to day-to-day see where he was at but I think in the end all of us felt pretty comfortable with it."
Did Marques Colston get hurt on that last play?
"It was the second to last play. All of these guys were in here today getting treatment. We had two or three guys with specific injuries. Wednesday we will give you the first injury report in the afternoon."
t seems like anytime a receiver goes down, someone steps up. Can you talk about Devery Henderson’s performance? "Devery played great. Devery played awesome. Because we are one short with Lance (Moore) being out, they all had to pick up the slack anyway and I thought all of them had some pretty gutsy performances and played a lot of snaps because we were in a lot of nickel, three wideout formations. They received a lot of snaps and thought as a whole, they played well."
On the untimed down on fourth and one at the end of the game, did it appear that the Packers knew what was coming? "They guessed right on the fourth and six inches we had in the fourth quarter and obviously we tried to fool them with play action passes. We had it covered on fourth down at the end of the game with a chance to tie it. They got a very good push. Clay Matthews, one of their best players on defense, did a great job of kind of splitting his gap and holding up (Mark) Ingram, while the other linebackers were able to jump over the top. There were a couple of things there where if you had better execution you would have put it in the end zone. We scored on that play many times. What’s to think you’re not going to do it then?"
How did Zach Strief handle his challenge? "I thought he did great facing one of the best pass rushers in the league on that side in Clay Matthews. Strief’s one of those guys where it might have been his first game as a full-time starter now, but he’s a guy who the last five years has stepped in whenever, wherever and has really done a great job and has been just kind of been biding time waiting for his opportunity. He’s definitely making the most of it. I have total trust and confidence in him, not even a thought in my mind as to who that pass rusher is over there."
Can you talk about the one minute offense you ran with no timeouts? "Obviously, 1:08, no timeouts, you need to move the ball 80 yards to score a touchdown, you really don’t want to be in bounds unless it’s a big chunk. So we’re trying to get out of bounds. We get out of bounds on ten yard plays on the first two plays. (Robert) Meachem gets a 20-yard gain and Marques (Colston) gets a 25-30-yard gain and then (Darren) Sproles gets another ten-yard gain. We’re sitting there with a chance to tie the game and get in the end zone. Obviously we get the P.I. (pass interference) penalty and we get the untimed play at the one. One down, this is it, last play of the game, as far as it is, no time left. You couldn’t ask for any more than that with a chance to send the game into overtime."
What did you think of Jimmy Graham’s championship pose? "I saw it watching film today."
Did you have a talk with him about it? "No, this is a game with emotion and that stuff happens all the time. Teams come in and try to do that stuff to us. Occasionally that stuff comes out when guys are in the heat of the moment. I don’t think he meant any disrespect by it, but what I think he was saying is we’re champions too and we’re going to find a way to come back and win this game and come really close."
Did you see the shot from Charles Woodson on David Thomas? "I was right there. It was an obvious punch. I’m surprised he didn’t get kicked out of the game, because the referee saw it and threw the flag. A lot of people saw it. He thought he was being sneaky with it. Dave’s one of those guys who’s to the whistle. He blocks a lot of guys, blocks them well. Guys get frustrated sometime and want to take it out on him. We’ll take 15 yards every time."
Despite some short yardage issue, does going blow to blow with the defending champs show that this is two heavyweights fighting it out? "The tough part is no matter who you play, you look at the won-loss record and we’re 0-1 right now. That leaves a bad taste in your mouth. Yes, they’re a great football team, probably one of the best, obviously not only what they did last year, but coming into this year I think. They’re one of those teams everybody’s predicting to make a serious run at it in the NFC, but we feel we’re that team as well. Going on the road, first game of the season where both sides have been saving it up for each other you know it was going to be a crazy game. It very well could have been a 17-14 defensive matchup, because there are two great defenses in this game. Instead it ended up being a shootout. I hope we get another opportunity down the road this year to play these guys. Obviously there are a lot of games left. They have a lot of work to do. We have a lot of work to do, but it hurts that we lost, but you see a lot of good things on that tape. You also see a lot of things that we have to correct in order to accomplish what we want to accomplish later on. I think all in all you come away saying you can build on that."
What do you take from this game and bring to Chicago? "I thought we ran the ball pretty well. They were having trouble getting lined up a little bit and I thought our guys did a great job of figuring who to block. The running backs all played very well when given their opportunities. That was really encouraging. In the passing game, I felt like we got a lot of big plays. We picked up a lot of the pressure. We were able to push the ball down the field and really got everybody involved. As I looked to us offensively, we played a really solid game with the exception of the one turnover that gave them seven points in the first quarter and the red zone efficiency. But other than that, when you walk away from a game with 500 yards total offense from one of the best teams in the league on the road, you have to feel pretty good about the direction we’re headed."
Did Darren Sproles give opponents a lot of smile about? "I’m smiling because I know Sprolesie. I was in San Diego when we drafted him, I watched his career, so I know what this guy can do. I was one of his biggest proponents to come here and be a part of this, because I think he fits in great with this offense. I see his role continuing to flourish in this offense. Is he going to return a punt for a touchdown every week? Maybe not, but gosh you feel like if you can get that guy in the open field, he makes it exciting. He gives defenses something to worry about."
What did you think of his yards per touch? "He had over 250 yards including return yardage, but offensively he ran the ball well. He was our leading receiver with seven catches."
Jay Glazer of Fox Sports has just reported that Saints wide receiver Marques Colston will miss approximately 4 weeks of the season with a broken collarbone, which he suffered late in last night's loss to the Green Bay Packers. From Glazer's Twitter:
M Colston broke his collarbone and will be out approx 4 weeks! Tough loss
That's crappy news. Fortunately the Saints are deep at wide receiver. We know they can be successful without Colston but it sure helps to have him in the lineup.
Colston has always had to take those tough hits on passes caught over the middle and in traffic. Last night was certainly no different.
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