Saints Grades (Patriots)
 

SAINTS GRADES

Monday, November 21, 2005
Mike Triplett - Times Picyune




OFFENSE -- C+: Those 425 yards look great on paper, and the Saints did not turn the ball over until the final play of the game. But that didn't translate into points. . . . The Saints scored seven points in the first 55 minutes of the game. . . . The Saints' struggles inside opponents' territory continued. They crossed midfield eight times against New England and only scored on three of the possessions. . . . Quarterback Aaron Brooks gave one of his better performances of the season, throwing for 343 yards and that Hail Mary interception despite 50 pass attempts. . . . The running game didn't do much, but it was pretty much abandoned after the Patriots took a 14-0 lead. . . . Penalties were once again a problem, with five of them on offense for 40 yards.

DEFENSE -- C-: This game mirrored almost every defensive effort of the Saints' season. They spent three-fourths of the game in shut-down mode and gave the offense a chance to win in the end. But they gave up one too many back-breaking plays, including back-to-back plays that combined for 91 yards in the third quarter. . . . The Patriots scored their first touchdown on a 16-play, 98-yard drive in the first quarter and took a 14-0 lead early in the second, but Will Smith forced a fumble on a second-quarter sack that started to swing the momentum for the Saints. Smith also was responsible for one of two 15-yard personal-foul penalties by the Saints' defense in the fourth quarter. . . . The Patriots were down to their fourth and fifth options at tailback with Corey Dillon injured, but they still rushed for 132 yards. The Patriots might have gained more than 326 yards if they weren't nursing an early lead.


SPECIAL TEAMS --D: This was one of the worst all-around performances yet for a unit that has struggled all season. It committed three more penalties -- including Terrence Melton's illegal block call on a punt return with less than two minutes remaining that forced the Saints to start their final drive on their 22-yard line. The Saints also had a delay-of-game penalty before John Carney's 25-yard field-goal attempt. Carney then missed the 30-yard attempt to the left. Carney did respond with a 46-yard kick that kept the game within reach in the fourth quarter. . . . Punter Mitch Berger was less consistent than usual in the chilly New England weather, shanking two punts of 25 and 28 yards, but also placing two punts inside the Patriots' seven-yard line.

COACHING -- C: The staff deserves the same credit and criticism as the players. They kept the Saints competitive on the road against the defending Super Bowl champions, but they could not coax the team to come up with key stops when it needed to or find a way to finish off drives. The failure on third-and-one should be blamed at least partly on the play call. Still, the Saints did a better job of adjusting after halftime than they have in recent games. Most important, they continued to show some fire even down by 14 points and mired in a five-game losing streak.



Scoring, stats....
http://www.nola.com/saints/t-p/index...8556240640.xml


8)

I think these grades are a little generous. In my opinion it's a testament to our low expectations that we can be 2-8, with pretty much every area of our team a disgrace, and still seriously grade ourselves a "C". If I recall from college (it was some time ago), a "C" meant average. No one really wanted a "C", and you worked hard to do better. "B" was more in line with an acceptable level. I call our play anything but average. I would call a 4-4 record a perfect "C", average in the league.

Our performance, especially on offense is simply a failure, or if averaged over this year, slightly above an "F" but not good enough for a "D". Defense is pretty bad, but I would give them a solid "D" or "D+" - some games they've even had a moderate "C" (yesterday was not one of them). Special teams are terrible - no way around an "F" for this unit. Coaching I would call a steady "D".

Come to think of it, that's about how I rate that game yesterday.