Cajun Cannon Reporting
Well, Who Dats, Coach Payton said in his comments that you can’t sugar-coat the performance of the Saints against the Texans. I have to agree. This was embarrassing, at best. And, “embarrassing” might be an understatement.
This was very humbling. It should show Coach Payton and the team that they have a ways to go before they open the season with Green Bay. They could face a similar challenge on opening day. Texas has one of the best offenses…man, what do you think is going to happen when you're facing the Packers?
I’ll tell you, what I was so disheartened by from the beginning of the game was the play of the defense. When you look at it, this primarily was our starters. Yeah, I know, “it’s just preseason,” but these are familiar names that are going to be playing on Sundays! It really makes you think, “Man, you gotta wonder..”
I mean, come on... The first-team Texans offense averaged 14.2 yards per attempt in the first ten plays to start the game 14 freaking yards? That's way beyond a first down!
Now, if you look at the first couple of quarters, think about how crazy this was...The Saints defense gave up 142 yards rushing in the FIRST HALF! Houston got 208 total rushing for the game, which is also ridiculous. 323 total net yards in the first half for Houston, and an average of 10.1 yards per rush! When you look at the Texans, you can see it was a balanced attack: 228 yards passing, and 208 yards rushing. It was extremely disappointing.
We started off the game pretty good, with Drew driving down the field, only to result in a turnover.. He’s really got to protect the football. When Antonio Smith hit him, it looks like they had a stunt from the left side, and Smith came free and knocked the ball out of Drew's hands. It looked like some mis-communication between Drew and Lance Moore on the play.
In the long haul, you're not going to beat someone with a -3 turnover ratio. You have to protect the ball, and you have to create turnovers. Overall, we're -1 in the preseason. And, I've said this before: In the Super Bowl season, we were +11 in the takeaway/giveaway ratio.
A few bright spots...Obviously, Joseph Morgan again, getting a 56 yard TD pass from Chase Daniel. That was very explosive, with the Saints going 3 plays for 80 yards to get back into the game. It pulled the Saints to within 3 points, 17-14, but realistically, we were never in the game. Our defense just couldn’t stop the Texans.
Another bright spot: In the running game, Pierre Thomas with 5.5 yard average per carry. Darren Sproles had some flashes, with three carries for 24 yards…But he still had one or two dropped passes. And, Joseph Morgan continues to stand out, with that one 56-yard reception.
In the area of kick return Courtney Roby looked great, averaging 30 yards per return. 25 yards per return is getting it done, and Joseph Morgan also had a 26-yard return. They’ve spent extra time on special teams during camp.
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Bobby Hebert On Saints/Houston: ''Embarrassing'' - WWL - AM870 | FM105.3 | News | Talk | Sports