foreverfan

Great game….My grades for the game.

Overall Offense Grade “B+� - Loved the fact that we controlled the line of scrimmage and that Brees wasn’t sacked all day. We didn’t have the usual stupid penalties that are drive killers and the WRs held on to the ball. The offense would have gotten a A if we could have gotten more scores in the red zone. We will need to fix this to beat better teams.

QB – Drew Brees Grade “B� – Not a bad performance for the season opener. He looked like he is missing some zip on the out patterns but with us seeing Brooks for 4+ years, anybody would look weaker. Still, Brees strengths are in his ability to see the field and not make the stupid mistake that can cost you the game.

OL – Grade “A� - Gave Brees great protection and created running lanes for Bush and Deuce. Hardly any penalties and really controlled the line. It’s hard to point to anyone player that excelled because the whole unit played together and looked very good. Brees was really not hurried and wasn’t sacked in the game.

RB – Grade “B+� – Aside from the injuries, we looked great. Bush shows why he should have selected #1 in the draft and Deuce show no signs of last years injury. Was really impressed how they saw the holes and hit them fast. Both showed power and held on to the ball well. Would have gotten an A but Deuce fumbled and the injuries to the FBs are a major concern.

WR & TE – Grade “B� - Colson showed why he made Stallworth expendable. He played pretty good with a nice TD catch and should be able to hold off Henderson for the #2 spot. I like the fact that he is a big target and doesn’t drop the ball. Horn was almost non existent catching just 2 passes all day with one drop, but it was great not having to rely so heavily upon him for a win. Henderson may have had the best day making a couple of clutch catches. His hands seem to be the most improved thing on the team. As for TE I can see why Hilton didn’t make the team. This team has so many offensive weapons that there not enough footballs to go around. What we really need from this position it blocking and that is what we got today.

Overall Defense Grade “B+� - Thank god Venturi is gone. Personally I blame him for more losses than I ever blamed Brooks for because his defense constantly put us behind early so we had to abandon the running game and put everything on Brooks’s shoulders. It looked like all day we played run defense on the way to QB. Seemed we really had their number. Pass defense looked better and Mike McKenzie finally shook of the preseason blues. Third down defense was fantastic especially stopping them 3 times on third and one.

DL – Grade “A� – Controlled the line of scrimmage all game. Hollis Thomas was constantly getting doubled teamed and the freed up Young to get 3 sacks. These guys really plugged the running lanes too. Will Smith and Charles Grant has outstanding games too. The DL forced 4 sacks and really should have had 3 more if it wasn’t for Frye’s outstanding running ability.You could see the fear in Frye’s eyes especially on the last drive.

LB – Grade “B� - Our LBs were making plays all over the field. Fujita early interception gave the Saint momentum that they held in to the half time locker room. These guys were all over the field making the Saints defense look like a strength. Looks like we won’t be trading for Donnie Edwards any time soon.

CB & S – Grade “B� - McKenzie and Thomas both played good games. Both showed good run support and played tight coverage. The Safety position had great run support. Bullocks had one sack and the 4th quarter interception the ended the game was huge. With the pass rush, our secondary didn’t have to cover for too long and it paid dividends the whole game.

Special Teams - Grade “B� - Karney was the man converting 4 FG. Kick and punt coverage was pretty good and Bush is exicting to watch returning punts. The kick return team was nothing to brag about. Defensively I was impressed with our coverage units because this was a huge weakness the last 2 years under the former coaching staff.

Coaching Grade - “A+� – Payton and all the coaches had the team ready for the opener. The Saints have always had a hard time winning the opener with a former record of only 12 wins. Still, it looks like the player evaluation paid off in training camp and the staff has everyone motivated to play football every down. I thought it was outstanding how they used Bush and Deuce all day. What can you say more than… WOW.

Looking forward to next week… The Saints find themselves on top of the NFC South after week one. Tampa lost bad and the Falcons proved to the rest on the NFL that the Panthers can be beat. In fairness to the Panthers they were playing without one of the best players in the league in Steve Smith.

Pay back time… Last year the Packer owned the Saints and I’m sure there are still enough players on this team that will want to take it to Green Bay. I’m sure we won’t see the ups and downs that seemed to plague the former coaching staff. That said, Green Bay knows that if it starts out 0-2 that the season may be over before it starts. I hope we can put the same pressure on Brett next week because we need to really rattle his cage. Offensively the Saints will have to change their game plan if we cannot get a FB on the field. I heard a rumor that Joseph tore his ACL but it is unconfirmed at this point. Hopefully Karney’s calf injury isn’t serious. We really need to beat the **** out of Green Bay and go into the Monday Night Game against Atlanta and come out 3-0. If we can beat Carolina that their place the following week, all the nation won’t be able to stop talking about us and Peyton may just be on his way to coach of the year.

In the first game the Saint showed two things that kill the bad teams and make the good teams good. They didn’t lose the turnover battle and didn’t kill themselves with stupid mistakes and penalties. If this continues, I look forward to a special season from the dudes in the Black and Gold.

ForEverFan

2019 Death of a Parrot.