hagan714

Quick Thoughts On Saints vs Steelers
Posted by David Schexnaydre Jr August 05, 2007 10:11PM

First of all, let's remember it's only pre-season. The Saints looked awful last pre-season as well so it's not time to hit the panic buttons yet. Second of all, hopefully this will quiet down some of the yahoos who are running around talking about the Saints going 16-0. While this is a talented football team, it is also a team that does have some holes.
Positives: No serious injuries
Negatives: Just about everything else

Notes on the Defense
+ The secondary has to improve. This is not debatable. The starters were McKenzie (LCB), Thomas (RCB), Bullocks (FS), and Kaesviharn (SS). None of them played well. The Saints gave up 5 plays of 25 yards or more.
+ Mark Simoneau may not lose his job to Brian Simmons after all. He played well for the 3 series he was in and Coach Payton has said that Simoneau has had the best camp out of everyone so far this year.
+ Jason David has to prove that he can play man-to-man coverage and is not just a "Tampa Two" cornerback. He didn't get on the field until the 4th series of the game with the 2nd unit. Jason Craft was the nickleback with the 1st unit.
+ I did notice on quite a few plays that the defenders were making consistent efforts to strip the ball away from ball carries. While this should create some turnovers, the Saints need to make sure they don't allow this to create bad tackling habits. They did an extremely poor job of tackling against Pittsburgh.

Notes on the Offense
+ Reggie needs to improve his blocking. On third down on the first drive he actually made a block but it was not a good one, and on the next series on 2nd down he completely whiffed on a block.
+ Devery started as the #2 WR. David Patten was the #3 WR. However, on plays when all 3 were in the game together, Devery always lined up in the slot.
+ I really like Terrance Copper. A lot of people were down on him last year because he had fumbling issues but I think he's a solid ballplayer. Between Copper, Devery, and Patten the side of the field opposite Colston will be just fine.
+ A rough night for Robert Meachem. He did record his first catch, but he was popped later in the series (and he actually dropped the ball before he was hit), and then the next time they threw to him he got "alligator arms" and dropped the ball again. He has a long way to go before he can contribute to this football team.
+ With exception of a couple of passes I thought Tyler Palko looked good. Fife didn't look bad either but he doesn't seem comfortable at all. He was very jittery in the pocket.
+ Antonio Pittman made a great block to give Fife a chance to deliver the ball to Dudley for the Saints' only score.
+ Pierre Thomas looked good but roster numbers will make it hard for him to get a spot on the team.
In closing let's keep in mind that the team reported to camp just a few days ago. Normally, they would have another week before having to play a game but because of the Hall of Fame Game they have had an extremely limited amount of practice time leading into their first game. It's still extremely early and there is still a lot of work to do. Let's hope they look better next Friday in the Dome against Buffalo.

Quick Thoughts On Saints vs Steelers - New Orleans Sports Report - David Schexnaydre Jr. - NOLA.com

not to bad of a review.

"We may have lost the game, but you'll be hurting tomorrow." Doug Atkins

Cassady37

I agree with everything you said. Also the Steelers first year head coach was pulling out all the stops for this game. He ran plays on both sides of the ball you normally wouldn't see in a first preseason game. Smart? Only time will tell, but now you've shown everyone in your division a little of what to expect this year. Coupled with the fact of how much the announcers were talking the Steelers up I believe they won't surprise as many people as they would have. Payton is notoriously conservative in preseason.