blacksaint

Sunday, August 19, 2007
John DeShazier


CINCINNATI -- If Saints' first-teamers have anything left to prove in the upcoming exhibition games, it's hard to know exactly what it is after a second consecutive, near-flawless showing Saturday night against Cincinnati.

Granted, there are two more skirmishes to weather, at least one of which the front-line offense and defense will participate, because three weeks without facing any live opposition wouldn't exactly the best way to prepare for the season opener against Peyton Manning and the Colts on Sept. 6 at Indianapolis.

But we've seen enough to know that not much more is going to be accomplished by the starting units. They're almost as sharp as anyone could hope they'd be right now, given the conditions they're working under.

The second-line guys on offense? They might as well have been wearing tuxedos and twirling parasols for all the good they were in the second quarter against the Bengals in the 27-19 Saints victory at Paul Brown Stadium.

Terrance Copper, who might fill a key role at receiver, lost a fumble to end a drive. Aaron Stecker, who'll be needed at running back if Deuce McAllister or Reggie Bush goes down, lost a ball that was recovered by teammate Mark Campbell. Jamie Martin, on whom the Saints will pin their hopes at quarterback if (heaven forbid) Drew Brees is lost for any amount of time, lost one fumble and had two others that were recovered by teammates.

The defense held and forced field goals after both turnovers, which helped the Saints to a 17-12 halftime lead. That included former LSU receiver Benny Brazell dropping what would have been a touchdown pass for Cincinnati in the back of the end zone with less than a minute remaining.

But if you're looking for negatives, there are plenty, which seem to have Sean Payton and his staff concerned.

"Certain things seemed to go downhill for a while in the second quarter," Payton said.

True, the advice consistently has been to not make too much of what happens in exhibition games, good or bad. Mainly, the games are much ado about nothing, with teams being more interested in exiting with good health than with victory. If they mattered, teams would have real game plans, and starters would play much more than a series or a quarter.

But one of the few things that is of concern is when a team commits turnovers, especially as the Saints have done.

In Stecker's defense, he has been reliable in his Saints career. But Copper had a well-documented problem of securing the ball last season, and Martin, who has played mostly with second-teamers, still has to focus more. Even if the pressure comes from his blind side, even if it is while he's being hit, he needs to better take care of the football.

"We'll get those things cleaned up," said Payton, referring to the collection of problems that occurred while Martin was playing. "The first measure in evaluating a player is, does he know what he has to do? If he doesn't, we won't play him."

Payton remains steadfast in his support of Martin, but there are some who don't know what to make of him. For many outside of the Saints' locker room, Martin has not been convincing in showing he is capable of running the offense successfully. On Saturday, he completed 14 of 19 passes for 139 yards, but he fumbled three times and was sacked three times.

Martin wasn't alone in eliciting some uncertainty Saturday night. Even for a preseason game and even in victory, there wasn't a mountain of praise to be portioned beyond the starters.

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