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METAIRIE, La. — As the days went by this past week, Saints safety Kenny Vaccaro let slip that he would start against the Atlanta Falcons in his first-ever regular season NFL game.

What his lips didn’t let loose was just how extensive his role would be in the Saints’ game plan in shutting down a prolific Falcons offense and sure-fire Hall of Fame tight end Tony Gonzalez.

Vaccaro was one of only four players to see every defensive snap in New Orleans’ 23-17 win. Including his special teams plays, the rookie from Texas saw a total of 67 plays. And he finished with five tackles, second-best on the team.

“He spent a lot of time studying the tape and understood the strengths and weaknesses (of Gonzalez),” Saints coach Sean Payton said. “A guy like that is a veteran player, but I thought he handled that matchup well.”
Did he ever.

Gonzalez has a history of playing big against New Orleans. Including Sunday, he has caught 63 passes for 708 yards and six touchdowns against the Saints with both Kansas City and Atlanta. And two of his biggest days in his career have come against New Orleans – an 11-catch, 122-yard, two-touchdown performance in 2012 and an eight-catch, 110-yard, one-touchdown day in 2010.

But Sunday, with Vaccaro spending time against him, he finished with only three catches for 36 yards and a touchdown. The touchdown wasn’t Vaccaro’s responsibility, either. He was guarding tight end Levine Toilolo.

“I said this way back at the beginning of training camp – he is a player … that is a little more wiser or a little bit more savvy than a lot of rookies in that he is very experienced,” Payton said. “He studies hard, but (he) is someone who knows the game well. It was a good start for him.”

Read more: Vaccaro gaining trust of Saints teammates with strong play in opener | wwltv.com New Orleans

Rugby Saint II

He's gained my trust.

|Mitch|

Kid is a beast!

homerj07

Keep it up kid. We are all rooting for you to be a huge success

Stealthman

Good post.

Vaccaro is a winner, and a gamer!

QBREES9

Kenny, got my game ball.

Beastmode

The two busted plays, Tony's TD and the Jackson run he really didn't have anything to do with. I know it's only one game but you can tell, his attitude is something our D has been missing for a long long time. I actually won't be cringing as much just knowing he's on the field.

SloMotion

... definitely starting off on the right foot, .

cmike

Kid played great. But on the Jackson run, KV was on the end and let Tony man handle him, blocking him out of the play, allowing Jackson to get outside.

Tony's not known for his blocking.

FinSaint

He certainly looked a lot better out there than Malcolm Jenkins did...

I wasn't overtly excited when the Saints picked him as I thought there were still other players on the board with more value, but I do have to admit that Vaccaro has been pretty impressing so far.