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My takeaways from the New Orleans Saints’ 36-7 win against the Los Angeles Chargers on Saturday night at the StubHub Center:

1. Defensive reserves dominate
The Saints second- and third-team defense dominated counterparts once the starters exited the game. Neither of the Chargers’ backup quarterbacks, Geno Smith nor Cardale Jones, was able to muster much offense against the aggressive Saints defense. The Chargers first-team offense gained 101 yards and seven first downs in their only two series of work. Meanwhile, the Chargers backups managed to gain just 71 yards on their ensuing six offensive possessions. The Saints limited the Chargers to one first down and 8 yards of total offense in seven plays during Jones’ two first-half series. Cornerback Marcus Williams provided the highlight of the night with a 58-yard interception return for a touchdown in the fourth quarter.



2. Taysom Hill shows off his multiple talents
Reserve quarterback Taysom Hill made plays in just about every way. He scored the Saints’ second touchdown on an 11-yard run and added the two-point conversion on a read-option run. Earlier, he helped jump-start the first-team offense by gaining 5 yards on a fake punt to pick up the Saints' first first down. The conversion helped set up the Saints' first touchdown. On the ensuing kickoff, Hill was on the coverage team and tackled Desmond King at the Chargers' 17-yard line after a 19-yard return. For good measure, he completed 7 of 8 passes for 66 yards, including a 5-yarder to Tre'Quan Smith for the Saints' final touchdown. I jokingly refer to Hill as the modern-day Jim Thorpe but it’s easy to see why Saints coaches are so enamored with him. Hill has rare athleticism for a quarterback and is a bona fide weapon as a holder and up back on special teams.



3. Rookie makes favorable impression
Marcus Davenport showed well in his NFL debut. He opened eyes with an impressive open-field tackle on a jet sweep by Travis Benjamin. He also showed excellent burst off the edge in passing situations. The rookie defensive end was credited with three tackles, a half-sack, a tackle for a loss and a quarterback hit in an active half of work. All things considered, the Saints couldn’t have asked for much more from their first-round pick in his first NFL action.



5. Austin Carr, Tommylee Lewis make their cases
Austin Carr and Tommylee Lewis are squarely on the roster bubble and it appeared the Saints coaches wanted to take a long look at each of them in his game. Carr played extensively in the first half and led the Saints with three catches for 38 yards, including a 29-yard reception. Lewis made a nice grab to complete a 36-yard catch and run in the second quarter. He finished with 45 receiving yards and 7 rushing yards on a jet sweep. Carr and Lewis are competing for the reserve receiver spots behind Michael Thomas, Ted Ginn Jr., Cam Meredith and Tre’Quan Smith and both helped themselves with their performances on Saturday night. This competition will go down to the wire.



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SmashMouth

The New Orleans Saints looked like a team on the cutting edge of football strategy on Saturday night against the Los Angeles Chargers.

New Orleans went for two after all four touchdowns, limiting kicker Wil Lutz's night to two made field goals in the second quarter.

But that does not mean Sean Payton is planning to revolutionize football by going for two after every score in the regular season.

For the Saints, the preseason is about evaluation, and although it wasn't part of the game plan going into Saturday night, Payton chose to get a few more looks at players competing for roles against Los Angeles than a kicker he already trusts.

"I felt like just getting some work, changing up some looks, run and pass," Payton said. "You're trying to get snaps for the quarterbacks, which we're trying to do here, there's just more opportunities to look at that position, more opportunities to look at the running back position, just more snaps to evaluate."

Lutz, headed into his third season in the NFL, has been perfect on all kicks in the preseason so far.

"I'm confident enough with our PAT operation," Payton said.

New Orleans scored on three of its four conversion attempts. Drew Brees hit Michael Thomas on a tunnel screen for the first, Taysom Hill kept the ball on a zone read to convert the second and rookie Boston Scott powered in the third, although Jonathan Williams failed to make it a perfect night after the fourth touchdown.

Going for the two also gave the Saints a chance to work on a situation that could help them win a game once the regular season begins.

"There's certainly a time and a place to go for two," Hill said. "I can go back to last season, when we're playing the Washington Redskins and we need a big two-point conversion, so that was a ton of really good practice."

Saints going for 2

RailBoss

Rugby Saint II

Saturdays game left me with a good feeling all week long..............