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Five takeaways from Saints vs. Vikings
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Preseason football isn’t about the final score, rather it’s part of the evaluation process ahead of the regular season so don't get caught up in the Vikings 34-25 win over the Saints.
With that in mind, the exhibition slate outside of the third game is mostly an opportunity for the Saints’ backups to shine. Friday night’s game between the Saints and Vikings was no different, as starters on both sides of the football began exiting the game after the first or second series. https://bloximages.newyork1.vip.town...ze=1700%2C1079 BRIDGEWATER SHINES Quarterback Drew Brees might have been dressed and participated in the pregame warmups, but Teddy Bridgewater trotted out with the first-team offense once the game started. Bridgewater carried over a strong week of practice during his first series, completing 6 of 7 passes for 43 yards and led the Saints on a scoring drive, which was capped off by Wil Lutz’s 27-yard field goal. Bridgewater would go on to play the first two quarters and looked strong while completing 14 of 19 passes for 134 yards, which included a gorgeous 32-yard deep pass to wide receiver Cyril Grayson, and a touchdown to finish with a 110.4 passer rating. Taysom Hill took over in the second half. REAL McCOY Rookie Erik McCoy continues to make his case to be atop the depth chart, drawing a start with the rest of the first-team offense. He’s clearly coming on and before Friday night’s preseason game, the last time McCoy did not work with the starters was June 29 when Nick Easton lined up at center. It’s now been seven straight practices and the preseason opener with McCoy lined up as a starter. After the first series, the Saints pulled all the starters on the front five except McCoy, who should gain more valuable experience in live action. HARRIS PROVIDES EXPLOSION Rookie wide receiver/returner Deonte Harris showed Friday night why he left college as the NCAA all-division leader in kickoff and punt return touchdowns. Harris missed some practice time during training camp with an undisclosed injury, but he returned with a vengeance with explosive returns. Harris recorded three kickoff returns for 90 yards and had a 23-yard punt return negated by a J.T. Gray holding penalty. MURRAY FLASHES CATCHING SKILLS Running back Latavius Murray was active as a receiver in the first quarter, hauling in three catches for 22 yards on three targets. Murray’s production is notable because he arrived in New Orleans with a knock on his receiving capabilities. At least for one quarter, Murray showed he could be counted on out of the backfield, an obvious plus as Mark Ingram’s replacement in the Saints’ pass-friendly offense. HENDRICKSON’ MOTOR Third-year pro Trey Hendrickson drew the start in place of Cameron Jordan at left defensive end, and showed aggression at the line of scrimmage and an ability to generate a pass rush off the edge. Hendrickson just missed a sack on Kirk Cousins, who was hit and driven to the ground shortly before getting the rid of the ball for an 18-yard touchdown pass. The Saints need depth at defensive end behind Jordan and Marcus Davenport, and Hendrickson showed Friday night he could be counted on. NOLA |
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Re: Five takeaways from Saints vs. Vikings
HENDRICKSON’ MOTOR ?
Trey did next to nothing last night. 3 years in and he has yet to provide any consistent impact in the pass rushing dept. "Just missed" on a sack isn't good enough. I still don't see Alex Okafor's replacement on the roster. |
Re: Five takeaways from Saints vs. Vikings
Defense was not impressive last night. Felt like I was watching a college game
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On the opposite side, hate to say it but the Vikes have a pretty tight defense and they definitely came in with a game plan on Offense. A good test for the Saints staff to evaluate players.
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It's only the first preseason game and it's for evaluation purposes only. I like the fact that Bridgewater looks good. Everyone knows I'm the Getsom Taysom guy but Teddy looks promising.
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P-roblem got beat by the worst double move and worst throw I've ever seen in my life.
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Jets going from Bridgewater to Sam Darnold. Perpetual moves like that is why the Jets bring the league so much joy and laughter. Thank God they took than trophy from us. People are starting to forget the Saints use to suck really really bad.
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Hendrickson? What is this writer dude talking about? "Almost had a sack". I almost took a shower yesterday but it doesnt make me smell any better today.
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No one that played Friday night on that defensive line should be happy about that effort...
Minnesota ran on us and threw on us almost at will... Hopefully it wakes this unit up to get it in gear, or the Saints may need to get active on the waiver wire... This isn't about letting a bunch of end-of-their-career veterans tag along for a championship ring... This is why I like trading for more picks and getting that defense younger, hungrier... |
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But I do agree about Teddy ...
He played well and his accuracy was on point. |
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I saw a rumor somewhere that the Saints are shopping CB’s thanks to our depth there and PRob is a name to watch. |
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I'm not coming up with this in a vacuum. I have heard MANY NFL head coaches say this when addressing the preseason games. It has even become more prevalent with the CBA mandated reduction of contact practices in training camp. Just piggy-backing upon your post, JP, not disagreeing with you at all. If anyone has a problem with my pointing out that unit related performances that we see as fans in the preseason are pretty much meaningless, then give me a logical, well reasoned explanation of why I am wrong. Well? |
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Yeah....we lost!
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Positive or negative - I would avoid overreaction in either direction after preseason game 1.
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“Bridgwater Shines” is a bit overzealous.
He had 36 yards in the air with the remainder being YAC. Mostly check downs with the exception of an amazing catch by Grayson. Not going to cut the mustard if Drew goes down, and Hill didn’t impress me in the pocket either. LUTZ SHINES would be more accurate, returner Harris was good, Murray was good in limited time, and basically not impressed with the defense whatsoever. Kyle Sloter was undrafted out of N Colorado and had a QB rating of 143, 6/7 8.9 avg and a TD. Sloter shines. |
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Same goes for the Db’s. That being said although Prob was playing well it was mentioned multiple times by players and coaches that it was hard for them to get into playing like a unit when He was in. Either way I think he’s better than anyone else we could get as a backup. I could be wrong about CB but no way in hell are we shopping any lineman. |
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Didn’t get to see the game. Grrr. My brother who is a serious student of the game texted that Teddy had happy feet and did not look comfortable in the pocket. Saw a lot of positive comments here but only one factual breakdown of his efforts by willMackenzie. He sounded logical. Hoping Teddy can get it in gear. I think he and Hill both just need time under center. Hopefully they get it in preseason.
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Big picture on Bridgewater; we got uncommon value with that trade.
An OL and a DB were were taken right about there. The OL graded out worse than EriK Mcoy. The DB is good but really no speed. He's not a top tier CB. Not only did we get Bridgewater, but we also got a 6th in Saquan Hampton I think. He likely makes the team so we got a Pro Bowl QB and a good prospect. As much as I like Hill, he would not win us many games as the starter. Accurate at times but also way off the dart board other times. |
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** Side note - Erik McKoy was really impressive under center p/s game #1 . Doesn't seem to get "caught" or flat footed after the snap. Strong guy, see's the field well. Solid draft pick. |
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We are all spoiled with how Brees gets rid of the ball before getting hit. In other words, real good pocket presence. Taysom can create plays when there are none, even though his accuracy isn't consistent.
Brees' arm when I saw him at Yulman's did show a bit stronger than it looked toward the end of the year last year. Speculation for his drop off, maybe. This is still the first preseason game and nothing really useful other than talent evaluation. https://i.pinimg.com/originals/e1/2e...01938f2628.gif |
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I thought we got a 6th out of it this year. That would be Saquan Hampton.
Hard to follow the shuffling of pick trades sometimes. They can bounce all over the place but I do believe we got a 6th from the Jets in a pick swap. I would also take Bridgewater over Sam Darnold. |
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