Several points about the Texans game
 

1. Brees is the 3rd greatest QB of all time behind only Brady and Montana

2. Dennis Allen needs to be fired. That last drive is beyond unforgivable.

3. Marcus Williams is a God awful free safety and a liability to this team.

4. Sean Payton still hasn't learned his lesson about putting a game away with your offense on the field. Can't trust Brees to throw one more completion for a 1st down? After watching him complete a 40 yarder from his 15 yard line? Yeah you're a terrible clock/game manager.

5. Lutz is the second best kicker in football behind only Tucker

6. Saints could easily lose their next 3 games. This isn't close to being good enough.

Thoughts?

Re: Several points about the Texans game
 

Go back and watch the first play of the last drive by Houston, how do you let Hopkins get behind you 35 yards down the field?

Then they pull him from being the high safety (completely stupid btw, Dennis Allen) on what should have been the winning touchdown. Probably because he's useless as a single high safety.

Re: Several points about the Texans game
 

Last play before the kick to win the game... if the Texan's player wouldn't have touched Ted Ginn Jr., the 2 seconds on the game would have ran out and the game would have ended before we called timeout.

Re: Several points about the Texans game
 

The Texans played a very good game and we played a very good team.


The Brees interception at the goal and the missed FG made the game closer. :o Incredible GTFOOH finish. :D

Re: Several points about the Texans game
 

This was an ideal win for week 1 - we won in a tight contest but there were lots of warts, things that need to be worked on and corrected on both sides of the ball. I'd rather have that than a Pats/Steelers type of blowout and false sense of security. Special teams clearly won us this game (Morstead's coffin corner punt and the Lutz FG).

Re: Several points about the Texans game
 

This thread proves one thing: Everybody has opinions...

Re: Several points about the Texans game
 

I wonder since he technically gave himself up what would have happened.

That would have been huge controversy no matter which way they called it.

Re: Several points about the Texans game
 

Yeah well have your false sense of security that everything is ok. To each their own.

Re: Several points about the Texans game
 

You must have some Atlanta Falcon negative mentality bullsh!t in you. Sorry for your loss

XLIV CHAMPS

Re: Several points about the Texans game
 

The sky isn't falling. I'm sorry you disagree.

Re: Several points about the Texans game
 

1. Nothing from Montana but he was a good QB surrounded by great players on both sides of the ball. I don’t think he’s #2.

2. At times I feel the same way about Allen but sometimes he dials up great game plans. That last drive had me scratching my head. I will wait until our DTs come back before passing judgement.

3. Williams is actually his best when he gets to roam. Except for that Minnesota Miracle he has been pretty good. Looks like they were playing quarters on the first completion of the Texans last drive so that wasn’t on him and neither was the TD to Stills.

4. In the NFCCG we threw a pass and everyone was like we should have ran the ball. Running the ball was the right call the defense just has to play better and the defensive calls have to be better.

5. Tucker missed against us last year. I’d take Lutz. He is automatic on turf.

6. None of the 3 teams we play next looked unbeatable. The only one that really looked good was Dallas. Houston is a good team with lots of speed and weapons. Don’t downplay this victory.

Re: Several points about the Texans game
 

The only QBs I put Brees behind are Manning and Marino. I don't care how many rings Brady has, he's not better skilled than any of those 3.


Got me here. i thought running the ball and going for the field goal was the right call. Had no idea the Texans would go right down the field in just 2 plays.

We have a history of former Saints coming back and kicking our asses. Sam Mills did it for years with Carolina, Morten Andersen kicking game winning goals against us with Atlanta, Scott Fujita with Cleveland in 2010, etc etc. When Stills caught that pass, I felt like it was just another former Saint coming into town to beat us down.

Re: Several points about the Texans game
 

1. Yea probably
2. DA has turned this defense from putrid to pretty good for 2 solid years. That’s consistency and you want to knee jerk react and fire him after 1. Game. We had 6 sacks on a mobile Qb and a TO against a VERY TALENTED offense not to mention the best receiver in the league. Got off to a slow start and definitely room for improvement but our defense always starts slow. At least they made adjustments that paid off during the game as opposed to making them after a loss like years past.

3. Williams needs to prove himself but it was PJ Williams who was more of a liability tonight.

4. Pretty decent clock management if you take away the 10 seconds that magically disappeared and a receiver who tries to get yardage instead of just going down like he should have. I would have liked for us to have run the ball more to keep our D off the field.

5. Yep

The game had its low points but we won and will have momentum and confidence going into LA. Our defense is missing 2 key players. I saw a lot of pressure on Watson tonight, something we haven’t seen in years.
We played a good, physical football team tonight. We had some mistakes but the defense will only get better and our offense found a good rythem going back to spreading the ball around. I expect Brees gets more comfortable throwing to Cook and Murray.
Our offensive line looked better than I thought. Overall I’m happy about what I saw week one. Week 5 and we are doing the same **** then maybe I worry.

Re: Several points about the Texans game
 

Our next 3 games are going to be tough.

I predicted weeks ago that we could easily start the season off 1-3.

Rams on the road will be no cake walk and it will be their fourth time getting to play us (counting 2017). Go back to the NFCCG and they pretty much had our offense figured out by the 4th quarter. I don't expect us to go in there and score 30 points.

We absolutely cannot commit penalties against the Rams like tonight. If we play sloppy and make a bunch of bone headed penalties, expect to get blown out. They're going to be motivated to try and humiliate us after we spent the entire summer endlessly talking about the non-call.

Seahawks - When is the last time we won on the road in Seattle? Very tough place to play and Wilson is the type of QB we struggle against. On the flip side, Seattle really deserved to lose yesterday and didn't look like a solid team.

Dallas - My biggest concern early in the season. Dallas was the team that figured us out last year and wrote the blueprint on how to completely shut our offense down and grind them into a halt. These guys will be expecting our gameplan to heavily involve Kamara and MT. It's on Payton if he wants to walk right into that trap.

Also, Dak Prescott ABUSED Eli Apple when we played them last year. Prescott actually had a decent game against us last year despite being sacked a ton. He's also coming off the best game by a Cowboys QB since 1969. Their offense looks way better this year. If we put Apple on Amari Cooper again, it's going to be a long night.

Re: Several points about the Texans game
 

Last Saints win in Seattle was 2007. That was the game Reggie Bush ran the ball like 20 times for nearly 100 yards.

SFIAH

Re: Several points about the Texans game
 

I’ll add a couple.

1. First time I’ve seen the defense come out on fire from the start of game 1. Not saying they played up to their potential but they swarmed and played hard.

2. Kamara put the ball on the ground more than I’m comfortable with.

3. Special teams is looking better than I remember. Nice return game.

Re: Several points about the Texans game
 

Teddy gave himself up, he wouldn’t have been able to advance the ball. It’s the same as a QB sliding. The play is over.

Re: Several points about the Texans game
 

1) Yep
2) Yep
3) Yep, but Harris needs to make better decisions as a returner. He gets a pass for the first game, but definitely some coaching is needed.

Re: Several points about the Texans game
 

He was scary back there...for both teams.
After the fair catch at the 3 he seemed gun shy

Re: Several points about the Texans game
 

1. Absolutely top 5, probably top 3. Never sat around and thought about it.

2.Dennis Allen will be fine. Our D line (except for the sacks) looked god awful. Neither Jordan nor Davenport held their lines against the run. Containment is a big deal against a mobile QB, and our's was shiiiiiiiiiiiitttttt. It killed us on a ton of running plays. If they had run Hyde more often, I think the outcome could've changed because our DT's were gashed most of the first half and part of the third quarter.

3. Marcus scares me some times, I will agree with that. He is not god awful. PJ scares me more, Apple scares me only slightly less.

4. At the point of this game I agree. We had been gashed for long runs, and we had forgotten how to cover. Plus Hopkins is sorta good. Put the game away. Had Rankins and Ony been there and the defense not getting gashed, then maybe I run the ball.

5. I will take Lutz over any current kicker. Stats be damned.

6. They could lose the next 3. They could also lose the next three after that or the three after that.

We found a way to win. The difference in a season of a good team that goes 9-7 and a good team that goes 12-4 is often a good break, or gutting out a few wins. In years past we would've lost this game every time.

Re: Several points about the Texans game
 

Kamara is special ...

When they replayed his runs in slow motion, it was even more impressive.

I saw him grabbing his arm ... hope all is well.

Ice up son!

Re: Several points about the Texans game
 

Yea I saw him get up and that arm was on the dangle... Heart skipped a few beats.

Re: Several points about the Texans game
 

Hopkins is the best WR. Even with a couple of drops he's as close to unstoppable as it gets.

The roughing the kicker call was nonsense. I've never seen a roughing the kicker with the defender sliding on the ground. Who calls that? The kicker was totally faking it.

Re: Several points about the Texans game
 

As bad as our secondary played, we've got to give Watson a lot of credit. The pressure was there all night. His ability to extend plays made our secondary look even worse than they really are. That said, our secondary is not good. While it's too late to address that problem personnel wise, we need to make the schematic adjustments. Watching them play 8-10 yards off the ball consistently going back into last season is very frustrating to watch. IT HASN'T BEEN WORKING so why are we consistently still doing it.

Re: Several points about the Texans game
 

Hopkins should not have been called for the body slam. The defender didn't give himself up. I have a lot of respect for Hopkins. He tried to make a play to shake the ball out.

Re: Several points about the Texans game
 

Yep. I agree. But in rugby it's a huge penalty to do that unlike the old days. Everyone should make an attempt to wrap up the ball carrier and his shoulders can't hit before his hips do. Also, no launching is permitted. It's a safety issue.

Re: Several points about the Texans game
 

Have to disagree with you there. New rules on safety specify you can't throw a player to the ground which is what that tackle was. Roughing the kicker was a ticky tack call. Both of the kicker's feet were on the ground and it wasn't severe
contact. Normally isn't called. The illegal fair catch call on Harris technically was incorrect also because to make a valid fair catch signal, the hand is supposed to go above the helmet and his did not.
ARTICLE 2. FAIR-CATCH SIGNAL.
Item 1. Valid Fair-Catch Signal. A fair-catch signal is valid if it is made while the kick is in flight by a player who fully extends one
arm above his helmet and waves it from side to side. A receiver is permitted to legally raise his hand(s) to his helmet to shield his
eyes from the sun, but is not permitted to raise them above his helmet except to signal for a fair catch

Re: Several points about the Texans game
 

1. Perhaps.

2. Agreed.

3. Marcus Williams was our highest graded defensive back from Week 1 and completely shifted the momentum of the game with that interception. Are some of you really that upset he missed a tackle on the 1 yard line against one of the most athletic QB’s to ever play the game or that he gave up a TD to the best WR in football in zone coverage? These expectations are unreal for defensive players.

4. I wouldn’t have went for it either. Take the points.

5. Again..perhaps.

6. Saints could lose any game any given Sunday. If that assessment is based on Monday then you’re overreacting. What do some of you think? We were supposed to blow out the Texans? Anybody who knows football should have expected a tough game from that team. Deshaun Watson is a ****ing superstar and has been performing like that for years. DeAndre Hopkins is better than Julio Jones and we gave up 300 yards to him before. We stonewalled JJ Watt and orchestrated a second half comeback when the Texans could have run away with the game. We’re fine.


There is no perfect team. Everybody has holes and weaknesses. We are not exempt.

Re: Several points about the Texans game
 

Liability? I think that is a bit harsh.

He's making some mental mistakes but he isn't a bad free safety. Some of his "mistakes" could be scheme related. I'll never treat PFF as gospel, but apparently he did a lot right to have such a high score vs Texans.

Hendrickson, Cam J and Marcus W were our top players on Monday Night.

Re: Several points about the Texans game
 

Personally I think that there are some Saints fans who greatly underestimate Houston. They're a good football team with a questionable front office, but they put a ton of talent on the field. I was no less worried about Houston than Seattle. Maybe I put the Rams a little higher on my scale, but jeesh Houston was a tough open. We won. For week one against that kind of team I think the positives far outweigh the negatives.

Re: Several points about the Texans game
 

Chill on Dennis Allen... Defense take time to come together... what we don't want is this team coming together now... later in the season is when we are going to need them coming together.

Re: Several points about the Texans game
 

Keep the Marcus Williams hate coming....If he is a "GOD AWFUL" Safety then Marathon Lattimore is sitting right next to him

Re: Several points about the Texans game
 

He's fine ran the ball like 2-3 times after for good gains.

Re: Several points about the Texans game
 

If you're less scared of Apple than Marcus that's the issue, Our best player in the secondary is Von Bell...he our most consistent secondary player by far over the past 3 years. A tie between Marcus and Marathon Pj, Then Eli. All of them give up plays. Nobody's in this forum is in the secondary room(HOPEFULLY). We don't know what the game plan was, it was adjusted, who did do their job, who didn't communicate etc.... Keep that same energy with Marshon Lattimore he gives up crucial receptions just as often as Marcus...But the kid can ball yeah he has some kinks in his game who doesn't? Cameron Jordan actually looked bad in comparison tonight. Some of you guys def judge Marcus Williams with the Minnesota miracle in mind....LET IT GO it happened. Prior to those two throws on the last drive by Deshaun Watson he had less than 200 yards passing. Oh yeah and that 50 yarder to Will Fuller on Rotten Apple. The worse part of our defense was the RUN DEFENSE front seven played terrible against the run especially Anzalone.

Re: Several points about the Texans game
 

I thought that if you clearly gave yourself up, the play was considered dead. That means you could call a time out. I can't remember his opponent, but in one game, when Payton Manning looked like he gave himself up, his opponents left him alone and he then got up and threw a completion. There were a few annoyed defenders to say the least.

Re: Several points about the Texans game
 

Half full/ half empty.

I do agree the defensive backfield is frightful.

Re: Several points about the Texans game
 

Hey Skymike. Where have you been?

Re: Several points about the Texans game
 

Deuce Windham did a shot by shot film breakdown of the big play to Hopkins at the end.

It was a Cover 2 look, Vonn Bell had helped the CB on his side of the field. Marcus William's was literally doing nothing in the middle of the field, when he was supposed to be helping Lattimore out. I'll try to attach the photo.

Re: Several points about the Texans game
 

Ah cover 2 strikes again.

I too think our run defense is more concerning than our pass defense. Last year against Tampa our entire secondary just looked lost. Blown coverage all over the place. They eventually turned it around. I saw a lot of good coverage Monday night they just got out played, Hopkins is going to do that to everyone.
I’ll take that over 4 quarters of confusion anytime.

Re: Several points about the Texans game
 

I'm telling you he has really turned into a terrible free safety. Doesn't focus on his job at hand, wants to make the big play on every passing down. The interception he got earlier in the game is probably the worst thing that could have happened to him.