BAM! WHO DAT! Now that was a big time performance by a big time team. The Saints took down the previously 5-1 and very mighty Pittsburgh Steelers. It wasn’t easy, and the 3-3 halftime score spoke volumes about what kind of game it was, but the Saints showed they had the heart, toughness and grit to win a very tough game in the trenches. The Saints get a much needed victory to jump to 5-3, still a half game behind both Tampa and Atlanta. Good thing there’s still a lot of season left because 3rd place in the NFC South just sounds sickening to me. If the Saints can play like this they will have many more wins ahead. On to the game bullets:
— I’m still not happy about Drew Brees’ ball security. True to form, the Saints hit their average of two turnovers per game by doing the same number in this one, both courtesy of Brees. That first interception was a bad throw and bad decision. He’s got to get better in that department. On the positive side, both touchdown passes were a thing of beauty.
— The ball just seems to find Darren Sharper’s hands. What a huge play that fumble recovery was.
— The Saints 1.4 yards per carry and finished with 30 yards on the ground. Yikes. Pierre Thomas and Reggie Bush can’t get healthy soon enough.
— Make no mistake about it, the defense is CARRYING this team right now. I never thought I’d say that in the Drew Brees/Sean Payton era, but it’s true. They are playing at an incredibly high level. That was an oustanding defensive performance by the Saints. They’ve been doing that very consistently this season. They deserve tons of credit for this win.
— Keep in mind this defense is holding a very balanced and good offense in the Steelers to 10 points with their 5th and 6th string cornerbacks. That’s right, consider that Greer, Porter, Gay and Patrick Robinson are all hurt (Robinson rolled his ankle on the opening drive of the game). So what happens? Jenkins and Torrence step in and both played phenominal football. Amazing. And that people is why depth is so important.
— Garrett Hartley was solid. That’s a relief.
— Colston had two bad drops early, but came back to have a pretty monster game.
— I will echo the announcer’s sentiment that the Steelers are unbelieveable tacklers in the open field. Wow. They didn’t miss almost any. Their speed to the ball and their tackling technique is really impressive.
— Will Smith had a great game, totalling 1.5 sacks and tipping a pass. Nice to see him filling up the stat sheet as he’s been way to quiet this season.
— Is something wrong with Chris Ivory? It looked like Julius Jones was getting most of the reps as our lead back. Again, Pierre and Reggie can’t come back soon enough.
— Anyone notice that the Saints tried a few gimmick plays in this one? None of them worked, but they tried to pull Browns-esque playcalling. They tried a reverse pass by Marques Colston that was bobbled and then ended up being a short run. They tried a fake field goal crazy line shift but the Steelers called a timeout before they snapped the ball. They also tried throwing to Zach Strief on the goal line, which was just ugly. I like the creativeness but the Steelers didn’t get caught off guard AT ALL.
— The Saints’ offensive line was manhandled. Brees was sacked twice, knocked down/hit 7 times, and the running game went nowhere. Pretty remarkable how the team managed 20 points and two terrific second half scoring drives despite this. I realize the Steelers are the NFL’s elite defensively, but the Saints’ line is supposed to be, too. They got completely outplayed and have to perform better.
That’s all I got. Stay tuned for the player grades. WHO DAT!
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