The Saints started off the season in almost exactly the same manor as they ended last season, with a defense that was a dumpster file wrapped in a porta-potty. The difference between this year and last year was that for the most part the defense improved throughout the game and the Cardinals offense is actually probably better than any we played last year except 1 (Pitt). That isn’t to say that giving up 31 points and 427 yards is a good thing… it isn’t. There was still a lot of horrendous tackling, zero push from the interior defensive line, and the offensive line got worse as the game went along. All of those are things that we had hoped were fixed, or at least could be compensated for. None of them is the most concerning to me though, not by a long shot.
I fully expected the Cardinals’ defense to play lights out and to be able to keep the Saints down. Their only real hope in my opinion was Brandin Cooks beating them deep a couple of times, but he was largely neutralized in this game. Part of that was due to him going against one of the best corners in the league, another part was the continued gross misuse of him and obvious inability to understand what it is he does best. The next time I see him in a bubble screen I just may throw my remote at the television! The Saints can’t block them worth a damn, they catch nobody off guard with them, and he isn’t particularly great at them. ENOUGH! Was Cooks’s continued mismanagement my biggest concern? nope.
How about the rude welcome that first year corner back Delvin Breaux got to the NFL game? Breaux was repeatedly flagged on defense (some of them were total $%$#%@# btw) and he obviously is still adjusting to how the NFL game is called. It was too bad really because his actual coverage was excellent for most of the game, but he definitely needs to learn how to not get flagged so often. I’m confident he will manage that though. That is also not the biggest concern.
The biggest concern from this game, and the one thing that makes me genuinely afraid this team will go nowhere this year is the play of Marques Colston. He is DONE D-O-N-E, done. Can he have a good game or two this year? Sure. But as far as being a reliable possession receiver who moves the chains and comes up in the clutch he is DONE! This is the second year in a row that he caused the back breaking turnover that cost the Saints the game. His tip for a pick play immediately after the Saints finally cashed in on a turnover chance (thanks to Kikaha and Breaux) completely destroyed the little bit of momentum they were just starting to build. His inability to catch easy passes on the final drive were just the nail in the coffin, but his play took away the Saints best chance to get the fans out of the game and take control.
Here are the rest of my observations from the game:
- The Saints defense gave up almost 450 yards and I actually thought they played well.
- They got 0 sacks, but pressured Palmer and Jordan and Kikaha in particular looked good.
- Hicks was mostly invisible so business as usual for him.
- Cooks continues to be one of the most misused players in the league. Enough screens, he’s a good enough receiver just let him run routes.
- Ingram and Robinson can both handle catching the ball just fine.
- Robinson breaks tackles and makes guys miss incredibly well, he was great in this game.
- Brandon Coleman showed a few flashes. The effort and balance he showed to get in the end zone was tremendous. He should have been given more chances, but Arizona wasn’t leaving a whole lot open. Hopefully this game just makes him hungrier and Drew starts to trust people not named Colston more…because we can’t trust him.
- I was one of a select few (Nick Underhill of The Advocate being the first) who figured out early on that Willie Snead can BALL. Welcome to the club folks. He needs to be a much bigger part of the offense going forward since his greatest asset are his hands and getting open… the two things nobody did today.
- The Saints offensive line was ok, but not great by any means… especially in run blocking.
- Stephone Antony looked good at times, very good at others, but is still clearly a rookie. He absolutely HAS to come away with that Int he dropped. That was an easy pick 6 and likely would have decided the game in the Saints favor. Other than that he played well showing good instincts and the athleticism that made him a first round pick.
- Hau’oli Kikaha is a PLAYER. He is here to stay and flat out balled in this game. He was in a near constant state of getting held (funny how none of THOSE were called) yet still managed to repeatedly pressure Palmer. He also made what could have been the play of the game forcing a fumble in the third quarter which was recovered by Delvin Breaux.
- Speaking of Breaux the penalties are an issue and he needs to get that fixed, but I can clearly see why the Saints were so excited over him. Breaux showed great coverage at times, was good against the run, and showed a knack for getting to the ball when he recovered the fumble. A mixed bag from him, but overall encouraging.
- Brandon Browner on the other hand was quietly awful in this game, hope this isn’t the case all year. To be fair he struggles with ‘quick’ guys and that’s all AZ has, but he was not good by any means and dropped 2 potential game changing Int’s.
- The injury to Rafael Bush couldn’t have come at a worse time as the Saints now only have 2 healthy safeties on the roster. Jairus Byrd better make a miracle comeback or we are in BIG trouble.
- Speaking of safeties Kenny Vacarro had an up and down day, but he had several nice pass breakups and overall played much better than last year. That was good to see.
- The youth movement was in full effect tonight, and I would be remiss if I forgot to mention how pleasantly surprised I was by the play of Damian Swann. I really hope he is ok because he looked like a guy who can flat out play the game out there. Did he have a few rookie moments? Yes. But he actually can locate the ball in coverage and never gives up on the play, that’s more than we’ve had a while. I like him a lot.
FINAL THOUGHTS:
This game in now way went how I would have liked it to, and some of the personnel and play style decisions that must come this week are going to be tough for Coach Payton. However, this game was a whole lot closer than the score would indicate and outside of a few remaining holdover’s from last year (hi Hawthorne) I am at least not in total doomsday mode about the future of this team… yet. There was some good, some bad, some horrendous (broken coverages… again?!), and a whole lot of just meh. However it’s only game 1 and this was likely the best team we will play this entire year and we basically beat ourselves. That at least gives me room to hope for improvement.
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