Nice win for the Saints, who held court with the Bucs and the Falcons today (both winners) to move to 7-3 on the season. Atlanta leads the division at 8-2, with the Bucs in 3rd at 7-3 (Saints own the tiebreaker over Tampa based on head to head victory). Below are my thoughts on the game in bullets:
— Sean Payton held out Reggie Bush, Pierre Thomas, Jeremy Shockey, Malcolm Jenkins, Patrick Robinson and Darren Sharper from this game. I’m not sure which players had not chance of going, versus which ones could have played if the Saints weren’t being cautious. The bottom line is the Saints didn’t need them to win, and Payton comes out looking like a genius because it gives them more time to get healthy on a short turnaround game coming up this Thursday at Dallas. Even if Bush goes, you figure 4 days to get ready for a road game in Dallas probably isn’t enough after he takes hits on his leg. Based on the end result, I’m glad they were all held out.
— On the injury front, I saw both Anthony Hargrove and Will Smith looked banged up, but they both returned to the game. Ditto Chris Ivory, who’s been nursing shoulder and knee problems all year.
— Speaking of Ivory, the injuries did nothing to slow down a monster game from him. He ran with authority and really impressed me with his refusal to go down. Every carry he had included terrific second effort. Great game.
— Roman Harper and Scott Shanle both had strip/recoveries of Marshawn Lynch. You know Gregg Williams was loving that.
— Marques Colston and Robert Meachem each caught two touchdowns. Any time that sentence is uttered, it bodes well for how the day went.
— Garrett Hartley missed another chip shot, and the Saints flubbed an extra point attempt. Awful. Our kicking game has been a joke all season. Consider that our best kick of the year was a blocked field goal that somehow went in at the buzzer against the 49ers to win the game.
— Give Special Teams a MASSIVE amount of credit for limiting Leon Washington all game. That guy is probably the best return man in the NFL behind Josh Cribbs and Devin Hester. He is very dangerous, but he was also very quiet.
— Brees was very good in this one, looking like the Brees of last year. Still, he managed to throw two interceptions in the red zone which is inexcusable.
— Jabari Greer was horrible. I’m not sure why he was beat so often in this game because he’s been so great in 2 years as a Saint, but in this game it looked like Jason David stole his uniform and went out there for a curtain call.
— Scott Shanle was amazing, absolutely all over the field. Led the team with 12 tackles. Awesome.
— Usama Young started at free safety with Jenkins and Sharper both out. He’s got to be one of the best third string free safeties in NFL history. Ok maybe that’s a little dramatic, but he was excellent back there. Amazing what depth will do for you. Not many teams could survive injuries to valuable players like that.
— Olindo Mare has a flawless game. When he was a Saint, he could barely hit an extra point. It was sickening to watch. Every kickoff was about 9 yards deep, every kick was down the middle, and he executed an onsides kick to perfection.
— I find it annoying that a Saints and Hornets game was going on at the same time. Granted, the second half was just underway as the Saints game ended so I can catch the rest of the game, but I feel like the leagues should collaborate to avoid same city teams from ever playing simultaneously.
— The Saints’ offense overall played their best game of the season, save maybe Tampa Bay. Imagine what we’re going to be like when our pieces come back healthy.
— Jimmy Graham is going to be a stud. Nice game from the rookie.
Dallas coming up in just a few days! Who Dat.
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