Saints Nation: Saints Blast Raiders 40-20 But Leave Oakland With Question Marks

The Saints ended a strange game that saw the Raiders’ backups and fans essentially give up for a large portion of the second half by going for 2 after touchdowns because Garrett Hartley “tweaked his hip”. This was en route to a seemingly routine 40-20 victory. The score may make it seem like it was a blowout but there were some things of concern. Of course, scoring 40 points, there were also some things that were very positive. All in all the Saints leave the Raiders with a 2-1 preseason record and more things to work on.

Offensive Player of the Game: Joique Bell
Defensive Player of the Game: Mitch King
Special Teams Player of the Game: Courtney Roby

On to the bullets on the game:

•  I was really hoping to see the defense respond with a good tackling performance. They did not. The Saints gave up 127 yards on the ground and 5.3 yards per carry, even though the Raiders largely abandoned the run in the 2nd half. The defensive ends didn’t contain, the linebackers looked lost, and the defensive backfield wasn’t physical in run support. At this point I’d say it’s a little concerning. I don’t feel comfortable with our linebackers, any starting defensive end not named Will Smith, or our depth at safety at this point. Obviously Gregg Williams’ attitude in practice yielded little improvement from last week. Not good.
• The offense, however, was in rhythm. That was another thing I wanted to see and boy did I ever. Drew Brees was in tip top form and he looked masterful out there.
• Jimmy Graham alternated awesome and disappointing, but you can see why the Saints let Shockey go. This kid is going to have a monster year. He’s already Brees’ favorite target.
• The running back play was OUTSTANDING by all parties involved. Joique Bell stole the show (6 carries 50 yards, 1 TD and 2 receptions for 92 yards) but Pierre Thomas, Mark Ingram, Darren Sproles and Patrick Cobbs all took turns looking very good as well. My how deep the Saints are that that position. What to do with Chris Ivory? And please don’t let the stats fool you, Mark Ingram had 6 carries for 7 yards but he was physical inside, terrific in short yardage situations and he lost a ton of yards on one carry that hurt his stats because of poor blocking. Overall Ingram looked very strong and I think he’s going to be a great fantasy pick this year. I see him getting lots of goal line carries. He’s clearly identified himself as the go-to short yardarge guy.
• The tackle play was very solid, something I was worried about. Zach Strief played a very clean game and Jermon Bushrod impressed as well. I was pretty impressed with Brian de la Puente, too, the fill in starter for Carl Nicks. Encouraging stuff.
• The usuals at receiver all made plays (Colston, Meachem, Henderson) and they all looked pretty good out there. Adrian Arrington came alive a bit late in an attempt to save his roster spot.
• I become more convinced each week that Chase Daniel is a really special backup quarterback and the Saints are very fortunate to have him. Another solid outing for him.
• Garrett Hartley tweaked his hip which forced the Saints to go for 2 the rest of the game. That is a major concern. Look for the Saints to sign a kicker this week to go along with them trimming their roster to 80. God, I hope we don’t see John Carney back again in a Saints uniform. Seriously though, let’s all hope Hartley is ok. He’s finally given the Saints a stabilizing force at that position after a few years of uncertainty and to deal with more uneasiness at that position would be brutal.
• The only defenders I can really say anything positive about in this game were Malcolm Jenkins, Mitch King, Patrick Robinson and Swanson Miller. Miller had two sacks out of nowhere in the 4th quarter to make the Saints reconsider his standing. King was my defensive player of the game, AGAIN. He was all over the field, a big motor, and his hustle and tackles downfield for a defensive tackle are really impressive. I officially love that guy. I’ll be furious if he doesn’t get a roster spot.
• Jonathon Amaya started at strong safety and was largely atrocious. He did intercept a pass thanks to a tip by Jenkins, but he spent most of the game making bad cuts, taking bad angles, missing tackles and getting beat in coverage. 
• Tracy Porter and Jabari Greer don’t look like the starting tandem we have gotten so comfortable with. Hopefully they do in a couple weeks. P-Rob on the other hand has gotten so much better in a year it’s scary. The guy is good.
• Coverage units, once again, were oustanding.

That’s all I got. Hope you enjoyed the beatdown. 1 more preseason game to go. Let’s hope Hartley is ok!