Wow that was tight. The Saints came into Carolina and needed a late touchdown by PT23 with 50 seconds left to seal a 30-27 win. Lots of bad blood between these two teams made only worse by Jeremy Shockey, who apparently didn’t shake any hands after the game and ran straight to the locker room. What a class act. Here are my bullets on the game:
- The pass rush was lame all day. Front 4 pressure was terrible.
- Cam Newton is raw, but he’s good. I was impressed.
- Jonathan Vilma & Malcolm Jenkins played well late, but overall they’ve both been a big disappointment so far this season.
- The offense is relying too much on Sproles and Graham.
- The Saints didn’t run the ball nearly enough on this Panther team, ranked 31st against the run.
- The defense’s performance was very poor overall. They need to play better if they want to make a run in the playoffs. They gave up 162 rushing yards at 7.4 yards a pop. Unacceptable.
- Pierre Thomas needs to get the ball more. He’s been playing out of his mind.
- It’s nice to see Marques Colston back in action, he played well.
- Drew Brees missed a few throws he normally makes, but once again he was crucial with the game in the balance. Outstanding drive he mastered to win that game. Just hall of fame quality stuff.
- Dick Stockton has to be the most clueless announcer of all time.
- As bad as the D was, I thought Aubrayo Franklin and Sedrick Ellis were great on the interior
- The linebacker play continues to be atrocious.
- Patrick Robinson had a HUGE interception on the first play of the game that set up a TD, and a blocked extra point later that loomed large late.
- Did anyone else notice that the snap to Brees from Brian de la Puente was mishandled a few times? They need to get that straight in a hurry.
- Jeremy Shockey really is classless.
That’s all I got. Saints move to 4-1! Stay tuned for the grades and as always, WHO DAT!
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