Sorry for not having this up sooner, but frankly I was too pissed after watching that game to take the time to write about it. That game was much much worse than the score and the Saints were spanked pretty badly. The offense was out of synch, the defense was gashed regardless of the play call, and the team overall was completely overmatched. The Saints have a lot of work on their plates if they want to be prepared for week 1 with the Packers.
Offensive Player of the Game: Joseph Morgan
Defensive Player of the Game: Turk McBride
Special Teams Player of the Game: Courtney Roby
Here are my bullet thoughts on the game:
— What a difference a week makes. The Saints were pushed around and spanked much like they did to the 49ers a week ago. The Texans’ offense is clearly well beyond the 49ers in terms of ability, and the Saints could not stop them.
— Andre Johnson gashed the Saints’ zone defense repeatedly. My guess is they wouldn’t have stuck with a zone defense if this was the regular season, so I’m willing to overlook this, but you might want to cover arguably the best receiver in the NFL. The Saints did anything but cover him. The zone defense worked better once Matt Leinart came in because his accuracy compared to Schaub’s was inexistant.
— The Saints were sloppy with the football. Brees’ fumble was atrocious, and Chase Daniel also mixed in a bad fumble and an interception. The offense’s timing was poor and the number of screen plays they ran made them very predictable. The team completed less than 50% of their passes.
— On the other side of the ball, the Texans got yards in huge chunks. They ran for 208 yards at 6.1 yards per carry. Yikes! What happened to these additions that were supposed to shore up our run defense?
— Linebacker play was embarrassing. The starters in particular. Herring, Casillas and Vilma missed many tackles, blew assignments and were beaten in coverage. The backups didn’t fare much better.
— Malcolm Jenkins didn’t play much, so Paul Oliver got a chance to start at free safety. He looked horrible out there and was torched.
— The only guys on defense that showed me anything positive were DE Turk McBride, who got a sack, and safety Jonathon Amaya who the Saints landed in the Reggie Bush trade.
— Courtney Roby is fighting like a dog for a roster spot and he had some terrific kick returns, almost breaking one big.
— Joseph Morgan once again stole the show, beating the Texans for a 56 yard touchdown score. Give this kid a roster spot now.
— Meachem made up for his drop last week with a beautiful over the shoulder 43 yard reception from Brees.
— The tackle play again was very spotty. Jermon Bushrod really struggled out there, and George Foster the backup looked absolutely pitiful to me out there. Charles Brown’s performance isn’t even worthy of a mention. That said, I was encouraged by Zach Strief’s play. As far as I’m concerned he has RT locked up now.
— Andy Tanner has dropped passes in back to back games now. That’s for your time, you’re cut. No chance he survives this round of cuts.
— The Saints ran the ball pretty well. Ingram, PT and Sproles all did a great job squirting through holes and finishing off their runs. That looks promising. The o-line did a good job of being physical on running plays. Jed Collins, the fullback, threw some terrific blocks as well. The battle between him and Korey Hall is a good one.
That’s all I got. Let’s hope for a better result against the Raiders next weekend.
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