Once again the Saints messed with our blood pressure. Thankfully, they get out of Cincinnati with a 34-30 win, somehow someway. Offensively, Robert Meachem made two huge plays for us downfield, Jimmy Graham made one, and Chris Ivory was running like a beast all day. See my bullet thoughts on the game below:
— Drew Brees was mostly masterful, despite pressure in his face all day, but once again he hurt the team with a horrible interception. I don’t know why he can’t help himself, but he’s good for a bad turnover a game minimum, every week.
— Chris Ivory was fantastic. He scored on a 55 yarder, but he was also breaking tackles, running hard, showing off speed, and he’s clearly become the best running back the Saints have. Ball security is still an issue, as he had a very bad fumble that could have hurt the Saints dearly. Still, give him credit, he had the game of his life. He finished with 117 yards and 2 touchdowns.
— Reggie Bush actually looked fast and pretty good out there.
— The offensive line really struggled. Cincinnati brought a lot of pressure up the middle and it seemed to catch New Orleans off guard. Jahri Evans was flagged non stop, and Nicks and Goodwin got some flags as well. The run blocking was superb, the penalties and pass blocking was by far the worst all season.
— Kickoff coverage was atrocious. The Bengals benefited from terrific field position all game.
— I just don’t understand why you would rotate backs like that when Chris Ivory is clearly on fire. When a guy is running like that, give him 20-25 carries. I like Julius Jones, but come on, he had no business being on the field as the primary rusher in that second half.
— Jimmy Graham is amazing. The guy is only going to get better, which is really scary for teams we play.
— That decision by Sean Payton to try to draw the offsides call on 4th and 2 was genius. Trust me, that ball was never going to be snapped. Genius decision. It paid off bigtime.
— Give Heath Evans a lot of credit for fielding short kickoffs and having sure hands, giving the Saints continued good field position.
— Roman Harper and Jonathan Vilma were both out of this worst. Harper’s coverage was spotty, but overall both players played at an extremely high level.
— The Saints had fits covering Terrell Owens and Chad Ochocinco. Granted many people do, but they made Jabari Greer and Tracy Porter look like ordinary corners. The Saints had little answer for the Bengals’ passing game.
— There is no excuse for Marvin Mitchell, the 12th player, running onto the field in a 4th and 3 punt situation. To give the Bengals a first down on a play like that is unforgivable.
— I’d like to say it was a great game, and it sure was exciting, but the game was extremely sloppy. Mistakes were happening all game, and the biggest was made by Cincinnati at the end. To be honest, the Saints made so many mistakes they deserved to lose that game. Give them credit for showing resiliency, but playing with fire like this every week will eventually get you burned.
— At 9-3, regardless of how the Saints got there, they are in a terrific position to make a run at Atlanta. They still need some help, though.
— 4 games left, including 2 at home. I figure absolute WORST CASE SCENARIO, the Saints should be 11-5 and would likely go play at the NFC West division winner in the wild card playoffs. Best case, obviously, is they go 13-3, catch Atlanta and get home field advantage.
— Garrett Hartley made some tough kicks. Give the kid credit, he’s bounced back from some miserable performances early, but he seems to be back on track. Still, his kickoff out of bounds was bad. Really bad.
— Next week the Saints are back in the dome to host St. Louis. Gotta keep this wins rolling.
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