WOW!!! There are endings, and then there are endings. These Saints seem dead set on making sure that each game ends with someone having a heart attack, but bless their hearts they were kind enough to make sure this week it wasn’t us. This was one of those games that had so many subplots and so many different swings to it that it was enjoyable to watch (because we won), but at the same time its kind of exasperating. The Saints were so very very close to getting dump trucked in this game, and yet at the same time they were also very close to blowing Dallas out. It was one of those weird games where both teams got breaks, but proceeded to give them away and a change of a play or two here or there could have swung things wildly out of control.
The Saints defense will largely be remembered for being disastrous in this game because of the big plays they gave up and the final 91 yard drive by Dallas. To a certain degree that is fair. Once again Brandon Browner got beat badly for a deep pass, the Saints defense got gashed for a few big plays, and they simply could not resist negating a good defensive play with a penalty that put the Cowboys offense back on the field. With all of that said though the Saints defense would have given up 2.6 yards per carry if you subtract the 45 yard run early in the game, they were victimized with a number of very questionable calls in the secondary, and they managed 3 sacks against the best line in football. Truly a mixed bag. A few of the penalties that the Saints earned on defense were simply a matter of bad play, Breaux has to learn to turn and locate the ball for example, but there were also a few that were simply the kind of calls I have come to expect to go against the Saints. The bottom line is that while they were FAR from perfect the defense did enough to hold Dallas to 13 points through 3.7 quarters or so…and then ‘the drive’ happened.
The final Dallas drive was a microcosm of why this defense is still bad, but also showed why there is hope for the future. The blown coverages are maddening, and the penalties (like the bogus one against Breaux) are worse, but you can clearly see its a lack of experience a lot of the time. Cole Beasely roasted Damian Swann on a spit on one play on that drive, but he’s quietly one of the best slot receivers in the game. Swann just got beat. It happens. Witten got free for a big play because Vaccaro was dropped in what I think was a zone (it was off coverage regardless which isn’t his strength) and got beat, and the final TD to Williams should have been called back. Before I wrap this up with my observations from this game I do need to get that one off my chest: Williams had one of the more blatant push offs I have ever seen, and even without that the ball CLEARLY hit the ground and shifted noticeably enough that there is simply no way it should have been up held. Simply put the Saints got shafted on that one and its BS because we all know if Cooks or Snead catches that it gets over turned. I hate poor officiating as much as just about anything, so that one really bothers me.
Observations:
- This game was SO close to being Stephone Anthony’s coming out party. There were so many plays in this game where he really flashed the player he could become, and the fumble at the goal line was just a tenth of a second away from being a devastating blow to the Cowboys. Good to see him bounce back.
- Hau’oli Kikaha isn’t just the Saints best draft pick in years (through 4 games) he is a legit DROY candidate right now. Another sack to his name where he just flat out beat the best tackle in football in Tyron Smith, and continued solid play against the run.
- Delvin Breaux is going to be a special player. He is SO good about 90% of the time, and when he cleans up the few things he really needs to work on…man..look out.
- The Saints desperately need Keenan to come back and be his old self. he was limited today, and looked like he got a little banged up.
- Terron Armstead is an absolute stud and the Saints got really lucky he was only nicked up or this game ends VERY differently.
- Speaking of offensive linemen…the line played very poorly for much of this game. Dallas doesn’t have a good defensive front by any means, but they went hyper aggressive with the blitzes and damn near killed Drew a couple of times. Strief in particular continued to struggle, but neither Lelito nor Kelemete had a great game either.
- Kenny Vaccaro had what I would call a B+ game, it was only not an A because he played the long pass to Witten poorly. All in all he was very solid and was so close on a couple of blitzes too.
- Drew Brees was masterful. The Saints used a short passing game to great effect partially to protect Brees, and also because the line spent half the night trying to kill him. None of that matters though, the final two drives for the Saints were vintage Brees and they were glorious. The winning TD pass to Spiller was a perfect ball.
- Spiller needs to be more involved in the offense. This sentiment has been shared on twitter repeatedly and it is correct. I’ll get into why Ingram was in so much early later in the week, but the way he played tonight will guarantee the Saints are going to use him more and more. He simply has another gear that maybe nobody in the league today has. Spiller is going to be the key to opening up this offense (provided the line can block that is).
- Another player who had a very good game was Willie Snead. He simply comes out, does his job, and catches everything thrown to him. Snead has a nice bit of fire to him as well which I like, but his physicality and toughness are I think a little underestimated. He’s a keeper.
- Brandin Cooks did NOT have the game I was hoping he would. Some of that was by design, he opened things up for others a lot. However, he was not on the same page as Brees on a couple of plays and failed to beat what I consider a sub-par corner often enough. More on him will come, but to his credit…Hill’s TD largely came because Dallas had mutliple players keyed in on Cooks. Still, you expect more from him and NO ONE has higher expectations for him than me.
- It feels like I am forgetting someone here…weird…oh right! Akiem Hicks! I totally forgot him. You wanna know why? Because today’s game made it abundantly clear that he not only failed to meet expectations, but was flat out beat out for his job. Bobby Richardson simply had a great game tonight. He was in the backfield frequently, blew up several plays, and should have drawn at least 3 holds by my count. Richardson’s motor is simply non-stop and he wills himself into plays. I rarely do this (meaning never), but I am giving the game ball today to Richardson because there is no way they win this game without him.
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