A few thoughts on last night.... Sloppy, sloppy, sloppy...got to get those penalties and turnovers cleaned up Someone who didn't watch will see that NE scored 34 and think,"same old Saints defense." But the D only gave up 19 of those points, and looked very, very good at times. Not so good at others, but I think they are headed in the right direction. Oh, and Cam, Breaux and Keenan didn't play. Peat is still a work in progress. I understand he's practiced at 3 of the 5 oline spots in camp, and I'm not sure that's good for his development at one spot. Rankins and Davison started at DT's and I think that will be the pairing when the season starts. I loved the pick of Davison last year and he looks ready to roll; very similar in build and skills to Rankin, who played well last night. Fairley didn't look bad coming off the bench. Several LB's played well...Laurinitas, Stupar and Robinson all made plays. Edebali had 2 sacks against NE's first teamers. Michael Thomas has passed Brandon Coleman as the 3rd WR. Coleman better turn the corner or he may not make this team. Tommylee Lewis, R.J. Harris and Jared Dangerfield are all going to push him. Grayson looked sharp for awhile, but tapered off at the end. I would say he's progressing, but 2 years ago, I thought Ryan Griffin was the future and he was out the door the next day. I won't pretend to know what Payton is looking for in the next QB. I love Tim Hightower, but I think he's going to get caught up in the numbers game. Ingram is their guy, Spiller looks healthy, Murphy and, it appears, Lasco can make an impact on special teams. When I saw Lasco's highlight reel after the draft, I thought, this guy's another Pierre Thomas. I saw the same kind of flashes last night.
I agree with your takes. The concerning thing to me is that the Saints (esp under Payton) seem to be what they are from the preseason all the way through the regular season. Never a whole lot of progression or regression...they are what they are. Last nights penalties and turnovers are a big concern to me just based on what I've experienced as a Saints' fan. I'd be more ok with the turnovers on offense if we got some on defense. That is my biggest concern. We have got to be able to have a season with a plus turnover differential to have a chance. We're not good enough to overcome mistakes like we maybe have been in the past.
Saints released Keenan Lewis today! They must really have faith in PJ Williams, not to mention Crawley and DeVante Harris.
It took a kick on the last play of the game to win 2 of 'em and OT to beat the Cowboys at home without Romo and Dez last year and get us to 7-9. I don't see how, on paper at least, we've gotten much better. I'll stay status quo and say 7-9 again, just out of respect to Payton and Brees. That, so far, has been their low water mark here.
Major regress tonight...our starting o-line got thoroughly whipped all night, and that combined with no Cooks or Snead was too much even for Brees to overcome. Stupid turnovers.....have to think the patience is wearing thin with Murphy, but we don't seem to have another punt returner on the roster. One of the few bright spots, I'd have to say, was Fairley, and of course he went out of the game early; didn't notice if he came back. I was also impressed that, after getting burned on the first TD, Houston tried to pick on PJ Williams, and he didn't repeat his mistake, got a pass breakup and an interception on identical routes. Delvin Breaux is ready to pick up where he left off. In fact, I would say we will be just fine in the secondary if we can generate any kind of pass rush. Also thought Grayson ran a pretty nice hurry up drive at the end of the game, would have been really nice if he could have finished it. Obviously I'm grasping for positives, and that's all I've got.
Usually I wait until a few games into the regular season but I don't think this is too early this time
