Saints 16, Titans 15 Not the prettiest of wins, but I'll take it. Winning ugly shows perseverance. Hard to find anything wrong with the defense. Three interceptions, 3 or 4 sacks and kept Tenn. out of the end zone. Taneyhill's QBR for the day was about 28 and they kept Henry in check for the most part. Offense was another matter. The line was really crap for much of the day, led by Penning, who got his head handed to him by Arden Key for most of the first half. They made adjustments in the second half and the pass protection, in particular, got better. Penning does not have quick feet and he'll need help while he gets the reps he needs to develop. Carr only made one bad mistake, the interception at the end of the first half, forcing the ball into coverage and missing Olave breaking free on the sideline. Offense also struggled to run the ball much of the day, but they made enough plays to get the lead and protect it in the closing minutes. Oh, and Blake Grupe went 4-for-4 with an XP and 3 FG's including a 52-yarder. Will Lutz, meanwhile, missed his first XP attempt for Denver, who lost by one.
Peyton Turner will have surgery for a turf toe he suffered in the 2nd quarter yesterday. This guy makes Davenport look like Cal Ripken, Jr.
Saints 20, Panthers 17 Thoughts: Trevor Penning continues to get heat, but no one on the offensive line earned their pay last night. Derek Carr needs to step up as well. The interception and the missed deep out throw after the 2:00 drill sack were inexcusable. Fortunately, the protection and Carr got better in the second half, as with the Tenn. game. We need 60 minutes out of the offense, though. Two wasted trips inside the 10-yard line. I thought that was why we brought Jimmy Graham back, but we've yet to throw to him in the red zone. Carmichael is a major disappointment as a play caller. The 4th quarter sack of Carr on 3rd and short at midfield was all on Pete. Finally running the ball well and on 3rd and 2 we go to a 7-step drop and invite Carolina to stunt our o-line into a stupor. Stupid, stupid play call. How can a guy work at Sean Payton's side as long as Carmichael did and learn nothing about play calling? Until we get Kamara back, our tailback should be Taysom Hill. I know we lose a blocker by not direct snapping to him, but even when Carolina knew what was going to happen, they couldn't stop him. Hill is the best runner between the tackles we have and one of the fastest guys on the team. Bad things rarely happen when he runs the ball. Someone needs to have a talk with Olave about game awareness. Spectacular catch, and he spikes the ball in play, never occurred to him that the play might not be over! A Carolina player did and almost picked up the ball before it went ob. If he had recovered it, the play would have been reviewed, but it may well have been a turnover. Wish we had not played Carolina's last possession so soft, but no complaints at all about the defense. I think we got a player in Bresee, and the DT's we signed in free agency are playing well. We did a good job confusing Young, although he made Marcus Maye look like a fool on that 4Q scramble. Oh, and dare I say, Can't Guard Mike is back!
Jamal Williams will be out for a few weeks with a hammie, but DA says Kendra Miller is 100%. Still think our best bet at RB is Taysom.
taysom looked like he was wearing a leather helmet with his hand on the shoulder of his lead blocker…
Can't wait for this offense to start rolling. The pieces seems to be there especially with Kamara coming back in week 4, but the offensive line is not up to the standards we've seen in recent years. First 2 games remind me of the Mora/Carl Smith era. Lots of D and just enough points to win.
Once the newness of winning wore off during Mora/Smith, it was absolutely maddening. Mora wanted 60 minutes of defense, and for the offense to get a lead in the second half. Seemed like once he had that lead, all he did was try to protect it.
Packers 18, Saints 17 It was inevitable. Our Swiss cheese line - giving up an average of a sack per quarter - finally got Carr hurt. Shoulder injury, figure to be out 2 weeks minimum. Amazing....we had 4 first round draft picks on the line (after Peat went in for Ruiz) and they flat out stunk. Winston came in and didn't play badly, but he has the maddening tendency to throw underneath on 3rd down. 3rd and 10, he'll get you 7, every time. What was really maddening was that after a slow start, the running game started to come together in the 2nd and 3rd quarters, but once Carr went out, Carmichael went pass-happy, when he needed to be running the ball, running clock and giving our overworked defense a chance to rest. Some will blame Winston for the loss, some will blame Grupe for missing a 45-yarder with a minute left, but bottom line is, when you blow a 17-point lead in the fourth quarter, every player and every coach has to shoulder the blame.
