New Orleans Saints Review

The Saints improved to 2-0 with a convincing 48-22 win over the Philadelphia Eagles (1-1).  I have to say that Lincoln Financial Field is seldom as quiet as it was today.

As I do after pretty much every Saints victory, I’ll start with the offense.  Drew Brees was his normal (spectacular) self.  He completed 25 passes for 311 yards, 3 touchdowns and 1 interception.  The Eagles defense threw the kitchen sink at Drew and he repeatedly found ways to burn them.

While we’re used to seeing Brees pick apart virtually every defense he faces, we’re not used to seeing the Saints show a little bit of balance.  For the second straight week, Mike Bell ran very effectively (17 carries, 86 yards, 1 TD) before leaving in the fourth quarter with an injured knee (thankfully it doesn’t look serious).

As Troy Aikman mentioned during the game broadcast, an effective running game will just make the Saints that much harder to defend.  In the second half, the Eagles defense was noticably worn down.  Bell seemed to run with ease through the Philly front seven.  And Reggie Bush ran in a 19 yard score of his own to rub some salt in the wounds.

Defensively, the Saints did their job.  And I mean that as a sincere compliment.  First-time starter Kevin Kolb (31/51, 391 yards, 2 TDs, 3 INTs) filled in admirably for the injured Donovan McNabb.  He was nearly flawless in the first half, but I credit the Saints defense for only allowing the one big play, a 71 yard strike to DeSean Jackson in the first quarter that tied the score at 7.

Kolb took several hits but showed a lot of toughness.  Eagles coach Andy Reid called several wild-cat gadget plays and found some success.  Still, the plays weren’t home runs for Philly and, as the Saints continued to put points on the board, it put Kolb in a tough spot.  The Eagles had to go down field and Saints defensive coordinator Gregg Williams knew it.

The Saints stayed focused on not giving up the big play, and also did a great job of stuffing the run.  Brian Westbrook had just 52 yards on 13 carries for the day.

The Saints also forced 3 turnovers, including LB Scott Shanle’s second interception of the year and S Darren Sharper’s third of the season, which he returned 97 yards for a touchdown.

On special teams, the Saints showed great improvement over last week.  Rookie Malcolm Jenkins was hungry, and it showed.  He forced Eagles kick returner Ellis Hobbs to fumble the opening kickoff of the second half and also made a great tackle on punt coverage later on.  The Eagles repeatedly shot themselves in the foot with special teams penalties and often backed up their own offense.

Overall, this was a great formula for a Saints win.  They were +3 in turnovers, had over 400 yards of offense and made plays on defense.  In the preseason I talked about the need for this team to get off to a good start.  They’ll look to go 3-0 when they visit the Buffalo Bills next week.

Who Dat Awards

• Drew Brees - Do I really need to explain this one?
• Jermon Bushrod – More than held his own while blocking Philly’s great pass rusher, Trent Cole.
• Marques Colston – Caught 8 passes for 98 yards and 2 TDs.  He’s back!
• Devery Henderson – 3 catches for 71 yards, including an amazing 38 yarder on 3rd and long.  The Eagles put pressure on Drew Brees, but he placed a ball where only Devery could get to it.  He is changing some opinions, no?
• Mike Bell – Have a great day against Detroit – cool.  Have a great day in Philly – you’re making me a believer!
• Reggie Bush – 42 yards receiving, a 19 yard TD run and 0 fumbles.
• Darren Sharper, Scott Shanle and Tracy Porter – All had interceptions vs. Kevin Kolb.  Sharper showed he can still outrun an entire offense!
• Jabari Greer - He had 7 tackles and looked very good out there.
• Roman Harper – 7 tackles, a sack and is fitting in with Gregg Williams’ style of play.
• Malcolm Jenkins – Not getting a lot of defensive time, but making plays on special teams.  It shows he’s a team guy.

Rating:

This entry was posted on Monday, September 21st, 2009 at 12:36 pm and is filed under Opinion, Super Bowl Season. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.