Saints Gab

Although the New Orleans Saints won’t get in the playoffs this year, their victory today guaranteed that this season will not carry two possible embarrassments: giving an 0 and 14 team their first win or having a losing season. For most of the game, it was pretty clear that the number one offense was too much for the last-in-the-league ranked defense, with the Saints scoring two touchdowns in each of the first three quarters.

Saints QB Drew Brees threw for 351 yards, completing 30 of 40 attempts, making two touchdowns and no interceptions. Brees now has 4,683 yards this season, leaving him 402 yards short of breaking Dan Marino’s single-season passing record. Lions QB Dan Orlovsky struggled making 10 out of 23 attempts, no touchdowns, and two interceptions before being benched at the end of the third quarter. He was replaced by QB Drew Stanton who made one out of three attempts for 12 yards.

New Orleans scored twice on the ground in the first quarter, the first time on a 20-yard run by WR Robert Meachem and the second on a two-yard run by RB Deuce McAllister. McAllister had a good game, making his two of his longest runs of the season: the first was for 18 yards (pushing him above the 6,000 yard mark for his career), and the second was for 19 yards on the Saints last possession of the game. He had a total for 61 yards rushing on 9 attempts and 6 yards receiving on one catch.

Detroit answered back with a one-yard run up the middle for a touchdown early in the second quarter. The Lions had gone for it on fourth and three from the three yard line but Orlovsky threw an incomplete pass to WR Matt Gaines. Saints S Roman Harper gave the Lions a Christmas gift of another set of downs when he was called for pass interference on the play. RB Kevin Smith scored on the next play.

The Saints did not let that phase them as they scored twice again. RB Mike Bell ran one-yard into the end zone to cap off an 80-yard, 11 play drive with 4:44 left to go in the second. After three plays for Detroit, including a sack of Orlovsky by DE Jeff Charleston, Brees threw 32 yards to WR Devery Henderson and a two yard run by RB Pierre Thomas with less than a minute to go in the quarter put the score at 28 to 7 to end the half.

The Saints were perfect converting third down, making 6 of 6 and were 11 for 12 for the day. The Saints had outrushed the Lions 112 to 56 yards and passed for 156 yards compared to 69. New Orleans was only penalized once for 2 yards but the penalty set up Detroit’s only touchdown.

After the Lions first possession of the second half, the Saints made a big play when Brees threw to Henderson again, this time for 64 yards, leaving the Saints at the six yard-line. A short pass by Brees to Marques Colston gave the Saints a four touchdown lead. The Saints ensuing possession included a 17-yard pass to Colston, a 30-yard pass to Colston, a 21-yard pass to TE Billy Miller, and a short pass from the three to Colston for his second touchdown of the day.

For the day, New Orleans finished with 532 yards of offense: 181 yards rushing and 351 passing. Detroit had a total of 255 yards with 129 rushing and 126 passing. New Orleans was also perfect from the red zone, scoring touchdowns on all five attempts.

Pierre Tomas had 77 yards rushing and 26 yards receiving in the game. Colston had 99 yards and two touchdowns and Henderson had 96 yards.

Detroit RB Kevin Smith had 111 yards rushing and one touchdown. WR Calvin Johnson had 64 yards on 4 catches.

The Saints defense had two sacks: one by DE Sedrick Ellis and one by DE Jeff Charleston. CB Jason David had his fifth interception of the season with a little less than 10 minutes to go in the first quarter. Usama Young also had an interception on Orlovsky’s last throw of the game which was deep pass to WR Calvin Johnson.

The Saints return home next week against the Carolina Panthers for their final game of the season.

From: ProFootballTalk.com

In a recent item from the New Orleans Times-Picayune, Mike Triplett points out that the Saints could be looking in the offseason to upgrade their play at the safety position.

Triplett points out that the current trio of Roman Harper, Kevin Kaesviharn, and Josh Bullocks have combined for three picks, zero forced fumbles, and zero sacks.

But Harper doesn’t think that change is needed. “I think we have a really good group of guys,” he said. “I don’t look at any other defensive backfield and think, ‘Wow, they’re so much better.’

“I think we’ve improved since last year, and I think we’re going to continue to improve. And I think a lot of that comes from just jelling and playing together, you know, having a couple pieces being around each other and learning what this person and that person are thinking. Not just every year, just, ‘Oh man, shake up the pieces. We’ve got to build a new puzzle. Break it up.’”

Still, the process for any team that’s hoping to become competitive is to assess the performance in all phases of the game, look for opportunities to upgrade, and decide whether to do it.

But don’t take our word for it. Listen to coach Sean Payton.

“When the season ends, like always, we’ll sit down and begin to evaluate first internally, our own players. That’s not something you just go through quickly, ” Payton said. “We have to look at it like, ‘Do we feel like there’s growth potential? Do we feel like the player is improving?’

“Then after that process takes place we move on to free agency, then the draft.”

That said, quality safeties are hard to come by. Teams that have them tend to keep them, and the really good ones coming out of college require the investment of a draft pick at a spot higher than most teams are comfortable devoting to a safety.

Still, it would be very interesting to see how good the Saints could become if they’d augment that offense with a Troy Polamalu patrolling the defensive secondary.

Interim Raiders coach Tom Cable had his debut ruined as his overmatched team met a powerful Saints offense hitting on all cylinders. Brees put on a phenomenal show, looking as if he could do whatever he wanted and Bush had two touchdowns for the second week in a row. Not to be overlooked was an improving New Orleans defense that held their opponent to less than 100 yards rushing for the fourth week in a row.

The Saints got the ball first, rushing Reggie Bush for 5 yards, then again for a loss of two, and throwing to TE Mark Campbell for 6 but short of the first down. New Orleans then punted from their 28 to Oakland’s Johnnie Lee Higgins, but a 35-yard return (his first of two for the day) moved the ball just 11 yards back. Oakland made it to the 6 yard line but the Saint’s defense showed up as S Roman Harper almost intercepted the ball in the end zone on third down, forcing their only score of the game: a field goal from 24 yards.

On the next possession, Saints QB Drew Brees made two big play throws to Reggie Bush and TE Mark Campbell to get the Saints inside the red zone, but two penalties against OT Jammal Brown for holding pushed the Saints back out. The team’s field goal woes continued as re-signed draft pick Taylor Mehlhaff missed his first field goal attempt when the ball sailed wide to the right from 30 yards.

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