Black & Gold X's & O's: Day-After Coaches-Style Review of Win Over Giants

(Photo by Chris Graythen/Getty Images)

In my preview columns for the game against the Giants, there were a few areas I thought to be very important in order for the Saints to come out victorious on Sunday. In my estimation, they did all of these very well.

1. Eliminate turnovers, because the Giants score off them. The Saints had zero turnovers in Sunday's game. Drew Brees only threw one pass all day that could've been picked, and it was instead caught by Lance Moore on a ricochet.

Defensively, the Saints caused two turnovers. For all you math majors out there, this is good for a +2 turnover differential. Anytime you can do that in a game you have a very good opportunity to win.

2. Get an early lead.   Obviously the Saints did this with another opening-possession touchdown and following that up with touchdowns on the next three possessions for a 20-3 lead. It seems pretty obvious that when playing at home with a lead, the crowd will stay in the game and the defense can play with attitude and swagger, which is so important to playing good defensive football.

3. Establish the run.  Despite Brees' hot start, the Saints remained balanced the entire game as far as run-to-pass ratio.  It was not as effective as I expected it to be from a yardage perspective, but it definitely opened up play-action and kept the Giants defense off balance.

4.  Find a way to pressure Eli Manning.   The Saints did not record as many sacks or have as many interceptions as a result of pressure as they have earlier this season, but remember that the Giants offensive line is probably the best in the game.

Saints defenders were in Eli's face enough to cause errant, hurried throws and their pressure did cause an interception, as well as give them the ball inside the Giants' 10-yard line at the end of the first half because of Scott Shanle's return. Pressure definitely played a role in this game for the Saints defense.

Areas of Concern for the Saints Going Forward

1.  Kickoff coverage.  Domenick Hixon repeatedly gashed our coverage for long returns, despite good hangtime and length from Thomas Moorstead. Most of the time the struggle was in staying in lanes and outside guys not playing perpendicular to the ball-carrier, as they are taught.

Because of this, Hixon was able to get outside the contain man. I'm sure Sean Payton is addressing this in today's film review, and the team will do what it can to clean this up for next week and in the future.

2.  Scott Fujita's injury.  Fujita left the game in the first quarter with an apparent knee injury. As of yet, I have not heard of the severity of the injury. I can only hope the guy who graduated from the same high school as me is okay.

The Saints can handle it if he's out for a few games. But it would be tough to face the Patriots and Falcons, and other playoff teams, without this stud at the strongside linebacker position. His ability to cover down the field and apply pressure when asked is very valuable. Troy Evans is a good backup. Hopefully, he doesn't have to become the starter.

3.  The place-kicker position.  I know John Carney has done a good job so far this season, but he doesn't have the length any longer to make long field goals. Garrett Hartley can.

Plus, Carney has had two kicks blocked. Sure, that's on other parts of the field goal team as well, but perhaps he's a step slow, or is kicking the ball with too low of a trajectory. I love Carney, but it may be time to let him go.

Position-by-Position Breakdown

QB  Drew Brees—A+: Duh!

RB  Pierre Thomas, Mike Bell, Reggie Bush, & Heath Evans—B

I thought Thomas struggled in some situations getting as many yards as he is capable. Bell did a good job on the goal-line and in the open field and provided a nice change of pace.

Bush actually provided some big, explosive runs in this game. He didn't put up tons of yards, but was an important part of the run and passing game. Evans had a key hold on a Mike Bell supposed touchdown, but aside from that, played a decent game.

TE  Jeremy Shockey & David Thomas—B+

Overall, I thought both did a good job blocking. Shockey was exceptional in the passing game, working the middle of the field. Nice game from this position.

WR 

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