Saints "D" Looks Sharp(er) In 17-7 Win Over Bengals

In Cincinnati today they are saying you can win for losing.

They say all they wanted to see was their first team offense in high gear and their fragile, rockstar QB Carson Palmer leave New Orleans in one piece.

They got both, as the Bengals first team offense amassed 170 yards of total offense, although there was a brief scare on the Cincinnati sideline when Carson Palmer suffered a mild ankle sprain.

"We did some things we wanted to do. We got a good look at a lot of guys tonight, which, I think, was the fun of it." Cincinnati head coach Marvin Lewis told reporters following the New Orleans Saints 17-7 win in the exhibition opener for both teams. "We know what we have to improve upon. We were sloppy with our hands in a lot of different areas. We can't turn the football over."

But turnover the football they did early and often against a Gregg Williams newly revamped Saints defense.

One of the reasons the high-profile Williams was brought in was to the teach the art of thievery to a defense that rarely stripped the ball from opponents one year ago.  Unfortunately for Saints partisans, all the stripping in 2008 took place at those Houses of Ill Repute on Bourbon Street.

You see Williams was a defensive coordinator in Washington, DC and good Lord knows he couldn't help but learn a thing or two about theft, coaching in that town.

Hopefully last night was a forerunner of things to come.

Williams' opportunistic unit created three turnovers, noteworthy for a team that has suffered from a dearth of playmakers the past two years. Defensive end Bobby McCray, with six quarterback sacks, was the only significant playmaker last season.

Early in the first quarter, New Orleans new free safety Darren Sharper, an off-season free agent acquisition, showed he still has some game at 33 when he stripped Bengals running back Cedric Benson of the football. Middle linebacker extraordinaire Jonathan Vilma recovered the free ball and rambled 47 yards to the Cincinnati 6-yard line.  

Said Sharper: "The turnovers we created with the defense was the most positive thing because that can change games. Your chances of winning become a lot higher when you cause turnovers. We're going to keep doing that. On thing about Coach Williams is he has a big playbook and a lot of different schemes. You best believe we have some things in our back pocket that we're going to pull out."

Like any good poker player, Williams is not going to tip his hand this early in the season. This high-stakes NFL competition is too rich for some coaches' blood but Williams has never been one to be easily intimidated.

Vilma said he tried to score but got a little tired. This life of crime can be a tough job.

Stripping. Swiping. Forcing Fumbles. Interceptions in mid-air. All in a day's work for Williams' new gang of small time crooks.

After Cincinnati's second possession stalled, Vilma got caught engaging in some more highway robbery. He intercepted a Palmer pass intended for Andre Caldwell and returned it 65 yards to the Saints 4 yard line before Caldwell stripped Vilma from behind and the Bengals Andrew Whitworth recovered.

While neither turnover resulted in a score, Saints Head Coach Sean Payton gave his new defense some style points.

"I was pleased with how we played defense and created turnovers," said Payton.

And while it wouldn't be the Saints if they didn't get goughed for big yardage time and again, early returns seem to indicate the Gregg Williams aggressive, attack style, take-no-prisoners approach may be at its genesis in New Orleans.

Just last Sunday, Fr.Tony over at Our Lady of Hopeless Cases, on the edge of the French Quarter, qouted St. Francis of Assisi, "preach often, if necessary use words." Then, he  put down the mic and returned to his chair and I joined in the cheering- whooping and hollering and even shouted Praise The Lord!

On Friday night, veterans Vilma and Sharper let their play speak volumes and in the process may have ushered in a entirely new way of doing things, a sassy new style of defense on the Bayou that will drive opponents crazy.