Black & Gold Xs & Os: Tape Review Of the Saints Comeback Win

Lost in the euphoria of the Saints miraculous comeback Sunday evening was the fact the Saints probably played the worst football not only of their season, but perhaps of any team's season in the first half.

They couldn't block, they couldn't throw, they couldn't catch a pass, they couldn't tackle, they missed assignments, took poor angles, and perhaps worst of all, just looked extremely flat, and therefore lost (like the show, haha).

In the first half the Saints looked like they couldn't hold the jockstraps of the Detroit Lions. In the second half, they looked the best team in football, which in my opinion they are.

Sure there was an egregious call on a third down play on Miami's first offensive series, which, if it had been called correctly, or the replay booth didn't malfunction, the Saints would've gotten the ball the next play. You could say, well the Saints still forced them to punt.

That is true, but Miami then pinned the Saints inside their own 10-yard line with the punt. Of course, I have no idea why Lance Moore caught that punt. That was really the first of many bonehead plays the Saints made in the first half, which really became a comedy of errors.

The Saints then committed a false start penalty, immediately followed by a delay of game, which is directly on the shoulders of Mr. Brees. Finally, they were able to run a play, only to throw an incompletion. On the next play, they run, but with horrible blocking, and Thomas gains one or two yards.

Third-and-12, the Dolphins blitz Brees, he doesn't have time to find an open receiver, so he chucks it downfield, hoping Devery Henderson will find it, only to have it intercepted and returned to the five yard line.

Next play, touchdown Dolphins, and the first half rout is on. Maybe if that poor completion call had been reversed none of this would've happened and the Saints may have gone on to an easy victory.

But in a way I am actually very happy that it went this way. One because it made for a tremendous comeback and a very entertaining football game. And two, because it showed what New Orleans fans really wanted to see. Can this team overcome a deficit? Can they finish games? When it's not easy, can this team still win?

And the Saints responded with a resounding "YES!!!!"

The thing that struck me when watching the film is that the Saints didn't make a ton of adjustments, scheme-wise in the second half. Jo-Lonn Dunbar replaced Troy Evans at SLB, and they got a little more exotic with the blitz packages. But mostly, they just executed better.

Offensively, Mike Bell provided a huge spark, with his power running in-between-the-tackles.  Jeremy Shockey went into crazy-guy mode, which is when he plays his best football, and Drew Brees went from high school quarterback to All-Pro again.

What does this tell me?

It wasn't scheme. It wasn't even player insertions, although that helped. It was a team with an attitude. It's a team that is on a mission, and will not be stopped. It is a team that knows they are the best team in football and refuses to lose to inferior teams.

The reason I italicized "team" is to point to the fact that it is not a bunch of individuals out their playing for their own glory. Each guy is giving everything he has, and doing so unselfishly because they know the prize is so much better than getting their own glory.

Watching them on film, you notice this. Sure, guys will get upset if they don't get a throw when they are open. But when they see that someone else caught it and got a first down, they immediately forget about their own nature.

This team-attitude no doubt stems from their leader, their quarterback Drew Brees. Nobody is more of a competitor and winner than he is. The guys' will is doubly stronger than most people's. But it's not about him, it's about the Saints. And they all just feed off that attitude.

So I could talk about xs and os, but that wouldn't do this game justice. This game for the Saints was not about the xs and os. It was about the hearts and the attitudes.

It was about a defense that said, we're tired of this crap. Watch out Chad Henne, we're going to blitz you, do something about it. And the amazing thing is the Dolphins had no response. Once the Saints got going, it was a like a steamroll.  That's what leadership does for a team.

Position-by-Position Grades

QB  Drew Brees:  B-

To say that Brees' overall performance was a great one would be foolish. He looked human for just about the entire first half. His decision-making was much slower than normal. He was rattled by the Dolphins' pass rush. His throws were inaccurate.

But at the end of the first half, in the two-minute it all came back. From that point on, Brees looked calm and composed. He made much quicker decisions, threw more accurately, but mostly provided the leadership that great teams have.

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

In the first half, this group was average at best. Granted, that's better than the rest of the team, who was downright awful. They did the best they could to run through holes that weren't there. They caught some passes but couldn't do much with them, because there was nowhere to run.

In the second half, the offensive line figured some things out and the game became easy for this group. Again they ran hard through holes. They caught passes and made things happen with the ball.

I really think Mike Bell's presence in the second half was huge. He went in there and ran with a passion the Dolphins had not seen on the day. And you could see it even impacted the way Pierre Thomas ran the football. And for that matter, it impacted Reggie Bush.

Bush, when he had the ball, looked like the old Reggie. He broke a tackle on a key pass conversion near the end of the game. But the most exciting play of a very exciting game had to be the double-reverse where Reggie took off flying from the five and a half-yard line and got into the end zone.

Last time he did that was in Pittsburgh in 2006. The Saints lost that game, but weren't about to lose this one.

TE Jeremy Shockey & David Thomas:  A

You can't say enough about the attitude and effort Shockey gave in the second half yesterday. He clearly was a big boost to the Saints offensive efforts. Not only did have 105 yards receiving, but he did a really nice job of run blocking and protecting Drew Brees in the second half.

Thomas, although not the star that Shockey is, also provided a boost with good blocking. The Saints are definitely a better football team because he is a member of their team.

WR  Marques Colston, Devery Henderson, Lance Moore, & Robert Meachem:  B

I thought Colston had a rare game, in that he was targeted so often that he couldn't help but put up good stats. The problem is that he left a lot on the board.

He got outfought in the third quarter for a ball in the end zone that was a perfect throw by Brees

Henderson provided a big spark by catching some balls on intermediate routes and making key conversions. His end-around also was a key play on one of the Saints drives.

Moore was largely ineffective, but that is not tremendously surprising given the types of routes he runs and the types of coverages the Dolphins like to play.

Meachem was similar although he did a good job blocking when in, and was open on a few throws, but Brees chose to go in a different direction, often because protection was breaking down.

Offensive Line :  C+

I feel this is actually a pretty generous grade overall. Their play in the first half deserved an "F". They were out-physicaled, outsmarted, and just outplayed.

I'm not sure what happened in the locker room at halftime, but suddenly they transformed back to the offensive line they had been in the previous five games and for several seasons now.

Defensive Line Will Smith, Charles Grant, Bobby McCray, Anthony Hargrove, Remi Ayodele, & Sedrick Ellis:  B-

For the most part, this unit was average. There were a few plays where Will Smith took poor angles and did not keep contain on the "Wildcat". Grant didn't really make much happen. McCray actually provided a spark for the team when he entered the game in the second quarter.

Sedrick Ellis left in the second quarter. Hopefully, his injury is not too bad. He will be a tough guy to replace over the course of a season, although he was getting his butt kicked when he left yesterday.

Remi Ayodele played solidly, especially in the second half. But the Saints best player on the line was Anthony Hargrove.

He played with a passion that is unusual for that position. He was all over the place. He had two sacks, caused mostly by effort. He clogged running holes. The Saints might just have a player in Anthony Hargrove.

LB Jonathan Vilma, Scott Shanle, Troy Evans, & Jo-Lonn Dunbar:  B-

Truthfully the only reason this group gets a grade in the "B range" is because of Vilma. Otherwise, it might be an "F". Shanle had by far his worst game of the season. He took poor angles, missed tackles. Even Vilma in the first half looked a little flustered, sometimes covering the wrong guy.

But he really stepped it up in the second half. I think he was the best player on the field in that second half. He was running around making tackles, getting his defense into the right calls. He stepped up big time.

Safety Roman Harper & Darren Shaper:  A

Please don't allow my comment about Vilma to discount the play of Sharper and Harper really in the entire game. I thought this was the best game either of them played all year. Harper was solid in coverage situations, and made plays in the running game or chasing guys with the ball.

Sharper was as solid as ever and really stepped up in the running game as well. Of course, adding a pick-six at the moment that he did, was huge for New Orleans.

DB Jabari Greer, Tracy Porter, & Randall Gay:  B-

This wasn't the best game for young Porter, who got burned by slower, white receivers Greg Camarillo and Brian Hartline numerous times. But he continued fighting and was able to make a few plays as well.

Most notably he kept playing when Henne threw a perfect ball to Ted Ginn, who then dropped it allowing Darren Sharper to make the interception. Porter should be credited for keeping that play alive.

Greer was his normal reliable self. He almost never gets beat, plus he came up and played the run effectively yesterday. His impact on this team has been very much understated in my opinion.

Randall Gay was solid at nickelback although it was his fault Davone Bess even got open on that early play in the game where it should've been ruled no catch. He waited to jam him and never recovered. Overall though, it was a solid effort from this group.

In closing, I again need to vent my frustration that John Carney is still the Saints Kicker. He cannot make a field goal beyond 45 yards. At some point, we're going to need that. I really hope Sean Payton goes back to Garrett Hartley. He's the best guy for the job.

Until later this week, and a preview of the Falcons, have a good one Saints fans. We have the best team in the NFL. Only got to prove it 13 more times.  Geaux Saints!