Saints Victory Not Pretty, But a Great One Nonetheless

Coming into Thursday night's season-opening rematch versus the Vikings, I believed the Saints would score at will against the Vikings secondary and hold them down defensively. It played out so that I was about 67 percent correct. On two drives, the Saints offense did score at will. And for the most part, the Saints' D did shut down the Vikings' offense.

After watching the game a second time, I have listed some of my thoughts, as always, from a coaching perspective. I have listed five things I liked, and four I do not, because I think a win proves there were more positives than negatives.

Five Things I Really Liked Thursday Night:

1.  The coverage units were outstanding. Thomas Morstead had an outstanding game punting and kicking off. He got great hang time on both types of kicks, which gave his coverage units plenty of time to get down the field and make the tackle. Courtney Roby was outstanding in the kick-coverage game.

2.  Overall Great Pass Coverage. Yes, the Saints' defense got beat deep down the seam on consecutive plays by Visanthe Shiancoe to end the first half. Aside from those two plays, the Vikings hit one pass of more than 20 yards. Compared to the number of explosive pass plays the Saints gave up just two years ago, their secondary has made tremendous improvement.

It is likely that the Vikings' lack of cohesion between quarterback and receivers aided in the Saints overall pass defense. But Tracy Porter, Jabari Greer, Roman Harper, and Malcolm Jenkins all played key roles in the back half of the defense, and with Jonathan Vilma roaming the robber area (intermediate middle area), the Saints' pass defense was more than solid.

3.  Improved Rush Defense. In the first half, Adrian Peterson was breaking tackles and making the Saints defense look very vulnerable. Truthfully, even in the first half, the Saints' defense was plugging up running holes, but forgot to wrap up the strong, elusive All-Pro.

In the second half, Jonathan Vilma and company remembered that it's not enough to simply plug up running holes, you must also tackle the player with the ball. The overall point is that a lesser running back wouldn't have been nearly as effective given the same circumstances.

Overall, I have to give the defense a B+ for run defense. We just have to hope the tackling improves in the coming weeks.

4.  The Fast Start. The Saints' offense looked like itself to start the game and the third quarter. Reggie Bush was a big part of this in both halves. In the second half, Pierre Thomas had some key runs on the touchdown drive. Clearly, Sean Payton had two really good scripts, and Drew Brees and the rest of the offense executed both times flawlessly.

5.  Finishing the Game. In 2008, the Saints were a good football team who couldn't finish games. In 2009, the Super Bowl Champs gained that title because of their ability to finish games with hard-nosed running and tough defense. Well, for at least one night, it looks like the Saints have carried that ability through with them to 2010. If the Saints continue this trend, 2010 could be another magical year.

Four Things I Did Not Like So Much:

1.  Two Missed Field Goals. This is probably the most obvious of any of my selections. My problem is not so much with Garrett Hartley. I don't want to add on to any of his shame or guilt. Instead, my point and my frustration is that the first miss followed an interception which gave the team possession inside the Vikings' 30-yard line. The second followed a really productive drive in which Brees threw a nice ball to Robert Meachem, which could have and maybe should have been a touchdown.

2.  Dropped Passes. As previously mentioned, Meachem dropped a ball in the end zone, which he could have easily come up with and would have given the Saints another touchdown. (It would have given Brees another TD pass. Of course, as a fantasy owner of Brees, that made me bitter.) But as a Saints' fan, I was more bitter since Meachem has shown improved hands the past two seasons, but that was a ball he should've held onto.

There were at least two other passes that frustrated me. Devery Henderson was the target of a perfect throw by Brees down the seam in the first half. A Vikings' defender was able to come in and knock the ball loose, but Henderson is definitely capable of holding onto that ball. The third was a pass to Lance Moore which would have picked up a first down on a third-down attempt.

3.  More Reggie. As I watched the game last night, I saw a healthy, quick Reggie Bush who was explosive when he had the football in his hands. On two carries, he ran with conviction and made tacklers miss. He ran precise routes and found himself open often.

In an interview with Marshall Faulk prior to last night's game, Sean Payton expressed his belief that Reggie is an elite punt returner. I agree, but I also think he has turned into a guy who can be an elite runner if gets 10 or so carries in a game. I'd like to see Payton call for more of Reggie in the backfield taking hand-offs. He is as explosive as he's been as a pro.

4.  Lack of Running in General in the First Half. I have no problem with a game plan that wants to take advantage of a weak secondary by throwing the football. But to come out and run once in the first 28 minutes of the game is a little ridiculous, especially when it's not leading to touchdowns. Interestingly though, I thought the next two runs immediately following Vilma's interception around two minutes to go in the first half were also ill-advised. That seemed to me like the perfect time to air it out. Of course, I was pleased by the more balanced attack in the second half.   

POTG

I should also mention that I thought the player of the game was Jonathan Vilma. He did a great job defensively, adjusting his unit to the Viking's different offense looks. Vilma, of course, recorded an interception, and had four solo tackles with a pass defended. He was the key to the Saints' fairly effective pass coverage in the seam.

Runner-Up

Sedrick Ellis had the Saints only sack and recorded five total tackles. He was the key to plugging holes against the running game and slowing down the Vikings' power running game.

Final Thoughts 

Despite being the lowest-scoring win in the Sean Payton era, this may have been one of the Saints' most impressive wins. It's been said many times that the mark of a great championship team is the ability to win a game when they don't bring their "A game." Thursday night, Drew Brees, Pierre Thomas, and the defense proved they could. What more could one really ask for from a season opener?