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Kyle brister
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Preseason exists for a reason. You have to gauge your players & your teams readiness some how. And I have no doubt there was a lot of film of this contest by our coaching staff for that very purpose.
Having said all of that, I have my own observations based upon going to the game & watching the replays with the understanding that many of our top players were not involved, or played very little.
THE OPPONENT:
Watching the game on TV gave me a much different feel than watching it in person at the game. My first observation is that if the Saints are going to the Superbowl this season, the odds are very good they will see this team again in the playoffs. Minnesota looked great & they were obviously well prepared on both sides of the football for a 1st preseason game. They have great players all over the field & their schedule is also very conducive for them to win double digit games this season.
SAINTS QBs:
This is where my TV observations began to differ from my live game observations. Bridgewater was absolutely on fire. His command of the team was excellent. His throws were on target, his reads were pretty much spot on. And he really should have been 17 or 18/19 or better. But since his receivers had problems hauling in passes in their mitts, this unfortunately did not occur. That was after further review.
Hill looked extremely improved from last season. His read progressions were way ahead of last season. His long & intermediate throws were really nice & his ability to buy extra yards when being flushed is as good as any dual threat QB in football.
SAINTS OFFENSIVE LINE:
This leads me to my 2nd observation which differed greatly on TV Vs. live viewing. I was concerned at the length of time it took our routes to develop & the inability of our receivers to get open down field. Our offensive line did an overall good job of run blocking, but the amount of time it took for guys to open downfield caused our offensive line to have some problematic breakdowns in pass protection which showed itself with Bridegewater & would have shown itself with Brees. With Hill that pass coverage & pass rush resulted in big chunks of yards by the QB. There will be some easy cuts at the Offensive line & I don't foresee them keeping 9 guys there.
SAINTS WRs:
This seems to be the BIG issue for national writers & appeared it's ugly head in this game for sure. I counted eight drops of catchable balls & very little separation by our WRs as opposed to Minnesota's. Cyril Grayson was a very pleasant Surprise & had it not been for a dumb false start it would have been very interesting to see what he could do with that reverse. He & Deonte Harris both looked great. Jordan Humphrey looks like a pure beast.
SAINTS RBs:
This was my biggest area of concern for the offense going into the season. Now it appears to be one of the biggest areas of strength. Kamara is, well, Kamara. I don't really need to see him again in preseason to know what he can & will do even though it's like a box of chocolates. You never know what he will do, but it's probably going to be something great. Murray is all that was advertised. he makes good reads of his blocks, he has great size & obvious power. But his speed was nice to see as well as his hands.
Washington had some nice runs & is very conscious about ball security which makes him a nice dependable back. Ozigbo was the real surprise. This guy has good moves, breaks tackles & has a very nice burst of speed to get into overdrive. He definitely makes the practice squad & could be a surprise roster player. Rodgers just about killed his chances dropping that 2 point conversion. He didn't show any of what he used to show when he played the Saints.
SPECIAL TEAMs:
Sean has been clamoring about special teams problems for years & in many cases rightfully so. Well this year it looks like his problems are solved. This is the one are of the game where the Saints were obviously head & shoulders above their opponent. Moorestead is Moorestead. But Will Lutz has now developed into a top flight kicker with range & accuracy as good as anyone in the league. If the Saints keep a specialty & if they ever had a specialty guy worth keeping it's already obvious that Harris is that guy. His fearlessness translates itself live, or on TV. he reads his blocks, the guys coming after him, fields the ball cleanly , makes his decisions & runs like his hair is on fire. he is either a keeper, or a trade commodity because I don't see this guy making it very long on the practice squad.
defense:
I'm not even gonna try to break this down into individual units because there's no use in agitating anyone who reads this thread any more than necessary. But there was absolutely not a thing from game planning, to execution, to individual achievement which ever made me think that this unit is going to be special this season. I was disappointed with the passing attack, the line backing was weak most of the game, the pass coverage was miserable with huge break downs both mentally & physically, And the run defense which started off pretty well, ended up getting shredded by running backs who may not ever see the field for Minnesota. The only good thing about a game like this is you wee that one guy who is putting out with greater effort than anyone else. And the only guy I can say played his behind off on every single down he was in, was Trey Hendrickson. Trey is limited in his athletic ability at this level. But he is one guy who gives it everything he has on every single play. I could say the same about Craig Robertson, but he made a terrible play on a break away draw that went for 30 yards, or more.
I know, it's only preseason. But this team has it's toughest games of the season the 1st four games this year. And if this defense doesn't pick up the pace & get a whole lot better really quick they will start 1-3 & have their backs against the wall the rest of the season.
Having said all of that, I have my own observations based upon going to the game & watching the replays with the understanding that many of our top players were not involved, or played very little.
THE OPPONENT:
Watching the game on TV gave me a much different feel than watching it in person at the game. My first observation is that if the Saints are going to the Superbowl this season, the odds are very good they will see this team again in the playoffs. Minnesota looked great & they were obviously well prepared on both sides of the football for a 1st preseason game. They have great players all over the field & their schedule is also very conducive for them to win double digit games this season.
SAINTS QBs:
This is where my TV observations began to differ from my live game observations. Bridgewater was absolutely on fire. His command of the team was excellent. His throws were on target, his reads were pretty much spot on. And he really should have been 17 or 18/19 or better. But since his receivers had problems hauling in passes in their mitts, this unfortunately did not occur. That was after further review.
Hill looked extremely improved from last season. His read progressions were way ahead of last season. His long & intermediate throws were really nice & his ability to buy extra yards when being flushed is as good as any dual threat QB in football.
SAINTS OFFENSIVE LINE:
This leads me to my 2nd observation which differed greatly on TV Vs. live viewing. I was concerned at the length of time it took our routes to develop & the inability of our receivers to get open down field. Our offensive line did an overall good job of run blocking, but the amount of time it took for guys to open downfield caused our offensive line to have some problematic breakdowns in pass protection which showed itself with Bridegewater & would have shown itself with Brees. With Hill that pass coverage & pass rush resulted in big chunks of yards by the QB. There will be some easy cuts at the Offensive line & I don't foresee them keeping 9 guys there.
SAINTS WRs:
This seems to be the BIG issue for national writers & appeared it's ugly head in this game for sure. I counted eight drops of catchable balls & very little separation by our WRs as opposed to Minnesota's. Cyril Grayson was a very pleasant Surprise & had it not been for a dumb false start it would have been very interesting to see what he could do with that reverse. He & Deonte Harris both looked great. Jordan Humphrey looks like a pure beast.
SAINTS RBs:
This was my biggest area of concern for the offense going into the season. Now it appears to be one of the biggest areas of strength. Kamara is, well, Kamara. I don't really need to see him again in preseason to know what he can & will do even though it's like a box of chocolates. You never know what he will do, but it's probably going to be something great. Murray is all that was advertised. he makes good reads of his blocks, he has great size & obvious power. But his speed was nice to see as well as his hands.
Washington had some nice runs & is very conscious about ball security which makes him a nice dependable back. Ozigbo was the real surprise. This guy has good moves, breaks tackles & has a very nice burst of speed to get into overdrive. He definitely makes the practice squad & could be a surprise roster player. Rodgers just about killed his chances dropping that 2 point conversion. He didn't show any of what he used to show when he played the Saints.
SPECIAL TEAMs:
Sean has been clamoring about special teams problems for years & in many cases rightfully so. Well this year it looks like his problems are solved. This is the one are of the game where the Saints were obviously head & shoulders above their opponent. Moorestead is Moorestead. But Will Lutz has now developed into a top flight kicker with range & accuracy as good as anyone in the league. If the Saints keep a specialty & if they ever had a specialty guy worth keeping it's already obvious that Harris is that guy. His fearlessness translates itself live, or on TV. he reads his blocks, the guys coming after him, fields the ball cleanly , makes his decisions & runs like his hair is on fire. he is either a keeper, or a trade commodity because I don't see this guy making it very long on the practice squad.
defense:
I'm not even gonna try to break this down into individual units because there's no use in agitating anyone who reads this thread any more than necessary. But there was absolutely not a thing from game planning, to execution, to individual achievement which ever made me think that this unit is going to be special this season. I was disappointed with the passing attack, the line backing was weak most of the game, the pass coverage was miserable with huge break downs both mentally & physically, And the run defense which started off pretty well, ended up getting shredded by running backs who may not ever see the field for Minnesota. The only good thing about a game like this is you wee that one guy who is putting out with greater effort than anyone else. And the only guy I can say played his behind off on every single down he was in, was Trey Hendrickson. Trey is limited in his athletic ability at this level. But he is one guy who gives it everything he has on every single play. I could say the same about Craig Robertson, but he made a terrible play on a break away draw that went for 30 yards, or more.
I know, it's only preseason. But this team has it's toughest games of the season the 1st four games this year. And if this defense doesn't pick up the pace & get a whole lot better really quick they will start 1-3 & have their backs against the wall the rest of the season.