- Admin
- #1
Offline
Preseason Reality
By Mike Detillier
In many ways preseason football is the biggest mirage in pro sports, but there is some reality to preseason. What we saw Thursday night, when the New Orleans Saints first team defense went up against the first team offense of the Baltimore Ravens, the Ravens offense had their way with the Saints top defenders.
The 30-27 loss by the New Orleans Saints to the Ravens was no indication of the red flags that all of us saw in this contest. The (17-0) early jump-on by the Ravens was done methodically and it was helped some by injuries to cornerbacks Brandon Browner and Delvin Breaux and linebacker Dannell Ellerbe.
Other than an early pass rush by the only sure thing the Saints have in their front-seven in Cam Jordan, the Saints had less pressure on Joe Flacco than New England Patriots quarterback Tom Brady had in the footballs in the first half against the Indianapolis Colts in the AFC Championship game.
I was impressed with the speed and football instincts in free agent defensive lineman Bobby Richardson, middle linebacker Stephone Anthony and outside linebacker Hau'oli Kikaha, but early on in the contest there was little to get excited about in the front seven.
Rookie cornerback Damian Swann from Georgia continues to impress with his ball skills and he looks like a "keeper" at a position where you have to keep strong numbers.
Other than the injuries and poor play upfront defensively, what really stood out was the fact that the Saints had 16 penalties in the game. That's right 16 penalties. The Ravens with the same practice time had 6. All this talk about first game nerves and don’t get overally excited about this element is horse-hockey.
This is a bit of a rerun of the preseason of 2014 when in two games the Saints drew the ire of head coach Sean Payton by committing more than a dozen penalties. You have spent weeks in practice sessions, the OTA workouts and a couple of weeks of training at the Greenbrier Resort and then 16 penalties?
That has to get the blood pressure of Payton higher than any other factor that happened Thursday night. While there are certainly "personnel" question marks along the front-seven defensively the discipline, or I should say football discipline, has to now be in question. Veteran outside linebacker Anthony Spencer was twice called for lining up in the neutral zone. Sixteen penalties is no preseason mirage. It’s a reality check.
There was some encouraging news. The Saints have a real battle going on now for the back-up spot behind Drew Brees. I was very impressed with the touch and accuracy skills of Ryan Griffin. Veteran Luke McCown has a built-in advantage having played and started in the league before, but Griffin was sharp completing 10 of 17 passes for 112 yards. Griffin's decision making skills were very good throughout his time on the field.
I also liked the inside power skills of Khiry Robinson, who rushed for 35 yards on 2 carries and caught 3 passes for 37 yards. Tim Hightower, who has battled knee injuries, came in to rush for 31 yards on 12 carries and he caught one pass for 10 yards.
With arthroscopic knee surgery done Friday on halfback/kickoff return man C.J. Spiller, who was having as good a camp as anyone in the black and gold, the Saints might just have to keep Hightower on the final 53 for an insurance policy. But healthy, Hightower can still play in the NFL for someone.
Hopefully Spiller can return for the season-opener against the Arizona Cardinals because he was the guy that would have more than adequately filled the football shoes left vacant since the Saints dealt Darren Sproles to the Philadelphia Eagles in the spring of 2014. Sproles averaged 77 catches per season with the Saints and I am convinced a healthy Spiller would be in the same catch zip-code as a mismatch receiving target downfield.
Wide receiver Brandin Cooks was explosive after the catch and I really liked the play and athleticism of newly-acquired center Max Unger and left tackle Terron Armstead. Rookie halfback and return man Marcus Murphy was also impressive and he displayed good edge speed and the ability to follow his blocks very well in the return game.
The long term prognosis on Saints third round pick quarterback Garrrett Grayson as the eventual replacement for Drew Brees is still to be determined, but like Griffin, was accurate with his throws and he showed the elusive running skills he did as a spread option high school quarterback.
Having watched the Saints, Atlanta Falcons, Tampa Bay Buccaneers and Carolina Panthers this past week, my early thoughts that the winner of the NFC South would have no more than 9 wins has been confirmed.
Preseason is a mirage.There are some issues, especially defensively for the New Orleans Saints, that you just can't disregard.
It's a transition year in New Orleans. It's something that had to happen and averaging just two players per draft since 2007 you knew this would eventually occur. And still no Jairus Byrd at free safety.
As Sean Payton’s patience continues to grow thinner, the reality is that the New Orleans Saints are a team that will be in offensive “track meet” games for all of the 2015 season to post a winning record. The Saints secondary will be better, if Browner, Breaux and Byrd are healthy, but there are major concerns on defense at virtually every spot in that front-7 but two. Defensive end Cam Jordan is a really good football player and middle linebacker Stephone Anthony has the potential to be a top-flight NFL starter.
If the football gods are listening, please keep Drew Brees healthy in 2015.
Long Term on Byrd?
I spoke last week to a longtime NFL offensive coordinator and he was open about his thoughts on New Orleans Saints free safety Jairus Byrd.
"Jairus was a terrific player with the Buffalo Bills and he certainly was one of the real dominant centerfielders in the game, but I would be disturbed if I am New Orleans and he hasn't practiced yet," the veteran offensive coordinator said. "With question marks about how good of a pass rush the Saints will have I would attack the middle of their defense and try and hit the big play deep against them. Long passes don't work a lot in the league because of the pressure generated on quarterbacks and very few free safeties can match up deep downfield. Byrd could match up on the deeper throws. If Byrd can't return to the field early on or is not quite the same player, be best assured teams will go after them over the middle and throw a lot more deep passes against them. They better hope Cam (Jordan) can repeat his 2013 season and the rookie from Washington (Hau'oli) Kikaha can generate a pass rush. If I had to play against them tomorrow I would rush the ball right up the middle on them and then test their deep coverage ability."
Spending Money -- Give it to T.A.
Right now if the New Orleans Saints give a long term deal to anyone on the defensive side of the football they are making a mistake. The next huge contract given by the club should go to left tackle Terron Armstead.
Armstead is entering his third season and he has finally turned all that athleticism and potential into production out on the field. Armstead was always known as a pretty strong run blocker and one of the top athletes on the team, but what I see different now is how good of a pass blocking technician he is. His ability to come out of his stance and lock on to a defender with excellent quickness and efficiency are very impressive and this has to really make Drew Brees sleep better at night knowing he is guarding his blind side. Late last season the former Arkansas-Pine Bluff standout was nicked up and missed playing time, but he looks today like a guy that could be a Pro-Bowl performer at left tackle. I would love to see him be more of a leader upfront and that may come in time, but just watch #72 play and you will see someone who should be the next Saints Lottery winner when it comes down to a contract. He’s that good.
Buddy D. Memories
Throughout the many years I have been involved in sports I get asked more about comments made to me by legendary sportscaster Buddy Diliberto than any other person or persons combined. Buddy D. passed away in early 2005 and yet it is almost daily people will ask me about Diliberto and stories related to him.
The death of NFL Hall of Fame football player Frank Gifford last Sunday brought back comments Buddy D. told me when reminiscing about the heyday of Monday Night Football and the impact of the viewing public.
"I think the coverage of the Kennedy assassination in 1963 and Monday Night Football in the 1970's changed people's television watching more than any other events in my lifetime,” Diliberto said. "The coverage of the President's assassination brought everyone to watch one singular event at one time more than anything that I had ever seen, and the birth and early growth of Monday Night Football put professional football in primetime for the first time.
Every network passed on it, but ABC jumped at it and it put us on the television map since I was at ABC at that time. Give Roone Arledge great credit for taking a chance on something others thought wouldn’t work. The first year it was Howard Cosell, Don Meredith and Keith Jackson. The ratings were good, but it exploded in the second year when Arledge made Keith Jackson the voice of college football and replaced him with Frank Gifford.
Gifford had movie star good looks and great name recognition and he was perfect to team up with Howard (Cosell) who was the lightning rod for controversy and Don Meredith was like a standup comedian. Frank was really a great guy for the affiliates to deal with and always accessible. You couldn't say that about Cosell or Meredith. There will never be another threesome like that again. It really financially saved ABC in many ways and it was the perfect lead-in for my own "From the Pressbox" television show. Our general manager just couldn't believe the Nielsen ratings we got from Monday Night Football. At first he thought it was a misprint. CBS and NBC totally dominated us in the ratings before Monday Night Football came into play. After that we were in first place in Year 2 and never looked back. People of another generation can't imagine what that show did to change television viewing habits forever."
Follow Mike on Twitter at @MikeDetillier