Saints leave Buffalo with most impressive win

Written by Ken Trahan, President--NewOrleans.Com/Sports | Sunday, 27 September 2009 18:02 | Saints News

Dismantling Detroit was nice but not unexpected. Eating up the Eagles in Philadelphia was eye-opening, though it carried the qualifier of beating a team playing without its starting quarterback. Beating Buffalo was the most impressive victory of the young season.

The Saints moved to 3-0 with a solid 27-7 win over the Bills at Ralph Wilson Stadium. This was the most impressive win of the three because the Saints were facing a jacked-up team at home, a team that should have been 2-0, a team that came in as one of the best run defenses in the NFL. They sure aren't anymore.

The Saints ran roughshod over the Bills defense, rushing for 222 yards and three touchdowns while averaging 6.4 yards per carry. No Mike Bell? No problem.

In his first action of the season, Pierre Thomas looked as though he had not missed a beat and looked healthy. After watching in the first half, Thomas carried 14 times for 126 yards and a pair of touchdowns, all in the second half. His fourth quarter scoring runs of 34 and 19 yards put the game away.

That the Saints could put a game away by running the football should not be lost on anyone observing Sean Payton's 2009 Saints. These are not your 2008 Saints. This team is playing physical football on both sides of the ball.

The offensive line, led by Jahri Evans, who is playing at a very high level, is gashing opponents. Carl Nicks is a very talented, physical young player. Jonathan Goodwin is playing better than he did a year ago. Jermon Bushrod, who had been playing well, struggled after spraining an ankle. Zach Strief stepped in and did an excellent job.

Jeremy Shockey continues to play well. He had six catches for 48 yards. Buffalo won the toss and deferred, challenging the Saints offense. They accepted the challenge happily, driving 82 yards in 10 plays with Lynell Hamilton, getting his first NFL start in place of Bell, scoring on a one-yard run to make it 7-0 with 4:56 to play in the first quarter.

Buffalo tied it 7-7 with some trickery from New Orleanian Bobby April. The former Saints special teams coach came up with a special play, a fake field goal, with holder Brian Moorman connecting with Ryan Denney on a 25-yard touchdown with 14:48 to play in the first half.

That was the only score Buffalo would get and it came on special teams. The Saints defense was the story of the game. They kept Fred Jackson in check, holding him to 71 yards on 18 carries. They battered and bruised quarterback Trent Edwards all day long. Edwards was 20 of 35 for 156 yards with an interception.

He was pressured all day by the elaborate blitz packages of Gregg Williams. The Saints sacked Edwards four times. They held Terrell Owens without a catch, ending his streak of 185 games with a catch. He looked slow. He pouted during the game. He couldn't shake Jabari Greer. He complained afterwards. Buffalo got when they deserved.

Will Smith had one of his best games as a Saint. He had five tackles, a sack, a couple of pressures and a key interception. His bookend, Charles Grant, had his best game in quite some time. Grant had one-and-a-half sacks in the game.

Rookie first-round pick Malcolm Jenkins came up big for the second straight game, forcing his second turnover in as many games covering a kick. He forced a fumbled punt and recovered it, setting up a John Carney 27-yard field goal to make it 10-7 Saints at the half.

As it turned out, that would be all the Saints needed, thanks to the play of the defense, which held the Bills to just 101 yards and no points in the second half.

In the last 10 Bills possessions, they punted or went for it on fourth down and failed nine times. That's defense!

The Saints won despite Drew Brees looking human and downright ordinary. Brees finished 16 of 29 for 172 yards with no touchdowns but no interceptions. Once again, balance, both in the run-pass ration and productivity, was prevalent in the Saints offensive effort. The Saints ran it 38 times and passed just those 29 times.

The subplots were everywhere. April showing the Saints and New Orleans that he still a master special teams guru, former Bill Jabari Greer showing Buffalo what they are missing and Williams, the former head coach in Buffalo, showing his former organization that he is a very good defensive coordinator. Former LSU stars Kyle Williams and Josh Reed played well for the Bills in a losing cause.

When you consider the fact that the Saints have now outscored their three opponents by a 38-2 margin in the fourth quarter, you get more of a picture of a true championship contender. This team plays well when it counts. This team puts teams away in the final quarter.

The Saints won despite going just five of 15 on third down conversions. They won despite accruing nine penalties for 97 yards. John Carney made both of his field goal attempts. Thomas Morstead punted very well once again.

Now, the plot thickens. The Saints are 3-0 for the first time since 2006, when they reached the NFC championship game. In the marquee matchup in the NFL next week, the Saints host the 3-0 New York Jets in the Superdome next Sunday. Following a bye, they will face the currently unbeaten New York Giants.

With the New York media watching, the Saints will have a chance to show the large market bigwigs just how good they are. After watching the Saints performance on Sunday, I would say that they are very good. Though it is early in the season, this is the best Saints team I have seen and I have seen them all. There is a long way to go but the expectation of being part of the journey is an exciting proposition.

New Orleans	7	3	0	17 - 27
Buffalo	0	7	0	0 -  7
First Quarter

NO_Hamilton 1 run (Carney kick), 10:04.

Second Quarter

Buf_Denney 25 pass from Moorman (Lindell kick), 14:48.

NO_FG Carney 27, 4:17.

Fourth Quarter

NO_P.Thomas 34 run (Carney kick), 9:45.

NO_FG Carney 35, 3:21.

NO_P.Thomas 19 run (Carney kick), 2:03.

A_70,261.

___

	NO	Buf
First downs	21	13
Total Net Yards	378	243
Rushes-yards	38-222	21-89
Passing	156	154
Punt Returns	4-17	3-(-1)
Kickoff Returns	2-16	5-111
Interceptions Ret.	1-0	0-0
Comp-Att-Int	16-29-0	21-36-1
Sacked-Yards Lost	2-16	4-27
Punts	5-42.6	9-46.6
Fumbles-Lost	1-1	1-1
Penalties-Yards	9-97	12-116
Time of Possession	33:34	26:26

___

INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS

RUSHING_New Orleans, P.Thomas 14-126, Bush 13-64, Hamilton 5-24, Brees 6-8. Buffalo, Jackson 18-71, Edwards 2-13, Omon 1-5.

PASSING_New Orleans, Brees 16-29-0-172. Buffalo, Edwards 20-35-1-156, Moorman 1-1-0-25.

RECEIVING_New Orleans, Shockey 6-48, Colston 4-67, Henderson 3-40, Bush 3-17. Buffalo, Reed 6-60, Fine 5-34, Evans 4-31, Jackson 4-26, Denney 1-25, Parrish 1-5.

MISSED FIELD GOALS_None.

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GAME BLOG: Saints at Bills