Saints-Giants post-game observations

Written by Les East | Sunday, 18 October 2009 14:28 | Saints News

The NFL game in the Superdome on Sunday afternoon was a test to see if an undefeated team was for real after padding its record against a weak schedule.

The New York Giants failed that test as they were outclassed by the now 5-0 Saints, for whom the previously 5-0 Giants were no match in a 48-27 New Orleans romp.

In a battle of the second-rated passer in the NFL (the Giants’ Eli Manning) and the third-rated passer (the Saints’ Drew Brees), Manning was sub-par and Brees was exceptional.

He completed 23-of-30 for 369 yards and four touchdowns – one each to Jeremy Shockey, Robert Meachem, Lance Moore, and Marques Colston. He had complete command of the game from the first snap, and the top-rated pass defense in the NFL was essentially helpless.

If New Orleans had come out and played a near-perfect game in dispatching the Super Bowl champions of two seasons ago, it would be easy to wonder if it could maintain that level of play week in and week out. But the most impressive thing about this rout was that so much of it was unimpressive.

The special teams had several terrible plays, the defense missed some tackles and gave up a couple of big plays, and the team committed a few sloppy penalties. Yeah, I’m nitpicking, but that’s part of my job. Still, the Saints scored more than 40 points for the third time season and won by a lopsided margin for the fourth time.

This sequence sums up Sunday’s performance: Third quarter, New Orleans is leading 34-17 and facing a third-and-7 at the New York 31. The Saints are forced to call a timeout to avoid a delay-of-game penalty. After the timeout, tight end David Thomas commits a false start, then Colston commits an illegal-touching penalty.

All of a sudden it’s third-and-17 and Brees drops back and easily – and I mean easily – completes a 22-yard pass to Moore for a first down. Two plays later Brees throws a 12-yard touchdown pass to a wide-open Colston. My best guess is that Colston beat Kevin Dockery, who appeared to spend Sunday afternoon rehearsing to be Jason David for Halloween.

By the way, that back-breaking drive began when Jabari Greer intercepted Eli Manning, thereby extending his franchise career record for plays made by a cornerback, in just his fifth game.

I wrote earlier this week that this game was all about the Saints defense and how it would fare against the best quarterback and offense it has faced. Well, it did just fine, but I was wrong – this game was all about Brees and an offense that can beat you and beat you decisively in any manner that it has to – or chooses to.

The surest sign that the Saints are legitimate contenders is the change in their karma, best demonstrated by the sequence at the end of the second quarter. After failing to punch the ball into the end zone on two runs from inside the 1-yard line, most Saints teams would have been deflated, maybe even allowed points in the final 55 seconds of the half.

But, instead, this team essentially negated that failure. Roman Harper sacked Manning, causing fumble, and he inadvertently kicked the ball toward the Giants’ end zone. Linebacker Scott Shanle scooped up the ball and ran toward the end zone. He was tackled at the 6-yard line and the ball came loose and squirted into the end zone, where New York recovered.

The officials ruled Shanle was down, but a booth review was called. Referee Ed Hochuli (yes, THAT Ed Hochuli), ruled that even though the ball had been knocked loose from Shanle’s grasp before he hit the ground, it was pinned against his body and therefore wasn’t loose until after Shanle was down.

It was probably a correct judgment by Hochuli, but the type of nuanced interpretation that virtually always goes against the Saints. But when you’re playing as well as the Saints are, the nuances go your way and you get a ruling that sets up a touchdown instead of a deflating touchback. Halftime: Saints, 34-17. It was all but over.

Some more observations: If Sean Payton’s movie script is as successful as his offensive-play scripts have been, he’ll have a future in Hollywood.

The Saints scored on their first possession for the fifth time in as many games and this drive was a beauty – 15 plays, 70 yards, 7:41 time of possession, three third-down conversions, and a fourth-down conversion (Mike Bell’s touchdown). The Saints have four touchdowns and one field goal on their opening drives.

Now for Payton’s disturbing insistence on senseless challenges. He did it again in the second quarter when he challenged the spot on a Giants third-down completion for a first down. Domenik Hixon caught a 10-yard pass right at the first down marker and was pushed back. The officials rightly spotted the ball as a first down, Payton challenged, and New Orleans lost a timeout. Yeah, more nitpicking.

Saints defensive coordinator Gregg Williams toyed with the Giants prior to their first offensive play. After the kickoff return following New Orleans’ initial touchdown, the game was delayed for a television timeout.

During the break Williams sent reserve linebacker Marvin Mitchell in for nose tackle Remi Ayodele, suggesting New Orleans would open in a three-four front. As New York approached the line of scrimmage after the timeout, Ayodele ran in and replaced Mitchell. Not a big deal, but more insight into how Williams’ mind works.

Is it just me, or does Reggie Bush seem to be channeling Mario Bates and stepping out of bounds when there’s more yardage to be gained?

But to Bush’s credit he made one of his few good decisions on a punt return this season when he let a Jeff Feagles punt land inside the 10, and it bounced into the end zone for a touchback.

The most valuable player on the Saints’ erratic special teams was Courtney Roby’s equipment. The kickoff coverage team gave up returns of 45 and 68 yards, setting up 10 points for New York, and John Carney’s extra point after New Orleans’ third touchdown was blocked.

On the plus side, however, a tug on Roby’s jersey yielded an extra 15 yards for a personal foul (horse-collar) on one kickoff return and a personal foul for grabbing his facemask yielded another 15 on another return.

If you’re Payton you have to love the fact that you’re 5-0, you hold the tie-breaker against the Giants and Eagles, and your victory, which will be the most talked-about one in the NFL this weekend, features just enough blemishes to get your players attention this week.

But looking at the big picture, the only nitpicking I can do is to say there’s a long, long way to go. There’s no nitpicking in this, though: through five games the New Orleans Saints have been the most well-rounded team in the NFL, and so far they’ve gotten better each week.

(Les East’s blog was named “Best Sports Blog” by the Press Club of New Orleans.)