Saints 30 @ Chiefs 20: Breaking it Down - The First Half

1st quarter

• The Saints start the game with the ball and go three and out.
• 12:49 Remaining - Payton challenges a catch made by Brad Cottam and - surprise, surprise - loses it. Another timeout wasted early.
  
• 12:05 Remaining - Thigpen tries for Gonazalez but amazingly, he is double covered. Holy crap! Incomplete. On the following play Thigpen then tries for Will Franklin down the left sideline but Gay is right there to make a beautiful deflection. Wait a minute. What the hell is going on? What happened to our secondary? Did someone replace them? This is crazy. A guy could get used to this. Chiefs punt.
  
• 11:13 Remaining - Stecker catches a pass for 12 yards and limps off the field. I'm not sure he ever returns. The next play Drew throws an interception intended for Devery Henderson who slips on the wet field and can't run the proper route. Wembley all over again. Announcer Brian Billick thinks Jarrad Page would have intercepted it anyway. I used to like Billick.
  
• 8:08 Remaining - 4th and one for the Chiefs. Out of the Wildcat offense Larry Johnson gets the direct snap, takes it up the middle and gets the first down. Didn't they know what play was coming?
• 5:36 Remaining - 2nd and Goal. Dwayne Bowe grabs the jump ball in the endzone for the first score of the game. Usama is tight on the coverage but he does not jump when Bowe jumps. In fact, he doesn't jump at all. He does attempt a swipe at the ball as Bowe heads to the ground. And to also give credit, Bowe continued to hold on to the ball with one hand as he we falling. Make of this defensive play what you will.
• After the extra point, Courtney Roby returns the kickoff nicely for 54 yards. One of these days he's gonna take one of those back. Oooh, maybe it will be Monday. Lance Moore makes a nice initial blog to spring him.
• The Saints start clicking on offense. Pierre is getting some touches and making some nice gains.
• 3:15 Remaining - 3rd and 1. Pierre gets the ball in an attempt to pick up just one yard. He runs right up the middle into a huge pile. At first glance it looks like he is stuffed for no gain or a loss but after a couple of seconds he miraculously comes shooting out the other end of the pile for a gain of seven. Watch this one again, it's crazy. I don't know how the hell he got through! Must have just been the angle. Oh wait they're showing the replay from the end zone camera...nope, still don't know how he did it.
  
• 2:33 Remaining - Matt Lehr botches a snap. I didn't remember this and erroneously referenced no botched snaps in the "Making the Grade" post. Drop that offensive line grade from a B to a C+.
  
• 0:31 Remaining - Hartley makes his third straight field goal. Barely.
  
• The Chiefs get the ball back but the Saints play some pretty good defense. Randall Gay has good coverage on Dwayne Bowe and gets his hand out enough to distract Bowe just a bit.
• 0:10 Remaining - 3rd and 10 for the Chiefs. Shanle comes in untouched from the left side and gets his arms wrapped around Thigpen who squirms his way out. Will Smith cleans it up and gets the credit for the sack. Chiefs punt and the Saints start the second quarter with the ball.

The second quarter can be found after the jump.

2nd Quarter

• 14:52 Remaining - Saints decide to take a shot deep down field. McAllister and Brees flick their flea and Brees throws deep to Colston at the 5 yard line. Marques leaps over Legget to make the catch as the ball hits Colston right inside his arms and bounces away. I really think the old Colston would have caught that. Brian Billick mentions that the sun might have played a factor.
  
• A healthy mix of Deuce and Pierre allow the Saints to move well down the field. Pierre had a big catch and run for 24 yards thanks to a missed assignment by a Chief. Deuce caps it off by leaping over the pile and into the end zone for his record tying score.
  
• Garrett Hartley makes a nice kickoff and puts it through the back of the end zone. Certainly the wind played a factor, no?
• 11:23 Remaining - On a Tony Gonzalez reception, Jason David's attempt to tackle the much larger tight end is laughable. Gay comes in for support.
  
• 8:45 Remaining - Larry Johnson makes Jeff Charleston look like a beast by missing his blocking assignment. Because of that, Charleston is able to come in untouched on Thigpen's blind side and make the sack for a loss of 9.
• 7:32 Remaining - 3rd and 14. This play is typical Saints and it's what drives me mad! After doing a great job on the sack and holding KC to third down the Saints defense gives up a big pass for 42 yards by Will Franklin. ARGH!! Here's how I see it: Dwayne Bowe is covered by Usama at the line but cuts across the field and is wide open. It looks like Young passes him off to someone else, a linebacker maybe? Kaesviharn leaves his spot and comes in for support. Instead, Thigpen throws it deep to Kaesviharn's original spot (where he is not anymore) and Franklin slides in across the field to make the catch. Roman Harper is left to defend himself. Interestingly, Vilma is the next closest player.
•  5:33 Remaining - Thigpen tosses it five yards to Gonzalez at about the 1-yard line. He pushes and shoves but just...can't...get...across...the...goaline. This proves crucial because the Saints do a great job on the next three plays and shut down the Chiefs attempts for a touchdown including another jump ball situation in the end zone between Dwayne Bowe and Randall Gay. Bowe doesn't time this one as well but Gay does a nice job batting the ball away after Bowe bobbles it. Chiefs settle for a field goal. Bend but don't break.
  
•  1:50 Remaining - 3rd and 8. Lance Moore is wide open for the easy 17 yard catch that keeps the drive alive. Ricardo Colclough was the defender on Moore but he falls and leaves Moore wide open. Kharma's a bitch.
  
• The Saints offense does a great job on this final drive. They moved the ball consistently for 62 yards and used up every last second of the half. Pierre and Lance made big contributions. Colston and Shockey also make catches. However, the drive stalls and the Saints have to settle for a field goal and the lead. Hartley, of course, nails it. 13-10 at the half.