Today we continue with the second half of our in-depth analysis of last weeks pre-season game against the Bengals. Here we go.

Saints Defense First Drive

• After Mehlhaff finally boots one into the endzone for a touchback the Bengals start from their own 20 yard line. Their first play is a run to the right side. Randall Gay makes a nice tackle coming in for support as the play only gains 3 yards.
• Another run up the right side and Chris Perry hits a big hole and gains 13 yards for the first.
• Ryan Fitzpatrick, now the quarterback, tries the left side but Harper and Porter are all over it. Nice coverage. Very un-Jason David like.
  
• The Bengals then try a run up the middle but Fujita does a great job stuffing it at the line.
  
• On third down Fitzpatrick completes one to Chatman who is in the gap between the line of scrimmage and the secondary. Vilma brings him down from behind just shy of the first down. Bengals punt.

Review: Glad to see the defense still looks good after the half. The run defense wasn't so hot but, and I can't believe I am going to say this, the pass defense came through for us. I think Vilma has been looking pretty good but he just does a lot of things that don't usually get noticed. I'm a fan. I think it would be safe to buy his jersey.

Saints Offense First Drive

• Saints take over at their own 28. Sit back and relax, because the Pierre Thomas extravaganza is about to begin. It starts with Thomas to the right side for 5 yards. The O-line (Nicks, Bushrod, Lehr, Strief) does an awesome job of making room and they actually force their will on the Bengals plowing them all to the right side. Had Reggie been out there, he might have actually cut it back to the left side and been gone, as there is no one there. I am starting to wonder if maybe the problem with the run game lies completely with the first team offensive line. 
• Brunell throws a quick one to the right to Meachem for 4 yards.
• Third down and two tight ends. Pierre tries the right side, gains the first down, sheds a tackle and spins away from a second before being taken down for a gain of 14.
• Play action. Brunell completes one over the middle to Terrance Copper. Pierre Thomas does a great job blocking in the backfield and keeping Keith Rivers away from Brunell. The kid does it all.
  
• They give it to Thomas again up the middle and he gains 9 yards after avoiding one tackle. To be fair, the tackling looks weak.
• Brunell is forced to roll left and overthrows Copper in the endzone on what seemed like an improvised play.
• Third and 1 as Pierre cuts it back to his right and up the middle for 4 yards and the first.
• Brunell hurrys a throw to Pierre Thomas who is covered. Pass incomplete.
• On second down Thomas takes it up the right side. He eludes one tackler, barely keeps his knee from hitting the ground, then fumbles the ball as he spins and falls down. Bengals recover.

Review: Ugh. Not that I think the fumble will really cause Payton any distrust, but everything was looking so good. Had that fumble not occurred, I think all Saints fans, myself included, would be up in arms about letting Pierre start and referencing this very drive to make our point. If Pierre is always going to fight to stay on his feet, then he needs to remember to hold on to the ball tight. Regardless, the drive looked good. Pierre looked better. By the way, I love it when Pierre uses his hand and puts it on top of a defenders head to push him out of the way as he passes him.

Saints Defense Second Drive

• Cincinnati gets the ball deep in their own zone. Perry tries the right side. Lance Schulters comes in and makes the nice stop for only 3 yards. Then proceeds to take a stupid 15 yards Uneccesary Roughness (classic movie) penalty.
• First and ten now from the Bengals 23 yard line. Chris Perry tries the left edge and guess who comes in with the nice tackle and the stop for no gain. Anyone? Anyone? Bueller? It's Jason David!
• Fitzpatrick completes short over the middle for 4 yards. Troy Evans makes the quick tackle.
  
• Third down and Fitzpatrick throws a short  incompletion to Kenny Watson. Chris Reis was all over him with great coverage. Bengals...you know. Skyler Green gets nowhere on the return.

Review: This was actually a good showing for the defense, minus the penalty, particularly the secondary. They showed great run support on two plays and tight coverage on another. After going through this game in depth, I think this defense looked even better than everyone is giving them credit for. It was solid all around. Even Jason David. I am very impressed.

Saints Offense Second Drive

• Palko checks into the game now and starts from the Saints 33. The first play is a short dump off to Pierre Thomas over the middle for 5 yards. No hesitation going back to Thomas after the fumble.
  
• Palko checks down to Thomas on a flare to the left. With plenty of room to work with and nice blocks from Matt Lehr and Tim Duckworth, Pierre turns it into 25 yards up the sideline. He does that hand on helmet thing to another would be tackler. Watch for it, its funny! It's almost like he uses them for more speed as he pushes off of them.
  
• Meachem shows off his running ability on a reverse. He gains a respectable 13 yards.
• Palko takes too much time in the pocket and is sacked by Keith Rivers.
• 2nd and 18 as Palko completes a short one over the middle to Thomas for 3 yards.
• Palko tries Thomas again on a short dump off. Not much doing.
• Mehlhaff nails a 45 yarder. He then kicks a blooper to only the Bengals 16 yard line. He is visibly upset as he walks off.

Review: More awesomeness from The Flying Frenchman. The drive just stalled at the end as Palko couldn't find anything downfield. This offensive line deserves some credit for working hard and looking pretty solid out there. None of Thomas' success would exist without some good play from those guys. Mehlhaff shows some inconsistency. I don't think it is looking as good for Mehlhaff as it once was.

Saints Defense Third Drive

• After a false start, the Bengals have 1st and 15 from own 30 yard line. Jeff Rowe now takes over for the Bengals and tosses one quickly to the right. Aaron Glenn, looking great in run support, wraps him up quickly for a gain of only two.
  
• The Saints line flush Rowe out of the pocket and forces him to scramble right and throw it away.
• Rowe tries over the middle on a crossing route but Glenn is on top of him and breaks it up which is good because the Saints sent eight guys in to rush and didn't have much help in the secondary. There had to be someone else open downfield that Rowe just didn't see. Bengals punt and Skyler Green lets it bounce before fielding it and losing 4 yards. Not pretty.

Review: Gotta love three and out. More straight up solid play from the defense. This drive was all Aaron Glenn. There isn't a doubt in my mind that Glenn makes this team. He looks better and better every week. I don't think he will start but its great to know he's there. Honestly, seems like you take away Jason David, and this secondary doesn't look half bad. We should probably give it a little more time and observation though.

Saints Offense Third Drive

• Saints start from their 12 yard line and Palko throws a quick pass to Meachem to the right. He gets six yards as the defender drags him down by his pants, ala the Coppertone girl, as Meachem refuses to go down.
  
• Next is a hard run up the left side by Lynell Hamilton for six yards.
• Palko completes a pass to Lance Moore for 14 yards.
• 1st and ten now, as Palko throws a bad pass nowhere near Terrance Copper that almost gets picked off.
• Lynell Hamilton takes it up the middle for 7 yards. He looks very powerful. End of third quarter.
• On third down with 3 to go Hamilton takes it again, this time to the left side for 4 yards, picking up the first.
• Palko throws an interception on a deep pass intended for Terrance Copper. The throw was into double coverage.

Review: It would have been nice to see this drive continue. Hamilton was looking pretty impressive. As bad as I feel for Pierre Thomas and Aaron Stecker, I will feel even worse for Lynell Hamilton who will most likely not see any playing time with this team though he looks pretty good. I can't find anything in Palko to get excited about.

Saints Defense Fourth Drive

• We have to pick up this drive from 3rd and 7 since the broadcast team favored doing some piece on how Fujita would make the best Olympian over showing us the first two plays of the drive. And what a wonderful place to pick up from, as we're just in time to see the dynamic duo of Jason David and Josh Bullocks get beat on a 9 yard pass that keeps the drive alive. They were both right there and still couldn't make a play! How much longer must we suffer? Even on a night when everyone else is looking great, these two manage to suck. Who are we going to make fun of after Payton hopefully cuts these two?
• First down now and a short completion to the right side for three yards.
• Another Rowe pass to the right for 10 yards as Craft is no where near his receiver.
  
• After a Kenny Watson run for only two yards, Rowe dumps it off over the middle for 9 yards and a first down.
• On first down now and Bobby McCray shoots through the gap and gets the sack for -8 yards. I can't say enough about how fast he is.
  
• Rowe completes a short dump off to Kenny Watson but the Saints react quickly and McCray and Harris stop it for -1 yards.
• More pressure from the line again as McCray, who is forced to take the long route behind the quarterback, doesn't give up and eventually beats his man deep in the backfield and gets to Rowe to disrupt the pass. Bengals punt.
  

Review: I think this drive is very telling. This was the Bengals longest drive of the night play-wise. Bullocks, Craft and David, who all saw a lot of time in the Saints secondary last year were all out there against the third team and still having trouble. What does that say? Bobby McCray saves their butt however as he was a monster on the last three plays. Can't wait to see what he brings this season.

Saints Offense Fourth Drive

• Saints start at their six. Hamilton runs for two yards.
• Palko looks good as he avoids a safety and shows some nifty moves eluding would be tacklers and running for 9 yards. A personal foul call takes the Saints to their 32 yard line.
• After a botched snap, Palko fires a bullet to the right side for Buck "Naked" Ortega for 17 yards.
• Hamilton then makes a short three yard catch on the left sideline.
• Palko goes to the left side again and finds Meachem for 7 yards and a first down.
• The Bengals' Angelo Craig notches a sack for -4 yards. Duckworth failed to pick up LB Corey Mayes who broke through the line, caused disruption and barely missed the sack himself.
  
• A draw to Hamilton up the middle for six yards.
• Palko, looking solid on this drive, fires another rocket, this time to Todd Blythe, over the middle for a gain of 15.
• After scrambling left Palko throws a short 6 yarder to Hamilton. Holding on Bushrod.
  
• 1st and 20 now as Palko throws another dump off to Hamilton who has room to turn it into 16 yards.
• Palko throws two straight into tight coverage. The first one should probably have been picked off.
• Saints go for it on fourth down but Palko is forced to scramble to the left and throw it away.

Review: After a nice start to this drive by Palko, the Bushrod penalty and some poor passing decisions kill it. Tyler is just too inconsistent for my taste. A couple of nice hard passes mixed in with poor decisions and botched snaps. That's just not gonna cut it. Bushrod has been the culprit on quite a few penalties this pre-season and really needs to fix that.

Saints Defense Fifth Drive

• Carson Palmer's younger brother Jordan comes in to lead the charge. First play is a run up the middle for a gain of two.
• Palmer completes a short one to the right but Chris Reis is right there to bring him down quickly.
  
• Scrambling left, Palmer gets the needed 2 yards for the first down.
  
• He follows that play up with an interception to Lance Schulters to end the Bengals night. Jason David, whose receiver it was, was behind the play, but Lance, probably figuring David wasn't going to do anything, decided to jump the route and pick it off.
  

Review: Good sign from Schulters. Maybe he is the help this team needs over the top. He was very aggressive on the interception as Jason David stood there and watched. Literally!

Saints Offense Sixth Drive

Nothing important to report about the final drive. Lynell Hamilton runs for 2, 3 and 3 yards to run out the clock.

That does it. I was very happy with the teams performance after watching the game the first time. Having taken a closer look I have to say I am ever happier. There were a lot of good signs and we can only hope that this is a better representation of what we can expect from the defense and the team in general this season.

We've got a lot to get to this morning so let's not waste any time. Below is the first half play by play analysis for your digestion.

I believe he dropped this one.(Getty Images)

Saints Offense First Drive

• After an average return to the 20 yard line by Skyler Green, the Saints take over. First play is from the I formation and its a play action fake. Nobody picks up the rusher from the right side at the line and Karney has too far to go to get to him in time. Drew makes a sweet sidestep to avoid getting rocked by Robert Geathers (yes, that is Jumpy Geathers nephew) then Brett Favre's it to Karney. Eight yards out of what should have been a costly sack.
  
• Brees to Colston's ridiculously long outstretched arms. First down.
• Brees has plenty o' time to hit Billy Miller over the middle. Protection is great.
• Bush tries between the tackles and it looks like he has a tiny hole to squeeze through but he gets tripped up while doing it.
• Another Brees to Colston hookup over the middle for 15 yards. He also had Deuce to check down to.
  
• Drew blows a sure touchdown to Patten when he overthrows him in the endzone. Looks like they were supposed to meet in the corner but Drew makes the bad throw.
  
• Brees and Colston connect yet again on a a quick curl but the defender is all over Marques, gets a hand on it and the ball falls out of his hands. No catch.
• On third and 10 the throw is to Colston...again. Drew threads the needle between two defenders and Colston catches then drops it after taking a shot. I believe this was the play in which Colston is injured.
  
• Saints settle for a Gramatica field goal.

Review: For the most part the offense looks sharp. This could have easily been 7 points instead of 3. Drew will certainly work out those kinks with his receivers by week one. Colston looks very uncharacteristic with two drops that are normally sure catches for him. It's going to be a long season if Colston starts imitating Devery and comes down with his very own case of the drops. Personally, I wish the Saints wouldn't put Colston in dangerous situations, like going over the middle, during meaningless pre-season games.

Saints Defense First Drive

• Evidence that this defense plans on turning things around are seen on their first play from scrimmage. Cincinnati starts on their own 31 and kicks things off with an end around to the left side as Tracy Porter breaks free of his blocker and gets a hand on the ball enough to jar it loose. The Bengals recover but its a great sign for the rookie and this unit.
• The Bengals try running up the middle but there's nothing there. Clancy and Grant on the tackle.
• After a false start penalty its third and 16. Palmer has good protection and decides to go deep. McKenzie makes a diving leap and appears to make the amazing interception but couldn't trap it as it winds up hitting the turf. It doesn't matter though because Who Dat Nation now knows that MM is here to stay and everything appears okay.
• Bengals punt away. They have no idea this will be their theme of the night.

Review: Hopefully, in the near future, we will all look back on this one drive and say, "That was the drive that turned it all around." The two positive aspects were the excellent play of rookie Tracy Porter and the healthy return of Mike McKenzie. This unit had not one but two chances to force a turnover. Thank you sir, may I have another.

His big catch.(Al Behrman, AP)

Saints Offense Second Drive

• Saints take over at their 35. Deuce tries the left side but only gains a yard.
• After Meachem is called for a false start, his number is called and Brees hits him deep on a 54 yard pass. Meachem needs to come back to the ball and makes the necessary adjustments.
  
• From the 15 yard line now and Deuce catches a screen pass for 7 yards.
• Only a yard for Deuce on the next play.
  
• On third and 1, two tight end set. They give the ball to Stecker who looks like he is shot out of a cannon, gets tripped up and tries to stumble over the goal line but he's a yard short. He does get the first down.
  
• Next play and there are three TE's out there, Campbell, Miller and Ghent. It's a play fake and a toss to the back of the endzone to an open Ghent.

Review: Saints are just making it look easy. This offense continues to be a well oiled machine. Meachem has the play of the drive with his 54 yard catch. This is a great sign that he is for real and that first pre-season game was not just random luck. Ghent probably won't even make the team so with the eventual addition of Shockey, this team should be even more potent in the red zone.

Saints Defense Second Drive

• Bengals begin at their 24 yard line and start with a run to the left side. Kendrick Clancy brings him down from behind.
• Bengals then try the middle and its, guess who, Clancy with the stop.
• Third down now and the Saints are in Nickel. Bengals have four WR's on the line. Shanle has to pick up the fourth receiver , Utecht, in the slot as Palmer makes a nice throw and finds the TE over the middle. Shanle immediately takes him down.
• First down now and its a quick swing pass in the flat. Fujita does a great job containing and the Bengals only get 3 yards.
• Clancy notches another tackle when the Bengals try to run up the middle.
• Third down and Palmer is working out of the shotgun. Saints bring the blitz, Shanle is the extra man and he shoots right through the middle of the line untouched. Carson barely gets a throw off to no one. More punting.

Review: Another pretty solid looking drive for the defense. Kendrick Clancy was all over the field on this one. He's made this team, no doubt, and he is also a huge help in stopping the run game. Some pretty good play from our linebackers as well. Fujita and Shanle both stepped it up. One of the more important things to note is who I am not talking about, and that is our secondary. Nobody getting burned or caught out of position and on the one complete pass this drive, Shanle was the man in coverage. Much of that improvement is due to good pressure by the front seven. It certainly helps the guys behind them.

Saints Offense Third Drive

• Reggie Bush returns Cincinnati's punt for 14 yards and appears to hurt himself on the play.
• From their 23 yard line on first down and Patten catches a seven yard pass on a crossing route.
• Reggie heads to the left side, cuts it back up the middle and finds only two yards.
  
• Stecker gets the call for the dirty work on 3rd and 1 and gains five as he shoots up the middle with lightning quick speed again.
• Deuce tries the middle on first down and only gets 2 yards.
• After Brees and Miller can't connect on a ball thrown slightly behind Miller, Brees tries the left side and finds Henderson for 11 yards and the first down. It would be Henderson's only catch. End of the first quarter.
• More of Deuce up the middle for only 2 yards. Stecker follows that with only a yard.
• The play stalls after a short pass to Patten fails to get the first down.

Review: This was where the offense started to look poor. Deuce, Reggie and Stecker both had little to work with as the O-line just can't seem to open up holes for them like other teams do. If this continues, it may not matter who the running back is as victory will have to come through the air. I hope Drew's arm can handle it one more year. Right now, Stecker is the most impressive back on the field and he looks so darn quick.

Saints Defense Third Drive

• Bengals start from their own 14 yard line. Palmer throws a quick swing pass to Antonio Chatman on the left side. Shanle isn't quick enough to contain him but Porter makes a nice tackle by releasing from his blocker and wrapping up Chatman's legs. 9 yards.
  
• Pretty much the same play as last only it's to Utecht and to the right side. Pretty much the same result too, as Shanle isn't fast enough to get to him (even farther this time) and McKenzie must leave his man to make the tackle. 11 yards.
  
•  Now it's a blitz from the Saints and Kaesviharn runs into the backfield untouched on the left side. Palmer tried to escape but KK catches him from behind. Sack.
• Palmer dumps it over the middle to Chris Perry for 6 yards.
• 3rd and 10 for the Bengals and the Saints bring more pressure. Vilma, the late man, breaks through the line and is right in Palmer's face as he barely gets the pass off. Perry is the intended receiver but Roman Harper, with great coverage, is all over. Guess who has to punt.

Review: Some good and some bad on this drive. Once again, the dink and dunk short stuff hurt us in the beginning and their fast receivers were able to take advantage of our not so fast linebackers. Those are the plays that are gaining significant yardage and doing the most damage. Hopefully, opposing coaches do not read this blog. I think it is safe to assume they don't. The defense picks it up however with some good pressure and the Bengals are stalled yet again. This defense is looking fairly impressive.

Saints Offense Fourth Drive

• Saints take over from their 30. A defensive holding call later and they start from their 36.
• It's a nice 38 yard pass to a wide open, sure handed Devery Henderson but Jammal Brown is called for holding and it's like the catch never happened.
• Saints try and start one more time on 1st and 20. Stecker takes the hand off and tries the right side. Still nothing for him to run through. In fairness, the Bengals linebackers did a great job reading the play and zeroing in. Keith Rivers looked very nice on this play taking down Stecker.
  
• Brees gets the pass off just in time as the pressure was on and he gets taken down. It's a great throw down the right sideline for Lance Moore. Moore is blanketed but still manages to make the grab. Love this guy. Credit is due both to Lance and Drew.
  
• Drew tries the right side again, this time to David Patten. More pressure as Drew has to hurry and Rivers nearly sacks him. Patten is well covered and the pass is not great.
• Only one yard gained by Stecker on a screen pass to the right side.
• Saints can't convert on third down as Brees tries for a well covered Billy Miller. It was Johnson, a linebacker, on Miller so the matchup was in the Saints favor but Miller can't come back to the ball in time. Saints punt.

Review: Another stalled drive for the Saints high powered offense. The Bengals stepped up their defensive play on this series and looked pretty good applying pressure. Saints fans got a good look at Keith Rivers who could have very well been the Saints first round draft pick this year and he looks pretty darn good.

Saints Defense Fourth Drive

• Bengals from their 12 yards line. Chris Perry has nowhere to go up the middle as Clancy makes yet another big stop for the run defense.
• Next it's Palmer trying the right sideline Holt but McKenzie is right there in great coverage and times his hit perfectly. Holt can't bring it in.
• Third down now and the line applies some good pressure as Palmer dumps it off over the middle to Perry in wide open space in the flat. Fortunately, Shanle does a great job closing in and the play only goes for 5 yards on what could have been much more. Punt.

Review:  Three and out. Can't beat that. Clancy looked good. McKenzie looked good. Shanle looked good. Period. Still really worried about the short yardage passing over the top and the YAC, but if our linebackers can close in like Shanle did, then we should be okay.

Saints Offense Fifth Drive

• Saints have it at their 40 and start off with a Brees pass to Lance Moore down the left sideline for 35 yards. Moore has to stretch and reach to make the grab. I honestly think Henderson doesn't make that catch. The announcer again agrees with me by saying, "He just catches everything it seems thrown his way."
  
• Deuce tries the right side but only gains one yard. No holes.
• Brees tries Patten but there is a communication error as Patten turns inside and Brees throws outside. The ball is almost intercepted.
• Third down now and Brees looks for Henderson right on the goal line. You know what happens. Granted the Bengals had some pretty good coverage, but when he has the ball in his arms and against his chest, he should come down with them.
• Payton decides to go for it on fourth down needing nine yards. Much like the very first play of the game from scrimmage, Drew shows some great footwork and eludes a untouched blitzer, making him miss, as he shovels it off to Moore for a yard. While it wasn't the needed nine yards, Brees' athleticism stopped it from becoming -9 yards.

Review: This is the third drive in a row that the Saints offense has not looked up to snuff. The running game is still non-existent, Henderson is doing his usual ball dropping and I don't know what was going on with Brees and Patten but they just couldn't seem to get on the same page. The only consistent person on these last couple of drives has been Lance Moore.

Saints Defense Fifth Drive

• Great pressure from the line on the Bengals first play from the 23 yard line as Antwan Lake gets himself a sack for -8 yards.
• More good pressure as Shanle comes in off the left side and almost reaches Palmer in time. Instead he gets the short dump pass off to Utecht as Vilma and Porter, who are right there, look very weak in tackling and can't grab him. The play goes for 10 yards.
• It's 3rd and 8 (it's always 3rd and 8!!!) and Chatman runs an out right on the right sideline. This is the same play we saw the Texans carve Jason David up with last week. This time it's Randall Gay doing a poor job in coverage and the Bengals gain 19 yards for the first down. Ugh! These are the most frustrating.
• Perry tries the middle and is met by a flying Roman Harper in the hole. Nice hit.
  
• Palmer tries deep down the field as Shanle, again, runs into the backfield untouched and almost gets to him. Porter is on the coverage, and unbelievably, draws the offensive pass interference call. Nice coverage.
  
• 2nd and 17 now and Palmer throws it underneath on another dump off to Chris Perry that gains eight yards.
• Palmer throws over the middle for Jerome Simpson but Aaron Glenn is right there for the immediate tackle and only 6 yards. Bengals...punt.

Review: Shanle looks hungry in this game. Twice this drive he was in the backfield quickly, forcing the quick pass and nearly coming away with sacks. Aaron Glenn also looked reliable again. I do hate to see those 3rd and longs get converted, especially when it's our secondary to blame, but they were very few and far between in this half so it's fair to say there is definite improvement. More short underneath passes that turn into significant yardage. Not the best series for the defense but they again manage to force the punt.

Stecker deserves more touches. (Getty Images)

Saints Offense Sixth Drive

• Saints are deep in their own zone on their eleven yard line. Brees' night is over as Brunell comes in with under two minutes remaining in the half. His first play he takes a sack for -6.
• Stecker runs twice in a row, both for 7 yards. Three and out.

Review: Well this drive wasn't great at all. Stecker, however, looks so darn good. Again, he is so quick and his feet are always churning. It does look like he has some larger holes to run through than Deuce and Reggie before him, but not by much. Stecker's talent and hard running style are probably equally the reason he is breaking off bigger chunks of yardage.

Saints Defense Sixth Drive

• Not much time left in the half as the Bengals take over from their 36 yard line. The first play is a short pass underneath to Utecht. Vilma is there but Utecht makes a quick cut inside to get past him. Vilma slaps his hands in frustration.
• After a spike by Palmer to stop the clock, the Saints bring the pressure on 2nd and 10. Kaesviharn, again untouched, shoots into the backfield from the right side. It is McCray coming in later who puts the finishing shot on Palmer. This was the hit that caused the infamous bloody nose.
  
• False start on the Bengals.
• On third down, Perry gets eight yards on the right side. Not enough for the first as the Saints call timeout and the Bengals are forced to punt one final time this half. The crowd boos as the Bengals walk off the field.

Review: If you have a tight end playing against the Saints this season in fantasy football, make sure he starts. Tight ends have looked pretty good against our defense these last two games. On the positive side, I don't know whether the Saints defensive players just played harder or Gibbs decided to get a little more exotic with the blitzing schemes, but the pressure tonight was vastly improved and it was from all angles.

That does it for the first half. All in all, as stated earlier, I think we have to be happy with this performance. There were some bad plays on both sides of the ball, but that is to be expected every single game. The larger picture is what's important and on Saturday night, the larger picture was a much improved defense. There was a little bending but absolutely no breaking.

Let's hear what you guys think!

Punt, Punt, Punt, Punt , Punt, Punt, Punt, Punt, Punt, Punt, Interception.

That's exactly how the Cincinnati Bengals drive chart read last night. Just wanted to lay it out like that because it looks so pretty that way. I don't know what the heck Payton said to these guys this last week or what he did to motivate them, but it worked. With all eyes on them, the Saints defensive showing was a huge improvement over last weeks. The return of McKenzie, better pressure from the line, a more cohesive linebacking corp, and better play from the safeties all contributed to a defense that actually looked like they knew what they were supposed to be doing out there. I understand there are always going to be those people who say that it's just pre-season and that many Bengal's starters were not active, and they are right. But for this teams defense, one that is oft criticized and rife with deficiencies, to hold any team at any time to no points, not even a field goal, is an incredibly noteworthy feat. Yesterday's battle against the Bengals should be considered a very important victory in the long war that is this season.

On a less positive note, the offense didn't look as smooth and efficient as we all know it can be. The Bengals are not a very good team defensively. This Saints team cannot expect its defense to come up big like this every week and 17 points of offense just won't cut it against stronger teams. One thing that will be ever important this season, and something that I feel plagued us last season, will be for both offense and defense to play well together. I already know that in next week's game against the Dolphins, the most important thing that I will be watching for will be consistent play from all and the ability of both offensive and defensive units to get on the same page and turn in equally impressive performances. It's a must. Otherwise, all of  our hope and expectations for this season will flutter up and down in rhythm with this teams inevitable performance as we will all ride along on the roller coaster ride that is a typical New Orleans Saints season.

In the meantime, hope has been restored in Who Dat Nation and all is peaceful. At least for now.

Here are my immediate observations from the game. They may not be completely accurate because they were made on the fly. More in depth analysis will take place this week.

The Secondary

• When it comes to the Saints secondary, there's Mike McKenzie and there's everyone else. Is this guy recovering from a torn ACL? Sure didn't look like it. MM looked solid out there, almost picking off a pass. We can all breathe a sigh of relief now knowing that with MM back, our secondary should never look as awful as it did last week against Houston.
• I don't think Tracy Porter is necessarily ready to start but it is awesome to see some improvement after last week. He made that great play in the first series knocking the ball loose after getting away from his blocker. He also drew an offensive pass interference call by getting great positioning on his wide receiver. However, he failed to do anything in the return game.
  
• Randall Gay looked just okay.  He was caught out of position at least once last night. Sad to say but I don't think he has totally locked up that second starting spot.
  
• Aaron Glenn is starting to look good. Decent anyway. Dare I say that he gives this unit a little depth? Can I use that word when I am talking about the cornerbacks? I think I just did. He seems pretty solid and consistent. A good "break glass in case of emergency" kinda guy.
  
• Great play from our starting safeties last night. Maybe it's because he was playing his old team but KK looked solid with 1.5 sacks. Roman Harper also looked sharp making some nice hits, including that hard one against the run when he flew in to fill the gap. Lance Schulters also got into the mix by nabbing an interception.

The Rest of the Defense

• The line as a whole looked much better than last week. To be fair, I don't think the Bengals offensive line was doing such a great job and didn't seem to pick up a couple of blitzes but definitely a noticeable improvement in the application of pressure. Still nothing from the most expensive bookends I have ever seen but Bobby McCray looked awesome! 93 Octane had 1.5 sacks on the night and decided to leave his mark in this game; all over Carson Palmer's face. For a big guy, he sure is fast. I don't mean to rip off McDonald's but, "I'm lovin' it."
• Good news on the defensive tackle front. Even though Hollis Thomas is out for a good while and Young will probably have an injury plagued year, Kendrick Clancy is really stepping it up, as well as Antwan Lake. Clancy came on strong right out of the box and led the team with 3 tackles and 2 assists. Lake added a sack. While Thomas and Young are out, I think Ellis and Clancy are your starters.
• I was very happy to see the linebacking play looking much better. I think this may actually have been a position group whose performance was underrated last night. Those short dump off passes in the flat by our opponents were killing us in the last two games and I am glad to see that get significantly reduced. These guys were covering a lot of ground, doing a great job of containing and on top of their receivers quickly.
  

The Running Game

• All I asked for was just to see continued improvement out of D Mac and I think it's fair to say we saw that. Of course he's not out there moving piles the way we know he can but give it time. For a second knee injury, he's looking pretty good and he's coming along nicely. Patient with this one you must be.
• Nothing unusual from Pierre Thomas. He only ran five times for 46 yards (by the way, thats a 9.2 average) and caught four passes for 35 more yards. The announcers even complimented him on this blocking. Okay, okay he had a fumble deep in the red zone when he was practically down. It doesn't matter though, don't worry about it. He will stay buried on the depth chart. If I write any more I will get angry and break my keyboard.
• It's unfortunate for Lynell Hamilton that we already have four other pretty talent backs ahead of him because he looked pretty impressive last night. The reality is, at this point, he's probably trying out for another team with these performances in the pre-season for the Saints. Maybe we could package him together with Devery in some sort of trade?
• Reggie was pretty much non-factor last night. Hopefully his injury is not too serious.

Receivers

• Both Lance Moore and Robert Meachem  are starting to prove themselves to be consistent. You can add both of their names to the list of Saints who are playing well but not seeming to get the respect they deserve. Honestly, at this point, they may both be ahead of Devery on the depth chart. 
• Oh, Devery. What to do with you...what to do? Technically on the stat sheet he only caught 50% of his passes tonight, but we will give him credit for the nice catch he had for about 20 yards that was inevitably called back, raising his percentage to a whopping 66%. Either way, he continues to be inconsistent leaving me to wonder why Payton continues to think so highly of him.
  
• Colston looked good in the one series he took part in. He and Drew are on autopilot. We did see a rare drop on the goal line from Colston while taking a tough hit.

Quarterback 

• If I'm being honest here, Drew looked just a little off. Just a tiny bit. He threw one a little behind Billy Miller but he was really off with receiver David Patten, overthrowing him and seeming to mix up routes. Minor, I know, but just thought I would mention it.
  
• Brunell was fine. Ol' reliable he is.
  
• Palko looked much better last night as well. No bobbled snaps. Had a nifty little run. My question is: How long is this Payton project going to continue?

Special Teams

• Mehlhaff finally kicked one in the endzone but then followed it up with a not so great kick. He did nail his 45 yard field goal however.
  
• Gramatica was also reliable as usual hitting his field goal attempt. I really have no idea what is going to happen with this position battle. It might come down to a coin flip.
  
• I think Skyler Green's career with the Saints may be coming to an end very soon. Punt returning is really the only way he is going to make this team and he didn't look impressive at all last night. Unfortunately, he hasn't gotten too many chances and because of that, he is forcing those chances which is only exacerbating the situation.
  

Of course, I will get into more detail about everything in the upcoming days. As always, the floor is open for your thoughts and opinions.

Here is the final roll call for both open threads combined. Props go to Steve the fan who proves he is worthy of the name he has given himself. Again, I am so happy to see such a good turnout for the open threads. I always enjoy them.

It's time for the second half of our breakdown of the breakdown. I am glad you guys enjoyed this post yesterday and I will try to do it every week. That being said, let's put these guys under the microscope.

Saints Defense First Drive

• Texans start at their own 32. First play of the half is a quick pass to the right that Aaron Glenn jumps in front of and bats away. One of the best plays of the night for the secondary. Might have been able to pick it off.
  
• On the second play, Bobby McCray puts a move on his guy and blows past him into the backfield, so quickly that he overshoots the runner and misses the tackle. A little more control and that is probably a tackle for a loss. As it is Marvin Mitchell takes him down for a gain of a couple.
  
• 3rd and 8 after two nice defensive plays. Another decent display of pressure as Josh Savage gets to Rosenfels just a half second too late. The pass is over the middle completed for 13 yards. It's Tracy Porter's man. The drive stays alive as the second half continues in the same manner as the first.
  
• After a Slaton run for 12 yards in which huge holes were created by the Texans offensive line, it's a Rosenfels pass for 20 yards down the left sideline to Jacoby Jones. Tracy Porter is, oh, 5 yards behind him. I am praying hoping assuming that the defensive strategy here for Porter is too keep everything in front of him. More likely, Jones made a nice play by immediately button hooking, leaving Porter still streaking down the sideline.
  
• Chris Reis makes an awesomely hard hit to stop a run.
  
• In the redzone now and the Texans run a couple of times for medium yardage. The defensive line is getting pushed around a bit.
  
• Jo-Lonn Dunbar makes a quick stop for two yards on a shirt pass to the right sideline.
  
• Two more nice runs from Taylor puts the Texans in the lead.

Review: This drive started off promising for the Saints defense then quickly turned sour after giving up yet another 3rd and 8. Knowing Jason David isn't out there anymore and assuming they might meet a little more resistance in the secondary, the Texans decide to keep it on the ground, and instead, make a mockery of the Saints run defense. Taylor had his choice of holes to run through for the last half of the drive. Add that to the poor cornerback play toward the beginning of the drive and you've got the makings of an awful defensive showing.

I'm starting to like this guy. (Getty Images)

Saints Offense First Drive

• Stecker has two decent runs for 5 and 8 yards. He's actually got some decent sized holes to run through as the offensive line gets some good pushes.
  
• Brunell throws to the right side and finds Billy Miller wide open. Miller, sadly, drops a pass that any of us could have caught. I say that with a decent amount of confidence.
  

Review: This drive is only three plays but still revealing. I feel about Stecker the way I feel about Pierre. The guy has done nothing but prove himself worthy yet he stays under utilized. The only other explanation would be that our second team offensive line is more dominant then Houston's second team defensive line which would be pretty good news itself. All of that happiness is quickly lost when Billy Miller blows a sure thing and the thought of the Saints leading the league in dropped passes again causes me to throw up a bit in my mouth. Watching the game the first time, I didn't notice the myriad of dropped passes.

Saints Defense Second Drive

• Texans start on their 39 with a run up the middle but Kendrick Clancy is having none of that. He gets a great jump off the line and manhandles his lineman, getting into the backfield and making the tackle for a loss of 1. Very nice play by Clancy.
  
• Second play and McCray blows by his man on the outside. Dude has got a motor. So fast in fact, he yet again overshoots and tries to catch Rosenfels from behind. Rosenfels does his best Favre impression and overhand shovel  passes it to Slaton for a couple of yards. Jo-Lonn Dunbar is all over it and stop him immediately.
• Rosenfels drops back to pass and its more great pressure from McCray and Josh Savage. Both overshoot (McCray overshoots, Savage might have been blocked away). McCray almost gets his hand on the ball as the pass is released. The pass is into almost triple coverage by the Saints and Craft leaps in front of it as the interception goes off his hands and eludes him. He probably should have actually come up with it. Texans punt.
  

Review: Best defensive series of the night. In fact, this was the first time the Texans punted. McCray and Savage look pretty good. McCray needs to control himself a little more. Hope is out there.

Moore is like a vacuum. (Getty Images)

Saints Offense Second Drive

• Saints start from their 18. The first play is a Brunell pass for 13 yards to Lance Moore. The announcer says the same thing I always do, "...Lance Moore who simply catches everything thrown his way..."
• On the next play, Lance Moore doesn't make the catch. However, its thrown behind him and a defender is all over him and gets a hand on the ball. Brunell mouths, "My bad Lance" and taps himself on the chest.
• Stecker gains 5 yards through some decent holes. This is so backwards. The first team should be opening holes like this.
  
• Andy Alleman: false start.
• Brunell throws a nice pass to the right for Terrance Copper and a gain of 17. I remember this pass during the game. Brunell put some mustard on this one and I remember thinking the old guy still has some left in the tank.
  
• More Stecker. This time 7 yards after cutting back to the right and finding a hole. That is followed by a 2 yard run up the middle.
• Alleman: false start.
• Brunell and Moore connect for 42 yards on what seems to be the same play Brees and Patten connected on earlier. The results are identical. Moore streaks down the left side line, totally beating his man, getting separation and makes an over the shoulder grab that is perfectly placed by Brunell. Is this guy our backup? Saints on the 6.
  
• Two plays later (one a defensive penalty) and Brunell connects on a bootleg left with FB Kevin Dudley.

Review: Lance Moore might make a good replacement for Devery Henderson. Pretty darn good drive for the second team offense. Alleman surely got a mouthful from Payton on the sideline.

Don't know how they got this picture. He didn't have too much to celebrate. (Getty Images)

Saints Defense Third Drive

• Texans immediately get to work carving up our secondary some more as Rosenfels hits David Anderson for 43 yards to the Saints 34 yard line. It was Tracy Porter's man but Porter slips and allows the receiver to get 5 yards of separation. David Roach comes in to help but does an very poor job of tackling and its Porter who has to hustle to catch Anderson and take him down.
• Slaton between the tackles. Orien Harris with the tackle
• Aaron Glenn gets beat when Rosenfels rolls out and completes an out route just before the sideline. This play killed us all night. I hope they work on it this week.
• After a nice run stop, the Saints defensive line gets pushed around and Slaton makes it look easy up the right side through a huge hole. 

Review: Just more crap from the defense. Not much to say about this drive. I think Porter's injury is definitely hampering his play. I am trying to be optimistic here guys! By the way, because of his performance in this game Slaton earned the right to start Houston's next game against the Cowboys.

Saints Offense Third Drive

• Meachem makes his first catch of the night for 11 yards.
• Jermon Bushrod: false start.
• Pierre Thomas gets a nice chunk of 9 yards.
• After a bad, uncatchable throw that was over Robert Meachem's head on the previous play, Brunell gets tripped up and taken down from behind. It was Zach Strief who slips in the backfield and allows his man to get past him and make the sack. Saints must punt and its a nice one from Waylon Prather for 60 yards. It's downed on the 3.
  

Review: Nothing special on this drive, but they've been doing a pretty good job so I'll cut them some slack.

Saints Defense Fourth Drive

• From deep in their own zone the Texans start. Alex Brink comes in to quarterback. Completes a 4 yarder after scrambling. Orien Harris with the tackle.
  
• Brink continues to throw all over us like his two predecessors this evening by completing a 8 yard pass on 3rd and 6 and converting yet another third down. Craft was on the coverage.
  
• Slaton runs up the right side and the Saints look weak in trying to take him down.
  
• Slaton right side for only 1 yard. Orien Harris with the tackle.
• Brink sneaks it for the first. Then, on first down, Slaton left side for 1 yard. Orien Harris with the tackle. You getting the point?
• Brink botches the hand off and the Texans lose 11 yards.
• 3rd and 20 as Slaton gets another 11 yards through a giant hole. Texans must punt.

Review: Orien Harris shows up on the stat sheet with six tackles for the night and the team leader for the second time in a row. Some of those tackles were nothing special and just being at the right place at the right time, though that does take some skill. Not sure what kind of chance this kid has of making the team but he sure does take his shots in the limited amount of time he's gotten in these first two games. The defensive line continues to get pushed around. Please tell me that Houston's O-line is just that good.

Saints Offense Fourth Drive

• Saints start off from their own 16 yard line. Palko now in for the black and gold. He starts of with a pass to Moore for 10 yards.
• Palko does a nice Michael Vick impression and dances along the sideline but a Bushrod holding penalty brings it back.
• Six yards for Pierre Thomas on a catch and run.
• Zach Strief: false start.
• Tyler throws wide out of bounds intended for Copper. After the play he points to his head and mimes to the sideline that he didn't hear the play call. I'll give him that one.
• Meachem is open over the middle and jumps as high as he can. Unfortunately, its not high enough as Palko's throw sails way high.
  
• Saints decide to go for it on fourth down. After the announcers remark how Payton probably wants something positive for Palko to end the game on, he throws a short dump pass off his back foot to a wide open Billy Miller. It hits the ground in front of Millers outstretched hands. Poor throw.
  

Review: Well this wasn't a good drive at all. Penalties killed this drive as they did earlier in the game. Stupid penalties are commonplace during pre-season football but that doesn't make them alright. Strief, Bushrod and Alleman all had two each. That's a quick way to piss off a coach and make him think long and hard about cutting you. Palko looked like crap but I am willing to chalk it up to the fact that he just came off the bench and had no time to get into a rhythm. His mechanics looked bad and to be honest, I'm not really sure where this Payton pet project is going. The scramble and the run down the sideline looks good, though didn't count, and he didn't bobble any snaps, so good news there.

The Texans ran three run plays just to run out the clock so we don't need to discuss that. Of course your thoughts and opinions are welcomed and encouraged.

Those of you who know me (in the internet sense of the word) know that I talk "business" sometimes. I wanted to give you guys all a shout out because participation has definitely been on the rise. Glad to see a lot of lurkers or shy people out there getting involved in the conversation. That's what this thing is all about. For those of you out there who are still "just browsing" you don't have to worry. We won't bite. Hard. (sorry, had to) In all seriousness, if you think you don't know what you're talking about or you're scared someone might make fun of you, you should be. And then you should remember that it's the internet and nobody has any idea who you are. This whole thing is about the sharing of information and the uniting of people with a common interest love obsession. Make your contribution and put your stamp on this website. The more the merrier. As I said earlier, things are coming along great and the community is ever growing, but it can always be better. If you've read CSC/The Chronic for a while, you may get the impression that I am pretty much never satisfied, and you'd be right, so get off your butt and say something. I promise you will be welcomed warmly. The season is almost here and it's going to be a good one with lots to talk about. The only thing missing is you!

It's time to get down and dirty and analyze this game a little better. I watched the game on my Tivo and tried to pick up on things I missed while actually at the game. Here is what I saw in the first half.

Best QB in the league. (Getty Images)

Saints Offense First Drive

• Pierre Thomas makes a decent kick return for 33 yards to the 33 yard line.
• On the first play from scrimmage, Deuce takes it up the middle for 4 yards. Typical Deuce. That's the last we see of him for a while.
• Reggie gets a pitch to the left side and gains a yard. He might have been able to bounce it a little further outside but gets taken down by Will Demps. Campbell gets beat quickly by Mario Williams on the right side, but it doesn't matter because he's so far away from the play.
• Weatherford punts it away to New Orleans native Jacoby Jones who bobbles the punt. Usama Young is right in front of his face but slips feet first into Jones. The ball pops out of a scrum and Troy Evans comes up with it.
  
• First down now from the 10 yard line. Bush gets a hand off and tries the left side. Mario Williams is already in the backfield after getting past Jammal Brown. Brown seems to go straight for a linebacker and ignores Williams. Reggie tries to cut it back to the inside but by now, Will Demps has arrived to put an end to that idea as Bush falls forward.
• Three receiver's stacked on the left side (Colston, Henderson, Patten). Brees throws a quick out to Colston on the left side. Patten and Devery are the two blockers. Houston reads the play quickly and the secondary immediately comes in to help. Patten and Henderson can't handle it and Colston is stopped after only 2 yards.
• Brees drops back to pass and has plenty of time. It's unfortunate our o-line can't run block as great as it pass blocks. Not sure if it has to be a trade off or not, but its probably best that they are better pass blockers and protect Brees. He hits Mark Campbell right in the numbers but DeMeco Ryans is blanketing Campbell and has one of his hands in Campbells back pocket. Probably pass interference but no call.

Review: Slow start for the offense. It all looked sloppy and the team didn't seem ready to play. This drive was pretty much 2 three and outs. Nice to see special teams recover the fumble. Payton always stresses turnover ratio and it always helps to be on the winning side of that stat.

Saints Defense First Drive

• The Texans start on their own 20. Schaub short pass in the soft spot over the middle to Kevin Walter. Shanle takes him down.
  
• Schaub drops back to pass. The line actually gets good pressure and Will Smith is right in Schaub's face. Sedrick Ellis also bursts in late and pressures Schaub. He is forced to throw it away. This is the only significant pressure the first teamers will get all game.
  
•  Chris Taylor gets a pitch to the left side. It takes about four Saints to get him down, including Jason David. Texans pick up the first down.
• On 3rd and eight, Schaub passes to the left side to Andre Davis who runs out of bounds. David was soft on the coverage and got beat to the sideline by Davis. 14 yards. The fans boo. Payton is standing right there on the sidelines in front of the action. Very frustrating play on third down.
  
• Two plays later and its David getting beat...again. This time its Kevin Walter. David, perhaps a little overeager after the earlier play, dives to make a play on the ball, but it fails. Walter turns it around and upfield for 17 yards total. David looks weak on trying to make the tackle from behind. More booing.
  
• Taylor runs up the right side. Sedrick Ellis beats his man and gets good penetration. With one arm free he attempts to grab Taylor but a nice spin move causes Ellis to miss.
• On the very next play, Schaub goes over the middle to Walter on the goal line. Jason David is out of position yet again with too much separation and he can't bring down Walter before the end zone. David is the deepest defender and no safeties are around for help. Even louder booing as this drive is reminiscent of the Colts game last season.

Review: The Texans seemed to deliberately pick on Jason David's side, not forgetting last years mid-season match-up. In fairness, Matt Schaub looked pretty sharp on the drive.

Saints Offense Second Drive

• Second play of the drive and Reggie runs it to the outside for 6 yards. He runs out of bounds.
• On the next play Brees hits Patten deep for 39 yards. Brees is so amazing as he gently puts it right over Patten's shoulders and into his waiting arms. The timing between quarterback and receiver, when done properly, can be an amazing and wonderful thing of beauty. Patten makes a great catch and always seems to look so smooth and confident. He has great technique. This game made me realize how good Patten actually is.
• A few plays later and its a quick in to Devery Henderson on the left side. Guess what Devery does with it. Drops it.
• Next play is a short pass to Bush on the right side. Goes right through his hands and bounces off his helmet. Ugh.
  
• Yet another drop on the next play as Campbell gets hit immediately at the goal line. The hit obviously jarred him, but he really should have held onto the ball.

Review: This is why I think this play by play recap is great, because I didn't even notice this at the game. Three straight passes and three straight drops that should have been catches. I don't even know what to say. I just can't believe we are still dealing with the same stupid problems as last year. After this game, I'm not even really sure we have made any improvements at all.

Saints Defense Second Drive

• On the first play, Schaub passes over the middle as the ball goes right through a leaping Shanle's hands. Should have come up with the interception.
• On the very next play, 3rd and eight, its Schaub, yet again, to Jason David's side and into the hands of Andre Davis for 12 yards. It was the same exact play called and run as the 3rd and eight play in the Texans first drive. Exact route, exact blown coverage, and exact crappy result. I am Saintsational's silent rage. More booing.
• Next play and its Schaub on a bootleg to the right. He finds TE Owen Daniels over the middle on a crossing route. Again, a dink and dunk in the soft spot behind the linebackers. A nice 16 yards.
• After a penalty, the Saints blitz and Owen Daniels make another catch over the middle. Vilma and Harper are quickly on him.
  
• Next play, the first of the second quarter, its Kevin Walter on a crossing route in the flat. Tracy Porter can only chase him.
  
• Three straight play action, short dink and dunk passes later and the Texans are up by 8. It was just too easy. The good news is that it didn't seem to be the secondary's fault.

Review: Saints were 0/3 on third down while the Texans were 4/4 in the first quarter. Quite a contrast. The inability of the Saints to get off the field on third and longs is crucial. Twice on 3rd and 8 the Texans completed identical out routes against Jason David on the left side, keeping both drives, which inevitably lead to scores, alive. Replace him with a corner with better coverage skills who can make those plays and that is twice the Saints defense gets off the field quickly and keeps the Texans scoreless. Change those two plays and this entire game looks completely different. Schaub pretty much did whatever he wanted. Last week I was worried about the quick, short passes in between coverage and this week was more of the same. Yes, the secondary needs serious help, but I think it is drawing attention away from the dink and dunk stuff that is also killing us.  I didn't realize Tracy Porter saw some time with the first team. He wasn't impressive.

Man on a mission. (Getty Images)

Saints Offense Third Drive

Review: This is exactly how Reggie needs to be used. The play prior to his touchdown was a failed run attempt up the middle for a measly 2 yards. Forget that stuff for Reggie. Reggie can hurdle over guys and land cat like on his feet. Deuce, Pierre and even Stecker cannot. Deuce, Pierre and even Stecker can run it up the gut and carry a couple of people with them, somehow turning what looks like 2 yards into 6. Reggie cannot. Just play to their strengths. That goes for the entire team. Will someone please tell me I'm wrong?

Saints Defense Third Drive

• First play of the drive and guess where guess who finds guess who, yet again for 20 yards. Over the middle, Matt Schaub, Kevin Walter. Now here is the crazy part. It's a play action, and Vilma is watching and on his way in. The second he realizes its a pass, he turns right around and starts heading toward the backfield. He got there so quickly, practically outrunning the ball, that he actually makes a play to tip the ball and reaches Kevin Walter at the same time that Porter does! It was Porters man! I swear on my mother (who is probably reading this right now...seriously). If you've got a recording of the game, check it out. The play starts with 9:33 on the clock in the 2nd quarter. I want someone to prove my story.
  
• A little later, Owen Daniels catches a screen pass and takes it for 21 yards. Scott Shanle had a chance to wrap up his feet but whiffed.
• The drive stalls when Jason Craft wraps up his guy after a short catch. Craft is starting to look better and better at this point. Texans settle for a field goal.
  

Review: It's all about that Vilma play. Though the end result sucks, I think that says a lot about his talent. This was his first game back, so maybe after getting the rust off, those plays will have happier endings.

He's baaaaaaaack.(Getty Images)

Saints Offense Fourth Drive

• Deuce comes back. This drive was very promising with regards to Mr. McAllister. He has runs of 3, 5 and 4 yards along with two receptions of 4 and 6 yards. On the five yard run, Deuce stops and cuts to change direction and looks fine doing it. Choir sings "Hallelujah" Immediately after the run is the two-minute warning. On his walk back to the sideline, he is all smiles as Brees and Karney congratulate him. Remember it, because I think that was the play. He and everyone else knows it. Ladies and gentlemen, we have a running back!
  
• Here is some good news: Devery gets his arms underneath and makes a nice sliding catch on an under thrown ball that almost hits the ground.
  
• Colston uncharacteristically drops a short pass. Then comes the other big play of the night. Brees lofts it up in the end zone and Colston reaches out, pulls it down and tucks it in. His other hand touched the ball for all of about a quarter of a second. Colston's left arm isn't really even necessary, its just a nice luxury. Do you think if Colston lost an arm in some weird accident that he could still play wide receiver? Colston could be the spokesman for Elmer's Glue. Did you guys know that I love Colston?

Review: Good stuff. I liked this drive. Because of the whole Deuce thing, this drive could very well have determined the fate of this teams running game.

I think we all feel the same way about the game, so I won't beat a dead horse (where the hell did that saying come from). We should all be upset with the defense after this showing, but I don't think it necessarily means the season is already in the trash. We should keep in mind that McKenzie still isn't back and that can make a huge difference. Also, both Randall Gay and Usama Young left the game early with injuries.

What do you guys think? What do you gather from all of this knowledge I am dropping on you? What are your feelings about this post?

The team has off today as they make their way back to Metry. Having gotten a clearer picture of just what this team looks like, I thought what better time to throw out another attempt at predicting just who will make this team of 53 and who wont. This, of course, is meant to spark conversation and your input is welcomed and awaited. Where did I go wrong and where did I go oh...so...right? Let us all know what you think about who makes what will inevitably be the greatest Saints team of all-time.

Offense

Defense

Special Teams

Here is my thinking on some of this:

• Brian Young's health concerns me. If it continues to be spotty, the staff may say to hell with it and go with one of the other talented options in Antwan Lake and Orien Harris.
• I went with Reis over Roach at safety.
• Yeah, I went with six receivers. Copper and Moore both contribute on special teams. Skyler Green was so close I practically flipped a coin for this one.
• I only went with one fullback. We should expect better blocking from our tight ends. Maybe keep another fullback on the practice squad in case Karney is injured.
• Jason David is still around. I just don't think the coaches are going to give up on him. I don't really feel we have seen enough from Tracy Porter, but I gave him a shot anyway.

For a good laugh, compare it to my roster prediction back in May. Also check out  how much nicer looking my tables have become. We've come so far.

The floor is now open. Take it away.

This will be the only practice of the day since Coach Payton has canceled this afternoon's practice.

Must Reads

Fox 40's offensive notes form the morning practice.

Fox 40's defensive notes from the morning practice.

New Orleans Saints official website report from the morning practice.

Times-Pic's notes from the morning practice.

Larry Holder's notes from his blog.

Here is the transcript of Coach Payton's press conference today, per the New Orleans Saints official website.

Opening Statement: The afternoon practice today is cancelled. We’ll go two tomorrow. We livened it up a little bit this morning and got some full contact work, which was good. Andy Alleman has a hip contusion; he didn’t go and I think he should be ready tomorrow. Adrian Arrington is still working with the turf toe – it’s pretty serious. Bobby McCray should be ready tomorrow – he didn’t practice. Jeremy Shockey – the same way, did not practice. Brian Young – the same. We signed long snapper Ryan Senser who we had at the beginning of camp and James Reed was placed on reserve/injured with the Achilles injury he had yesterday. Our numbers are still at 80.

Q: Is Adrian Arrington still at camp?

A: Yes. He was in the training room because of the nature of his injury. It’s pretty significant; it’s going to be a little bit here for him. It will be at least a week. We’ll see where we’re at then.

Q: What exactly is Arrington’s injury?

A: It’s a grade two turf toe, which is the ligament below the big toe. He hurt in the game the other night and he’ll have to rehab that.

Q: Terrance Copper had his leg wrapped in practice. Is he alright?

A: He’s fine.

Q: Did Reed tear his Achilles?

A: He tore his Achilles yesterday.

Q: There was a lot of emphasis on the run today in practice. Is that more for the defense?

A: It was for the offense as well. We went in with the idea that we’d back off this afternoon and we wanted to have a physical practice in the running game. You get accustomed to this “full-go up” and then when you go live, it changes things. I wanted to see the backs finish and people on the back end with their run fits, and I think we got good work. Guys stayed healthy and played hard on both sides.

Q: How has Jason David looked? Has he improved since last year?

A: He’s doing well. I think so.

Q: Will there be meetings this afternoon or are the players completely off?

A: There will be a normal meeting schedule this afternoon and evening; that’s the same. They’re just going to be off their feet and we’ll have two practices tomorrow.

Q: Do you think you need to be better in short yardage than you were last year?

A: Our short yardage numbers last year were pretty good. There were goal line situations that concerned me a little bit more that come to mind. One was against Philadelphia at the end of the season where we got stopped on three plays, and it’s definitely an emphasis. It’s hard in training camp to get all the work, but the preseason games give you an opportunity to see where you’re at. But both goal line and short yardage need to be areas that we operate efficiently in; especially the goal line. If you look at last year’s numbers, that’s an area that I think we can do better in – our goal line running game.

Q: In short yardage defense, how much of it depends on the defensive tackles getting push at the point of attack?

A: It’s a push both ways. You’re pushing offensively and defensively you’re having to fit your gap and get penetration. Part of it is the scheme you choose to do with your running game, but part of it is that 1-2 and being physical. It was good to get some of that today. Some of it came up in the script where it just happened to be third-and-one as we moved the ball. Again, getting off the field on third-and-one defensively is critical and being able to convert those downs offensively as well. Knowing that there is a good chance that you’re going to run the football and the defenses know that and still being able to get the yard-and-a-half that you need is important.

Q: Did we see Thursday night just how valuable Mark Campbell can be?

A: He’s coming off of a year without playing, so I was encouraged in that first preseason game to see him make some tough catches, take some hits and get up. I thought he did pretty well for the first preseason game. He’s done a good job.

Q: Was that your high school coach out there today?

A: No, he was here this week and left yesterday. Bill Mallory – who used to be the head coach at Indiana University came in yesterday and will be here for a few days. I think that’s who you saw out there today. Bill’s son is with us as the assistant special teams coach, Mike Mallory. He knows a few of the guys on this staff and he’s come to visit with us, which has been good.

Q: Who has been consistently getting good performance reviews in the offensive line/defensive line areas?

A: I thought Jonathan Goodwin had a good game the other night. Jon Stinchcomb has been solid. Those guys up front have been pretty solid. There are some things that we needed to clean up with the second group. Jammal Brown has had a good camp and he’s healthy. This time last year he had that injury and that kind of set him back a few weeks to the start of the season. He’s healthy now and he’s had his best offseason since we’ve been here and I think that’s carried over to how he’s playing. Defensively, we have some guys that are nicked up in Brian Young and Bobby McCray, but both ends – Will Smith and Charles Grant – are healthy. Sedrick Ellis is getting a lot of work and a lot of reps and Kendrick Clancy is doing a good job. He’s in there battling with Hollis Thomas and he’s been consistent. We have a lot of time still and a lot of practices left. We’ll have two tomorrow and then break camp and the focus then goes to Wednesday’s and Thursday’s practices with the Texans as we prepare to play them then on Saturday night.

Q: Do you see Carl Nicks as competing for a starting role?

A: He has a chance to compete. We wanted to get the 1s going and then at some point get Nicks some reps with that group because he also had to go to tackle in the later part of the game. In order to get him some work at guard, we did it a little earlier. He’s big and he’s done some good things. Mentally, there are some things that he has to work on. He had a (mental error) in the game the other night that Reggie Bush turned into a big run. As a rookie, there are some positives but there’s still a lot of work ahead of him to develop. He has size and he’s powerful.

Q: Who do you see as being the key figures in the punt and kick return game at this point?

A: There are three or four guys that we’re going to look at as punt returners: Reggie Bush, Lance Moore, Skyler Green, and then we’re going to look at Tracy Porter and Jason David. In the kick return game, you saw Pierre Thomas the other night with a big play, Aaron Stecker, Robert Meachem, Devery Henderson – all of those guys throughout this preseason are going to be called on to get work.

Q: Do you see Green and Moore competing for one spot?

A: I don’t know if it’s just those two competing for one spot. Certainly Skyler is competing for a roster spot and Lance is competing both at the receiver and the returner spot. There’s a lot of competition there and you have to take into account what these guys can do on special teams when it comes to your final 53.

Q: What would set one of the two kickers apart if they’re playing for one spot?

A: One thing about the kickers is that you can really chart every kick in practice and in scrimmages and then in the games and begin to get percentages to understand a) their accuracy when it comes to field goals and PATs, and then b) their kick hang-time and location when it comes to kickoffs. That’s unlike a lot of other positions, so there is a little bit more exactness to their performance and that’s a good thing. Over a period of time – and what’s important is time – through training camp and preseason week one, two and three, you begin to get an idea of who is batting at a higher percentage and that’s important when it comes to evaluating that position.

Q: So it’s a lot more intricate than just missed and made field goals?

A: It’s a confidence level as to what their efficiency is. When it comes to the preseason games, you don’t have the same percentages. Maybe Mehlhaff just had one kick the other night and that’s it. But every kick they kick out here in practice is charted, so I think they understand that not only is it charted but the snap-hold time is charted and you begin to know fairly soon as to who has been more consistent. That being said, I think both of them are in a strong battle. Both of them are competing and the good news is that they have three-and-a-half more weeks still with more games to play and more practices. It might be a little bit easier to evaluate that position than some others that might be a little bit more nebulous.

Q: How much patience do you have with that? It seems that Gramatica has been more consistent but does Mehlhaff being the rookie with potential carry extra weight in the decision?

A: I think it’s really important for us to play the best player. Martín has been consistent. When we brought him in last year, he came in in a tough situation and did a good job. For Taylor’s case, he has a challenge to beat out a player like that. He has to beat him out. I think both of those guys are doing a good job right now, so we’ll see.

Q: With Arrington’s injury keeping him out for a while, have you had enough of a chance to evaluate him at this point?

A: Even in the minicamps he had done a lot of things that had encouraged us and again early in this camp. He had a slight hamstring which kind of slowed him down some, but I like the prospect. He’s big and he’s smart and he knows what we’re doing. The key is just getting healthy and that’s tough.

Q: Can you discuss the contributions of Scott Fujita since you acquired him?

A: He is somebody both Gary (Gibbs) and I both had with the Cowboys and he was a free agent when we came here and we signed him. He’s played outside linebacker. He’s somebody that has really had to earn a lot. He was a walk on in college and a late draft pick in Kansas City. He’s been a guy that’s worked hard, detailed his assignments and he’s one of the veteran players on this team. Still, there are certain areas and specifics you’re looking for improvement on, but he does provide veteran leadership and is one of our core players.

Q: Can you discuss how he is so consistent?

A: He keeps himself in shape, he works hard in the offseason. He’s a good athlete who’s big and has range. There are things he’ll give you and things he’ll continue to work on and improve. He’s been a good acquisition for us.

Q: You hear a lot about Fujita, Jonathan Vilma and Mark Simoneua, what about Scott Shanle and his play?

A: He had a good game the other night and he’s playing well. He has good foot speed, he runs well, is athletic and gives you good nickel snaps. He’s had a good camp, he’s stayed healthy, so that’s been encouraging.

Q: Is the kicking competition close and would you consider keeping both on the roster?

A: I think you consider that. But until you get to those final cuts until you look at the comparison at that point you are comparing the second kicker to someone else who will get a certain number of snaps. Right now the competition’s close. That’s something that down the road will become one of the tough decisions we will have to make. Right now, it is a competition that is very close that you potentially weigh in. The challenge isn’t keeping two on the 53 (man roster). The challenging is keeping two active when you go from 53 to 46. That’s the trick, because now when you get to that 46, if you’re taking two kickers, which we’ve done before, now you’re taking one less tight end or one less cornerback. That’s the trick.

Q: Is it impossible to now stash guys on injured reserve due to rules changes?

A: You have your practice squad and you have your active roster. Your practice squad doesn’t secure a player. A player on the practice squad can be claimed by any team. The key is the player receiving enough reps and us receiving enough looks to make the proper evaluation. The thing that keeps you up at night right now is knowing you have some decisions to make and wanting to make the right one.

Q: Dallas gave the kicking job to a rookie last year and other teams like New England have done so in the past. As a head coach, knowing that you play only 16 games and the magnitude of each game, are you a little concerned about going with a rookie?

A: I’m not concerned with giving any job to a rookie if we’ve seen enough, like we did with Marques Colston. You can’t completely compare a receiver to a kicker, but we saw enough from Colston to feel like he was playing better than the starter playing ahead of him. It’s the moment of truth where you make the decision and you that what you have gotten is what you will receive during the season. At some point, and I’m not talking about Taylor (Mehlhaff), these kickers started somewhere. Somebody had to say that he’s going to kick for our team whether they were rookies or maybe they didn’t kick their first year. At some point, a coach said that one of these guys was going to be his kicker and then you go from there. We’re going to try to keep the one who’s most consistent and not factor in that one’s been a draft pick and one hasn’t. That’s been our approach. Those two guys both know that. The key for us is to make the right decision based on what we’ve seen.

Q: Don’t you leave yourself open to second guessing if you keep one and make the wrong decision?

A: Not just with kickers. We signed (Olindo) Mare last year and we had success the year before with (John) Carney and it didn’t work out. There’s reason to criticize and ask if we had done it over again would we have done the same thing? Probably not. You try to make the best decision based on your evaluation and what you think will help the team with these cuts coming.

Q: Do you think about that decision a lot?

A: Yes, everyday. I think about these decisions everyday. That decision is one of these decisions. I think about how the running back position will shape up. I think about how the corners will shape up and how it will sort out at tight end. Within each group, you begin to look at how you see this roster taking place without trying to pre-evaluate and really go by what you see. Fortunately we still have a long way to go here in the preseason. Hopefully the decisions will become clearer.

Q: What is the injury that has kept Jeremy Shockey off the field for much of camp?

A: It’s still his lower leg/ankle. It’s the injury he had in New York. He’s battling through it and just getting himself to where he feels 100 percent. Today we had contact, he’s part of the walk throughs. I think we’re getting to where we’ll have him full go. I don’t know that we’ll have him for the Houston game, but I think after that for those last two preseason games you see him with no limit at all. That’s kind of been the goal with him. He’s doing fine. He’s picking things up and he’s going to give us a boost when he gets in there.

Q: How did Usama Young grade out in the last game?

A: Pretty well.

Q: Is he getting a look because he’s an unknown commodity?

A: He played some nickel for us last year, so he’s in the mix there with those guys. He’s big, he’s physical and he’s in his second year now.

Q: Can you discuss the large number of snaps on defense and special teams he received?

A: He received a lot and when you take out (Mike) McKenzie and (Tracy) Porter out and all of a sudden you look at those numbers. (Jason) Craft received a lot of reps. Aaron Glenn received a lot of reps. There are players injured behind them, like at receiver. Terrance Copper was in the 30’s (reps). That’s a lot for a guy like him. With guys that are injured at some of these positions, it just forces you to play some players maybe more than you normally would.

Q: Is Mike McKenzie still progressing along the lines of where you want him to?

A: Yes, he was full go in the drills today. I don’t know if he made any tackles, but he was in the drills. He’s getting there.

Q: Is he fluid and are you satisfied with his progress?

A: Yes, he’s getting there. I don’t know if he’s 100 percent yet, but he’s getting there.

Here are some initial observations after having watched the game twice (Tivo is a bloggers best friend). All discussion, agreement and disagreement is welcome.

This was the play of the game. (Associate Press)

Wide Receiver Battle Heats Up This will no doubt be what everyone is talking about today. David Patten should feel like a proud pop after Meachem's performance last night. We know the veteran receiver has been Meachem's biggest supporter and last night all their workouts together paid off. Meachem was just plain nasty! The first catch, an over the shoulder grab on an overthrown ball showed us just how much talent he has. The touchdown grab in the fourth quarter displayed his YAC ability after a spin move and a stiff arm helped him gain another 54 yards after the catch.

Meachem's performance last night was