Saints Offense First Drive (14 plays, 69 yards, 8:26, Field Goal)

• Deuce gets a nice run up the left side. Billy Miller and Lance Moore do a good job sealing up that left side.
  
• Brees did a good job of moving around in the pocket and avoiding a sack more than once.
  
• Deuce looked real solid on this drive. 4 runs for 24 yards and 2 catches for 20 yards. This is exactly the way I like to see the Saints start the game.
  
• Devery makes a heads up play rolling for the first down after a pass just shy of the line.
  
• A holding penalty by Matt Lehr pushes them 10 yards back and just kills the drive.
• Drew tries to thread the needle with a pass to Colston in the endzone. No dice. 
• Saints have to settle for a field goal.
  
• Take away the holding penalty and this drive probably ends in a touchdown. It's also a darn good example of how well this offense can play, particularly when they decide to use Deuce effectively. It also ate a lot of clock.

Saints Defense First Drive (7 plays, 51 yards, 3:04, Fieldgoal)

• Chargers start off with a bang on a 26 yard run by LT. Kendrick Clancy almost had him by the ankles but no luck. Kaesviharn also misses a diving attempt. Their offensive line gets good penetration and the left side is wide open.
• Antonio Gates is just too much man for Roman Harper. He makes a nice catch on a jump ball that Harper appears to have timed incorrectly.
  
• The run defense starts off looking very weak. They tighten up a bit at the end. It will be a long day if they continue playing like that.
• Aaron Glenn stays with Malcolm Floyd as he goes all the way across the middle. Nice work there. The pass is a little off but had he caught it, Glenn would have been there to make the quick tackle before the first down marker. Chargers settle for field goal.

Saints Offense Second Drive(3 plays, 7 yards, 1:36, Punt)

• Saints go three and out. Obviously this drive sucks.
• Brees throws incomplete to Lance Moore on first down. Looks like a comeback route that is timed wrong or a miscommunication on the route. Or it might have been an inability of Lance to cut back quick enough on the soggy field. Not sure.
  

Saints Defense Second Drive (3 plays, 9 yards, 1:46, Punt)

• The Saints defense answers with a three and out of their own. 
• LT breaks off two runs for 9 yards.
• On third down Sedrick Ellis gets through the middle and is able to make the tackle behind the line of scrimmage. Nice play. It looks like RG Mike Goff appears to almost slip and fall down. 

Fairly uneventful first quarter. The teams would switch to longer spikes on their shoes and the scoring would then commence.

Now, the moment you've all been waiting for. It's time for part deux of our Raiders/Saints breakdown. Honestly, this game was over by the beginning of the fourth quarter. Not too much to write home about for this half. Let's see how the Saints put this one away.

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Quarterback A+

Do I really even have to discuss this. Drew is incapable of getting a grade below a B. Today, I had to give him an A+ because I don't know how he could possibly have performed any better. 86.7% completion percentage!? That's not human. Lance Moore dropped one so really he it ought to be higher. To be fair to everyone else though, Drew's performance was a team effort on the part of not only Brees but the receivers and the offensive line. Just amazing.

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I love the smell of victory in the morning. I also like reading quotes about that victory. Here is your collection of post-game quotes from the Saints drubbing of the Raiders yesterday. By the time you are done reading these quotes you will be pumped all over again. Get comfortable because I've got a lot for you.

Special thanks again to MtnExile for his ridiculously awesome work with the above graphic. Is that not the coolest/funniest thing you have ever seen? Be sure to show your appreciation in the comment section for MtnExile's awesome work! If anyone else thinks they have something they can contribute to CSC feel free to let me know.

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This was a fun one to be in attendance for. The Saints played a full game on both sides of the ball and put together a convincing win. I think this could be a turnaround game for this team this season.

We are gonna get into the game much more, but I wanted to get these up for you first. Below are my notes and initial reactions from the game.

• Before the game they played a video with Saints mascots Sir Saint and Gumbo working out to the song "Gonna Fly Now" the theme to Rocky. The crowd was then introduced to the new and improved, completely ripped, physically fit, steroid using Gumbo carrying a barbell.
• Jon Secada sang the National Anthem. And by sang I mean butchered. He added his own little riffs and even went falsetto at the very end. I will give him credit though because he really got into it, bending at the waist and pointing all around. It was a good laugh. He should stick to the script though. I hate when people use our country's anthem like its an American Idol tryout.
• It was supposed to be rally towel day but I don't think they did a very good job of handing them out. I didn't have one and I didn't see too many people with them.
• They actually played football while we were there too.
• You know we gotta start this off with Deuce. Payton kept his word and gave him a fair share of carries. It was awesome. On his first run a huge pile of 49er defenders formed on and around him like a rugby scrum in an effort to try and take him down. The next thing you saw was the entire pile move forward as Deuce kept churning, taking about ten guys with him. The crowd went nuts and it was a statement first run. The rest of the day Deuce continued to pick up nice chunks of yardage as the crowd chanted "Deeeeeeeeuce!" throught the entire afternoon. The fans demanded he get the ball for his touchdown on the goal line series.
• Was that blood on Deuce's jersey?
• Brees looked a little off at the start but then turned back to the player he really is: the best quarterback in the NFL. Period.
• Moore, Meachem and Henderson all had great games thanks in large part to my previous point. Brees makes amazingly perfect throws and these guys all come up with equally impressive catches. Lance continues to have hands of glue, though he lost his shoe on his touchdown, and Meachem is going the way of Colston (plain scary!).  That catch on the fleaflicker was just amazing. When the ball was in the air I kept thinking to myself there is no way. Couldn't believe it when he came down with it. I just can't say enough good things about Moore. I think FrenchFreak summed it up pretty well..."Reliability is spelled L-A-N-C-E."
• You know its a good day when Devery isn't dropping a deep ball! Just think how dangerous this unit will be when Colston and Shockey return.
• The defense as a whole looked great. They didn't give up a touchdown until late in the game. Getting key turnovers like two interceptions in the end zone is so unfamiliar and unexpected but so game changing and fun to watch.  
• Talk about bringing some pressure. This was a sack-fest. Charles Grant had a great day with two sacks. After his second sake he did a funny little shimmy. Sedrick Ellis got one. Clancy too. Will Smith forced a fumble that Vilma recovered.
• The safeties really stepped it up today. Obviously Kaesviharn had his interception. The last time he did that in the Superdome he was doing it for the Bengals. He also laid some guy out coming across the middle just after the receiver missed the catch. Roman Harper almost had his own interception but it went off his hands. How often do we ever talk about our safeties like this? Never. This is refreshing.
• Tracy Porter and Mike McKenzie got the start. That is my ideal combo. Jason David came in for nickel packages. They all looked good. Porter had a great interception. It's hit or miss with him. He makes huge plays but also gives up a couple of big ones also.
• Usama Young looked like he had a really good game. He made some great tackles on special teams and even got involved in the secondary. I liked what I saw from him today.
• The tackling in general looked much better. Glad to see we have gotten that problem cleaned up.
• Not much to get excited about from Reggie.
• Did Weatherford kick one of the kickoffs?
• It's fun to watch the special teams guys dance to hip-hop on the 15 yard line while waiting to kick it off. Jason David has some moves.
• I guess with Deuce back now we will be seeing less of Pierre. I'm okay with that if Deuce continues to run the ball like he did today.
• My mother has been in town so I took her to this game, her first. In 2006 I brought my father to the Niners game when Reggie ran for three touchdowns. My parents seem to be good luck.
• Whats the deal with the Cort Comfort Zone? For those of you who don't know, Cort is a company who sponsors games and chooses a couple of fans to sit in nice couches that they have set up, but it seems they are set up in the back of the section, under the overhang and out of eyesight of the game. Why would anyone want to sit there?
• There was a Niners fan with his wife sitting in front of me. He got a little ribbing but he said everyone was very nice and treated him well.
• The Tenet Choices old person of the week was some 95 year old woman who looked like she was 65. She was doing chin ups. Very impressed.

Here are some pictures for you guys.

 
My transportation for the day.

Walking up to the Dome.

The giant turkey legs I told you about last time.

Lance Moore being introduced.

Jon Secada.

Urlacher? Really?

Halftime festivities.

Willie Roaf driving around the field at the half.

The coolest pencil ever!

New jacked up Gumbo.

The Niners about to get a first down late in the game.

Here is the roll call for the open game thread. Thanks to everyone for participating.

Reggie Bush Bush has done well against San Francisco in the past. He has looked great so far this season and there is no reason why this won't continue. In fact, its scary to say, but I think we haven't even seen Reggie get hot yet. The Niners will definitely be keying on him so Reggie will definitely need to elevate his game. Patrick Willis makes a lot of tackles so Bush has a tough matchup over the middle on Sunday. 

Lance Moore/Robert Meachem This is a big opportunity for the two young receivers. Matter of fact, this is really a big opportunity for all of the receivers. Lance Moore has continued to show improvement and we know that Drew has a lot of trust in him. Meachem has also continued to turn in respectable games with big catches. We could definitely see a break-out game from either of these, maybe 100 yards and 2 touchdowns. Maybe even both? That would be sweet. 

Carl Nicks  Time to step up. Nicks is a rookie so he's no where near perfect but I hear good things about the rookie. Losing a good player like Jamar Nesbit hurts but his pass blocking was better than his run blocking and run blocking is what we need more of. With Nicks' size, maybe he will be the key to opening up bigger holes for our running backs. 

Sedrick Ellis/Kendrick Clancy  With Frank Gore and DeShaun Foster toting the rock for San Francisco these two are going to have a long day. The Niners run the ball straight up the middle more than any other direction and average 5.6 yards per carry when doing so, 4th highest in the league. Their success in this matchup with be very key in the Saints stopping the run.

Deuce McAllister  All signs point to yes. I doubt we will see him much, certainly not 20 carries but this should be the official beginning of the comeback. If he dresses and doesn't see the field again, heads are gonna roll. 

J.T. O'Sullivan/Jamie Martin  I just thought it was interesting that the Niners have two former Saints quarterbacks.  

Key Matchups

Saints receivers vs. Broncos secondary: Champ Bailey and Dre Bly are past their prime. Those names sound intimidating but they don't represent what they once did. Denver ranks 29th and 28th in passing yards allowed per game and per play, respectively. The Broncos focus more on stopping the run, a result of being in the AFC West, a division with a lot of talented running backs. If Drew can get a lot of time in the pocket, he may have a chance to carve up this defense.

Advantage: Who Dat!

Saints defensive line vs. Broncos offensive line: Denver's offensive line is like a patchwork quilt right now, made up of all kinds of players at all different points in their career. Though they have looked pretty good the first two games they still have some room to grow. Defensive ends Will Smith and Charles Grant should be able to take advantage of the situation. The Saints pay them enough.

Advantage: Who Dat!

Saints run defense vs. Broncos running backs: After the last two weeks, stopping the run is imperative this Sunday. The bad news is that on top of having the most productive offense in the league, the Broncos are ranked 10th in rushing yards per game and have a two talented backs in Selvin Young and Andre Hall. I'm not sure how much more Vilma can do so it's incumbent on everyone else to step it up and help plug those holes. The Broncos have run the ball right up the middle 22 out of 56 times, almost 40% of the time. That means Sedrick Ellis and Kendrick Clancy will definitely have their hands full in the middle. 

Advantage: Screw Dat!

Saints running game vs. Broncos run defense: The Broncos are known for having a good defense year in and year out but so far this season it has been less than extraordinary. That being said the Saints running game has not been everything it could be either. This may be the first game we see some significant action from Deuce. If that's the case, maybe our offensive line will start to run block better. Otherwise Reggie and Pierre will have to attempt to make something out of nothing. This matchup is too tough to call. 

Advantage: Even

Saints secondary vs. Broncos pass offense: Jay Cutler and the Denver receiving corp has been lights out thus far. The Broncos are 2nd in the league in pass yards per game thanks in large part to Brandon Marshall and Eddie Royal. The good news is that Mike McKenzie, Randall Gay and Roman Harper all may return to action this weekend. The bad news is this Broncos aerial attack may still be too much for them to handle. 

Advantage: Screw Dat!

Keys to the Game

• Establish the run.
• Pressure Cutler. A lot.
• Get defense off the field quickly.
• Play all 60 minutes.
• Tackle better.

Stopping the Saints

"The Saints have a lot of good athletes on their team," Daniel Graham said. "Guys that can make plays. You never want to underestimate them just because you don't know too much about them. If you do that, they will come in here and get a win. We respect the Saints and everything that they do -- it will be a hard game on Sunday."

-Daniel Graham   

"Just get 11 men to the ball," Bailey said. "That is all there is to it. When he gets the ball everybody has to be there. He is good at making one man miss so we have to have every hat to the ball."

-Boss Bailey, on Reggie Bush   

"Reggie can do everything," he said. "He's a pretty good pass protector, but at the same time he's a running back coming out of the backfield playing receiver. I'm not on defense -- I won't be out there tackling him -- but just watching him, he brings a lot to the table. He's one of the big go-to guys in this league. We're going to have our hands full with Reggie Bush."

-Boss Bailey   

"Like I said, this is my first game -- three weeks in -- and I have to get it started right now," he said. "That is something that helps me on Sunday, just that drive. It's just something that'll give you that edge and make you even want it more."

-Jarvis Moss   

Broncos Report: No Changes on Special Teams

"He still has some history in that computer upstairs of his where he can kind of draw from," Broncos defensive coordinator Bob Slowiksaid. "But I'm not sure it matters who he plays. As long as he gets a comfort level with the coverages and so on, he's awesome."

-Bob Slowik

"He's been around and seen everything you can throw at a quarterback, so he's not really thrown off by anything," Broncos safety Marlon McCree said. "You can't really surprise him. You can try to disguise but he knows where to find the holes. You've got to put pressure on him and make him earn everything."

-Marlon McCree

"They're completely different guys. Both are great players. But Reggie Bush is Reggie Bush. . . . He's a great athlete. He has balance in what he does and they know different ways to get him the ball. And when he does, he makes things happen."

-Marquand Manuel, on Reggie Bush and Darren Sproles

Random Links:

Denver Post Game Preview

An Inside Look at the Denver Broncos

Saints at Denver Game Preview

Broncos Set to Face Saints

Times-Pic Scouting Report

Broncos vs. Saints Matchups

Broncos vs. Saints: Five Keys

It's time to move on to phase two of the grieving process. To help us all move on to the acceptance phase, I give to you a large collection of quotes regarding the Saints loss to the Redskins on Sunday. 

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Hopefully, Drew won't have to do too much running(Getty Images)

Sunday's matchup between the New Orleans Saints and the Washington Redskins should be an interesting one. The Redskins are coming off a frustrating loss to the Giants last week while the Saints will attempt to keep the ball rolling with another win. These two teams last met in 2006 and saw Washington defeat New Orleans who had just come off an incredible win over the Dallas Cowboys. Let's take a look at what we might expect when we settle in to watch this weekend.

Saints Offense  vs. Redskins Defense We should see much more Reggie Bush. He looked pretty impressive last week and I think Payton will ride the wave of that momentum. After last weeks performance, I am hopeful that Payton has figured out the right way to use Reggie and we see a lot of screen passes, pitches, quick slants etc. Like last week, I expect more reception yards than rushing yards for Reggie. The Redskins know how explosive Reggie can be and they have gone on record as saying they will be looking to contain him. Deuce is also listed as Probably so there may be a chance that fans will get to see him for the first time in the regular season.

 The Redskins have a very talented secondary with players including Shawn Springs, Carlos Rogers, Fred Smoot and LaRon Landry. These guys can all make big game changing plays particularly interceptions, if they can hold on to the ball. Last week they dropped a couple of sure interceptions that may have changed the entire outcome of their game and have been focusing on that all week. Drew Brees will have a tough challenge tomorrow for sure. Both he and the receivers need to make sure they are on the same page and not give this secondary any opportunities. The turnover ratio will be key in this game. Of course with Colston gone the door is wide open for the other receivers, particularly Robert Meachem who will be making his regular season debut this weekend. David Patten might be interested in making a statement to his old team this Sunday as well.

Newcomer Jason Taylor anchors the Skins defensive line but he has lost a step or two over the years and is admittedly not 100%. Andre Carter lines up at the other end and both will be looking to get after Drew Brees big time in an attempt to rattle and contain him. This also means the Saints offensive line needs to show that great pass blocking we have come to know the last couple of years. If Drew has a 300+ yard day and the Saints don't win, something went terribly wrong.

Starting linebacker Marcus Washington is questionable for the game but the talented London Fletcher will still be out there making his presence known. This group will have the wonderful responsibility of keeping tabs on the fiery Jeremy Shockey. Shockey will now have more responsibility with the absence of Colston and will be the Saints best bet to fill in for those tough over the middle throws. Skins linebacker Rocky McIntosh will be a big part of containing Shockey come Sunday. Keep an eye on that matchup.

If the Saints can grab an early lead and make the Redskins play catch-up, they will be forced to throw the ball and rely more on Jason Campbell. Campbell's play has always been shaky despite showing a lot of talent. It is most likely the result of having so many different coaches in such a short period of time and having to learn a new playbook nearly every year.

Saints Defense vs. Redskins Offense  Sad to say that its only week 2 and our roster is already starting to look beat up. Injuries abound at every area of this defense. At defensive tackle Hollis Thomas is out indefinitely and Antwan Lake will not play. The Saints looked pretty weak in run defense last week so the Redskins will look to exploit that with running backs Clinton Portis and Ladell Betts. Portis looked pretty solid last week against the Giants gaining 84 yards on 23 carries. Portis averages 101.5 yards in FedEx Field home openers with three touchdowns.Betts can do some damage in his own right.

Sedrick Ellis and Kendrick Clancy will be responsible for getting a push up the middle and stopping a formidable ground attack from Clinton Portis and Ladell Betts. Newly acquired DT Alvin McKinley may or may not see some time. (On a side note, he rounds out the Saints all black, all Irish tandem of Deuce McAllister, Mike McKenzie, Bobby McCray and now Alvin McKinley. Seriously has any team ever come close to this many "Mc's" at one time before?) If the Saints can get good pressure and a solid performance from its highly paid ends, Jason Campbell could be in for a long day. Getting a good rush to throw quarterback Jason Campbell off his game will be crucial to help our secondary.

In the linebacking corp the team will be without Scott Fujita while Mark Simoneau is done for the season. Man this is getting ridiculous. Troy Evans should get the start now. Look for Vilma to continue to increase his level of play and be all over the field.

Of course the Saints secondary is what everyone is still focusing on and, like the rest of the team, is battling the injury bug. Roman Harper and Randall Gay are both listed as Out for the game. The good news is Mike McKenzie has been listed as Probable and he should be a go. That leaves MM and Porter as your starters, the best combination so far in my mind. The Redskins have two talented receivers in Santana Moss and Antwaan Randle El. This will be a huge challenge for our two cornerbacks

The Redskins offense has struggled a good bit on first downs so it will be crucial to close out the drives and come up big on third downs and allow themselves to get off the field quickly and stay fresh. Third down percentage is always an important stat and tomorrow it will be more important than ever.

Redskins Player to Watch: Cllinton Portis

Saints Player to Watch: Reggie Bush

Saintsational's Sleeper: Lance Moore

Score Prediction: Saints 24 - Redskins 17

Random Prediction: The Saints defense will have at least 3 sacks.

Payton has his work cut out for him. (Getty Images)

Now that we've all come down from the high of a season opening win it's time to get back to reality and swallow a big dose of reality. Sunday's game against the Bucs was not perfect. It was just good enough. I will take a 24-20 victory every week, but as a perfectionist, I really want to see the Saints just dominate the way New England did so many times early last year. Whether you love them or hate them, I think the 2007 Patriots were a great team from top to bottom and should be regarded as a near perfect model for success.  16-0 should be the goal at the beginning of every season for every team. Improbable? Of course, but these guys shouldn't even be playing the game if they aren't giving it everything they've got. That being said, the Saints won't even come close to an undefeated season playing like they did last Sunday. So let's take a look at some of the mistakes the Saints made Sunday against the Bucs that need to be fixed before next Sunday's battle in our nation's capital. 

Penalties The first quarter of Sunday's game was sloppy. A delay of game penalty and two back to back false start penalties are just a result of miscommunication. Those kinks ought to be worked out very quickly. In fact, with no other penalties like that in the second half, they may already have. It's week one and issues like this are to be expected.

Tackling This is another quick fix that should resolve itself naturally. It's normal for the team to look a little sloppy in this area during the first week. The players need to  get acclimated to the speed of the regular season. Even during pre-season games, though it's full contact, they're not out there trying to kill each other. Now they're looking for blood. If this continues through say, November, then we've got a problem on our hands. Like the penalties, I don't think this should be much of an issue going forward. 

Drew Brees Drew has been a huge disappointment so far and he really needs to step it up quickly. Kidding. Just making sure you're paying attention.

Run Defense Some of the problem here lies in the aforementioned weak tackling department as it allowed for Tampa's running backs to gain extra yardage when they probably shouldn't have. With all of the Saints emphasis on the pass rush, the run defense may have been slightly overlooked. Kendrick Clancy and Sedrick Ellis each only had one tackle apiece. Hollis Thomas is now on IR so kiss his big butt goodbye for this year. Clancy and Ellis need to step it up while Brian Young needs to stay healthy, if that's possible. We may never see a 100% Brian Young. The team is probably looking at other defensive tackles as we speak. Where is Orien Harris?

Special Teams I know Reggie really wants to be the main guy in the punt return game but he's running out of time to impress us. He has not been the game changer, ala Devin Hester, that I'm sure he is hoping to be. On Sunday he misjudged a punt and allowed it to sail behind him. On other occassions it's obvious, with all of his dancing and prancing, he is trying to go for the big play every time but gets nowhere. I'm willing to give it more time but it would be very nice to have someone who is a danger every time he's back to return. What about Jason David? His name was getting thrown around during training camp in relation to the return game. Now that we've come to our senses and realized he shouldn't be used much in our secondary maybe returning punts is his calling. 

Pass Blocking I might be nitpicking now. Normally this is a specialty of our offensive line and I don't expect to be talking about this in the near future but we need to make sure to keep Drew protected. The Bucs scored six points on Sunday because they got to him quickly. 

Running Game I am not even sure if this is a problem or not. We still didn't see a consistent pounding up the middle like we get with a back like Deuce but that may not be our gameplan. Payton may have just accepted the personnel he has and decided that's not the way to get the most out of what we've got. 

I am sure coach Payton is nodding his head in agreement right now as he reads this. The good news is that some of these problems should correct themselves quickly. It's also nice to note that I didn't mention our secondary or giving up big pass plays. What do you guys think? What other areas do the Saints still need some work? What did I get wrong?