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I'd say things were mostly positive following the Saints 34-27 win over the Houston Texans Saturday night.
The defense started off poorly, allowing two quick touchdown strikes by the Texans and looking shaky in coverage. But they got their groove back eventually and showed signs of excellence against a quality Texans offense, forcing turnovers, recording six sacks and staying stingy on 3rd down (1/9, 11%).
On offense the Saints were able to overcome an early 14-point deficit, moving the ball well with a nice balance of pass and run. Drew Brees was accurate while Jimmy Graham looked like...Jimmy Graham. And while Chris Ivory ran for an impressive 7.0 yards per carry, he also put the ball on the ground once.
And on special teams the Saints were able to force a fumble and turn it into seven points. They did give up more return yardage than I'd like to see, however.
Overall, I'd say this was a B or even a B+ performance against a pretty talented and playoff-caliber team. So what grade would you give the Saints for their regular season dress rehearsal last night?