Saints vs. Titans 21-17 [2nd Half Open Thread]

After a sloppy first half marred by a myriad of penalties on both sides of the ball, the New Orleans Saints lead the Tennessee Titans by a score of 21-17 at halftime of their second preseason game. Join your fellow Who Dats to discuss the second half here as the Black and Gold will try to clean up their act in the last two quarters.

By JR Ella Aug 15, 2014, 9:03pm CDT

Jimmy Graham was back in the endzone tonight in the MB Superdome

After a half of play, the Saints

Here are a few observations from the first half:

Playmaker

With two forced-fumbles and a sack, Kenny Vaccaro looks like he is in mid-season form and barring injury, he'll be an absolute force in the Saints defense.

Really Sloppy

The Saints were beyond sloppy in the first half, with well over 10 penalties. The team most certainly got a stern talking to from head coach Sean Payton at halftime.

Backup quarterback battle

Most of the first half belonged to Luke McCown, who acquitted himself fairly well, throwing two TDs to tight end Jimmy Graham. However, Ryan Griffin came in with an excellent two-minute drill that culminated in a TD pass to running back Mark Ingram and was highlighted by a bomb to Joe Morgan. Griffin stole some of McCown's show and looks increasingly like he might win the job.

Burner

Wide receiver Joe Morgan is alive and well, as he showed he still has that field-stretching speed that could make him a crucial cog in Sean Payton's offense. He needs a few more plays like that to be completely off the bubble.

Soft defense

For the first half at least, the Saints defense didn't play as stoutly as it did against the St Louis Rams last week. Let's remember that it's preseason however and the calls are pretty vanilla.

Turnovers

The Saints defense forced three turnovers in the first half (even though one fumble was overturned). This is a welcome sight for a defense that did not take the ball away nearly enough in 2013.

TEAM STATS

	TEN	NO
First Downs	15	12
Total Yards	246	227
Passing Yards	193	188
Rushing Yards	53	39
Penalties (Yds)	7(91)	14(116)
Turnovers	2	0
Punts (AVG)	0(0)	3(46)
Time of Pos.	14:41	15:19

***

TOP PERFORMERS

TENNESSEE TITANS
Passing	CP/AT	YDS	TD	INT
J. Locker	8/11	75	1	0
Rushing	CAR	YDS	TD	LG
S. Greene	9	46	0	14
J. Locker	1	7	0	7
Receiving	REC	YDS	TD	LG
J. Hunter	4	111	2	64T
K. Wright	3	20	0	8
T. Thompson	2	27	0	20

NEW ORLEANS SAINTS
Passing	CP/AT	YDS	TD	INT
L. McCown	12/20	117	2	0
Rushing	CAR	YDS	TD	LG
M. Ingram	5	19	0	6
K. Robinson	4	11	0	9
Receiving	REC	YDS	TD	LG
J. Graham	5	48	2	19T
P. Thomas	3	27	0	13
K. Robinson	3	2	0	6