What a great overall performance by the Saints!

The Saints went out to Tampa and CRUSHED the Bucs 34-7 including  not allowing a point after the 7 minute mark. The Saints had a great game plan, so first and foremost great job by the coaching staff to have prepared well for their divisional game against the Bucs. Without a solid game plan, it would be like not having a solid foundation on a house or building structure you need that in order to build the actual house.

Let me dive right in to the Saints who really shined during last week’s game.

First off is the Offensive Line for the Saints, they really stepped up this past week. Allowing ZERO sacks for their quarterback Drew Brees. Brees had a very efficient day not throwing a pick and not being sacked means he had time to make the decisions and get the ball into his receivers’ hands. Not only did Brees have a good game but also the running backs had a productive game as well obtaining 183 yards on 36 carries, which amounts to a 5.1 yard average.

Drew Brees had a very effective day at quarterback for the Saints. Brees only completed 19/29 passes and only surmised less than 200 yards (187 to be exact). You may be curious as to why then Brees would deserve a star this week??? Well, Brees was did an excellent job facilitating to his receivers, completing passes to eight different wide outs. As well as accumulating a 118.00 quarterback rating, while I do not know the calculations that go into making that rating I do know that any rating over 90 is deemed good. And to have one that is a 118, is very impressive. Brees also had 3 touchdowns, first time in a long time he has 3 touchdowns in a game and ZERO INTERCEPTIONS.

Next, is the running back Pierre Thomas who ONLY on  11 carries rushed for 92 yards. Thomas averaged over 8 yards per carry and helped take the (limited) pressure off of Brees to pound the rock down the grid iron. While he did a good job running he also caught the ball well, getting 3 receptions for 11 yards. Thomas has been up and down the past four games, hopefully he will stabilize with the playoffs insight, it will be imperative that the Saints have a strong ground game to go deep in this years playoffs.

And in order to have a good running game in this day in age of the NFL you almost need two quality runningbacks. Well Mike Bell has answered the call this year, after being cut by Denver he signed with the Saints in the offseason and put on some additional pounds from his days in Denver and has really been able to pound the ball well this year. During the game against the Bucs he had 13 carries for seventy-five yards and two touchdowns. Bell also caught a ball for five yards as well. I have been very impressed with Bell…as well as the rest of the Trio of Saints Runningbacks…as a whole I do not feel they have had but one disappointing game this season. Someone always steps up and is making plays from the back field for the Saints.

Moving on to those boys who be catching the balls through the air. Marques Colston who has been shut down in the past 3 games came out and had a great performance against the Bucs secondary with 5 receptions on seven targets with seventy-four yards, which amounts to a 14.5 yard average. Colston is Brees’ main target, and the offense seems to run much smoother when these two are in-sync, it is hard to match the chemistry that this quarterback and receiver have together. I honestly believe if they both stay healthy that they could be put in the class of Aikmen and Irvin / Manning and Harrison….the great duos the league has ever seen.

Again, Jeremy Shockey was disappointing but his back up definitely stepped up for his place. Tight End David Thomas made the most of his opportunity by hauling in 4 receptions on six targets for sixty-six yards and one touchdown. I like that Thomas’ bell was rung and he answered the call.

Moving to the defense,  rookie Malcolm Jenkins who was a stand out cornerback at Ohio State, had his first major impact at the NFL level. Acquiring a breakout game that includes 7 tackles (5 solo), 2 pass deflections, and one interception return for 14 yards. Jenkins played more due to the injuries the Saints are feeling at secondary, and seems to have made the most of his playing time he received. Injuries are tough and no team should ever wish for injuries but it is good for a playoff team to see how the back up players step up when their numbers are called, because the more depth and the more complete your 53 man roster is the better your chances for going deep into the playoffs. With Jabari Greer and Tracy Porter injured it is giving Jenkins valuable experience, experience that can come in handy if Jenkins is needed in the playoffs.

The Defense as a whole also gets a star, the defense shut down the Bucs offense….holding the Bucs to 7 points, a total of 219 total yards, less than 15 1st downs, a puny 3 yards per pass play, and overall did not allow the Bucs to get into a groove on offense. The Saints also collected 3 interceptions as well as 3 sacks - which means rookie quarterback Josh Freeman was feeling it all day from the Saints Defense! Way to go Defense.

Jonathon Vilma, the middle linebacker for the Saints, had himself another nice day at the office. Racking up 6 tackles all of them being solo and one of them being a hit on the quarterback, 1 pass deflection, and 1 interceptions (with him getting 6 yards on the return). Vilma had a strong all-around performance, when you are tackling the quarterback and getting pass deflection/interception then you are really all over the grid iron…which is what you want to see out o your stud middle linebacker.

Lastly, on the defense is Scott Fujita, who plays linebackers. Fujita made his presence known all day getting 5 tackles, all of which were solo, and 1 sack.  Haven’t heard a lot from Fujita this year, but glad he was able to step up and perfrom well against the Tampa Bay Bucs and perhaps this could recreate momentum to roll over into this week’s game versus the Patriots.

The last Saint that shined last week against the Bucs was the punter Thomas Morstead. Morstead had a great game, he only  had to punt four times but he amounted 195 yards, which is an impressive 48.8 yard average. With one punt soaring for 58 yards and two punts getting put inside the 20 yard line.

The Twinkle of the Week (sorry no star) goes to a receiver who shined in the endzone. Robert Meachem only caught two passes for 10 yards, not big stats, but both of them were in the endzone for touchdowns. This is the second week in a row that Meachem has been a twinkle instead of a shinning star, I am not sure if it is that Brees is not looking for him, because he only targetted Meachem three times during the game or if it is that Meachem is not getting open and running his routes well to get open.

Adding this list to the the total here are the new standings…..

(7) SS Roman Harper

(6) SS Darren Sharper

(6) QB Drew Brees

(6) RB Pierre Thomas

(5) WR Marques Colston

(5) MLB Jonathon Vilma

(4) Defense

(4) O-Line

(4) RB Mike Bell

(3) CB Jabari Greer

(3) FS Tracy Porter

(3) TE Jeremy Shockey

(3) DE Will Smith

(3) RB Reggie Bush

(3) KR Courtney Roby

(2) OL Jermon Bushrod

(2) LB Scott Fujita

(2) WR Devery Henderson

(2) P Thomas Morstead

(2) TE David Thomas

(1) LB Jo-Lonn Dunbar

(1) DE Charles Grant

(1) CB Malcolm Jenkins

(1) WR  Lance Moore

(1) LB Scott Shanle

(1) CB Usama Young