Game Recap: Saints vs. Texans

Saints fall short in their preseason finale.

In the New Orleans Saints final preseason matchup, the team fell short losing a 17-13 game to the Houston Texans. The Saints played all of their second and third-team players for the entirety of the game. Although there were some ups, this was mostly a down day for guys fighting to make the roster.

But… The one thing Who Dat Nation needed to see? Jimmy Graham

After a rough week in LA due to some medical implications, Graham comes back to make two huge plays for the team and show that he’s still got some left in the tank.

Some other things to like in this game start with the continued flashes by Bryan Bresee. The Saints top pick clearly does one thing very well, and that’s rush the passer. The team witnessed another good week from Jontre Kirklin, who finished this game with 63 yards on five receptions and also performed well on special teams.

Speaking of special teams, Blake Grupe has made the kicker competition extremely tough. To this point, Grupe has made more kicks than Wil Lutz in both training camp and preseason combined. In this game, Grupe hit two of his first three kicks missing only a 60-yarder wide right which had more than enough leg on it. The team truly has a hard decision to make at the position and it may even mean that the Lutz’s time in New Orleans has come to an end.

Maybe the most up and down performance we’ve seen throughout the preseason, came from tight end Lucas Krull. The second-year player hauled in 7 catches on 15 targets for 106 receiving yards. As much good as we’ve seen from Lucas Krull, he tends to always bring himself back to Earth with multiple drops in consecutive weeks. Krull’s done enough to keep himself around but likely will not make the 53-man roster.

Some disappointing efforts were once again with the second team offensive line along with the defensive line also. Both units struggled to hold their ground for most of the game which is worrisome in terms of the depth of this roster.

Rookie Jake Haener came back with a horrific performance this week after a bounce back week in LA, completing 17/38 passes for 172 yards and two interceptions. Haener didn’t have the greatest protection up front but forced a lot of passes throughout the day and made some poor decisions with the football.

Alontae Taylor once again looked average to poor in the slot letting up multiple catches including getting shook out of his shoes by tight end Dalton Schultz. The slot doesn’t seem to fit Taylor strengths, at least as of right now.

The team will soon get ready to make their roster cuts before Tuesday’s deadline. There aren’t many spots that aren’t solidified on this team, it’s more so an argument of who did enough to keep themselves around. We will get to see who made their mark on this team and who fell just below it as week one is officially upon us.

Other notes:

• Jaylon Smith and Malcolm Roach look like real contributors
• Nephi Sewell is interesting
• Isaiah Foskey did a whole bunch of nothing after his one sack, does not look athletic out there
• Secondary did not look good
• Kendre Miller could not get going with second team o-line
• Too many drops and inaccurate throws as a team

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