Saints vs Patriots: The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly

Taking a look at the New Orleans Saints preseason Week 3 against the New England Patriots.

The New Orleans Saints bounce back from the week 2 loss with a 28-13 game where they had the control pretty much all day. The final score obviously looks good, but it isn’t all sunshine and rainbows. Especially for a certain side of the football.

The Good

The Defense

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The New Orleans Saints defense is playing a Super Bowl level. On all fronts, this was a complete domination.

Starting with the secondary, Marshon Lattimore is playing up to the level we have come to expect from him. Paulson Adebo is already playing well enough to the point where he played 100% of the defensive stats. Malcolm Jenkins started looking like the Jenkins of old and came away with a big interception. Chauncey Gardner-Johnson was all over the place, with a sack and 2 TFLs. He even made offensive tackle Justin Herron look like a mess in a one-on-one:

PJ Williams even came up with and interception. The Saints DBs weren’t allowing the rookie Mac Jones to make any mistakes all day.

The front 7 also had a good day. Demario Davis was Demario Davis and balled out, contributing in both the passing and run defense. Pete Werner stepped in and was named the starter for his debut. He played a good game for a rookie linebacker. Kaden Elliss stepped up and made some big plays, made me smile for Ross Jackson.

The Bad

Offensive Line

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The offensive line just hasn’t performed the way that you would want them to. Even mainstay Ryan Ramczyk has struggled at times. He just doesn’t look himself. Cesar Ruiz and Calvin Throckmorton haven’t performed like they did in Week 1 since that game. Terron Armstead has been good, but he got hurt and will miss 3-6 weeks. The offensive line just looks like there is no cohesion and it is upsetting to see, because it is a part of the Saints team that fans usually don’t have to worry about. It’ll be hard for Jameis Winston to get settled into the offense if he is just running for his life immediately on every play. Aside from Jameis, Alvin Kamara did as much as he could, but he just has no one opening holes for him.

Jameis Decision-making

Jameis wasn’t all bad in this game, but he still has some questions. It also isn’t all his fault, as mentioned in the point above, but he hasn’t always helped himself. Jameis’ decision making was a huge question mark heading into the season, and he should be given time as a Saints quarterback, but we do have to acknowledge that he hasn’t been perfect. It also isn’t always the decision to throw it into coverage, but also not pulling the trigger when the Saints do have an open play. I think Jameis has been good, and will prove to be good enough to at least not lose games on his own.

The Ugly

Aldrick Rosas Misses

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Being an NFL kicker is normally a thankless job, but it’s an especially rough day at the office when you miss your only two field goals on the day. You have to feel bad for the guy. The Saints’ full time kicker Wil Lutz is now eligible to come off of IR whenever he is ready, and judging by the Saints fandom he will be welcomed back with open arms. As volatile as the position of kicker is, it’ll be interesting to see if he is the kicker for New Orleans for Week 4.

Hey! The Saints won their game. That’s what matters. Let’s go back to the phrase ‘defense wins championships.’ This defense certainly looks good enough to accomplish that goal.

What stuck out to you on Sunday? Let us know your thoughts in the comments. Make sure you follow Canal Street Chronicles on Twitter at @SaintsCSC, “Like” us on Facebook at Canal Street Chronicles, and make sure you’re subscribed to our new YouTube channel. As always, you can follow me on Twitter @DillySanders.