SB Nation - Jonathan Vilma

Shallow Thoughts & Nearsighted Observations

Ted Bartlett — Tue, 15 Dec 2009 13:30:13 -0000

More photos » by Michael Conroy - AP

3 days ago: Denver Broncos wide receiver Brandon Marshall, left, avoids the tackle of Indianapolis Colts linebacker Gary Brackett in the fourth quarter of an NFL football game in Indianapolis, Sunday, Dec. 13, 2009. Marshall had 21 receptions for 200 yards in the game. The Colts defeated the Broncos 28-16. (AP Photo/Michael Conroy)

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Happy Tuesday, friends, and welcome to another edition of Shallow Thoughts & Nearsighted Observations. Christmas is coming - and I, for one, am hoping for a much more joyous holiday season than I experienced last December. All I got for Christmas last year was the Broncos' historic collapse, and all I had to give was the one scenario that could possibly be worse than the season-ending Chargers game (it involved hypothetically cutting an apple, slipping, and stabbing myself in the groin WHILE watching that game).

I'm not much for moral victories, but today in Donny Deutschland, I will talk about why I feel better about Sunday's loss than I have about any Broncos loss in years. There's no time to waste, so let's not waste any time. Out of the echo chamber, and into the fire, y'all. Ready..... BEGIN!!!

1. I learned on Sunday that what I suspected was the case, was in fact, the case. That is, the Broncos can play with Indianapolis, at Indianapolis. It happened a little differently than I thought it would, but the Broncos competed, and got back in the game after getting down in really ugly fashion. Consider these statistics, as I pretend that I care about statistics for a moment. The Broncos outgained Indianapolis 357-312. They held the ball for 31:27, versus the Colts' 28:33. They won the turnover battle 3-1. The Broncos advanced into Colts territory on 8 of 12 posessions. These measures would tend to indicate victory, but in this case, the Broncos fell a little short.

For next time, we can internalize a few thoughts:

a. The Broncos have the players and schemes to cover the Colts receivers, pressure Peyton Manning, and generally disrupt their offense.

b. The Broncos have the players and schemes to move the ball at will against the Colts defense.

c. As a fan base, we all mistakenly thought to ourselves "Here we go again" when the Colts got up 21-0 after four possessions. We can take this game as a lesson that the past doesn't indicate the future. Those Broncos teams which got their doors blown off by the Colts passing game are definitely not these Broncos.

One general concern is that the Broncos could have run the ball better, and will need to next time. I felt the run scheme was too zone-heavy and horizontal, and it played into the Colts' plan to run-blitz the gaps. A smaller, faster team needs to be man-blocked with a vertical scheme. Those are guys you don't necessarily want moving laterally, because they're comfortable doing so.

The other concern is that at money time, Dallas Clark needed more and better attention. Josh Barrett needed to be on the field manning him up, because he's the best guy in the NFL at covering TEs man-to-man.

All in all, I am proud of the way the Broncos stayed in the game, despite some reasons that lesser men would take to quit. This was really a game which turned on a few plays, and I am pleased to know that the Broncos can compete with Indianapolis, unlike in past years. This week, it's the Raiders, and luckily, JaMarcus Russell will be under center again. Expect Elvis Dumervil to get some shots at him. The Broncos can take care of business at home, and position themselves well to make the postseason. Happy Raiders Week, friends.

2. Information From My Eyes, Broncos at Colts:

a. Andre' Goodman got beat on a crossing route by Pierre Garcon on the first offensive play of the game, and in the moment, I wondered if there was a major speed mismatch. Goodman settled down to play Garcon spectacularly the rest of the game, breaking up four well-thrown balls. Goodman has been terrific all year, but I'd call this his best game as a Bronco.

b. When the Broncos drafted Darcel McBath, I'd never heard of him. I'm very impressed with his play as a rookie, though, and he had a fantastic game Sunday. He separated Dallas Clark from the ball on a 3rd down, and also baited Peyton Manning into his third interception. It's a real bummer that he broke his forearm and is gone for the season, but he showed well when he got the opportunities. I look for him to make a serious run at Renaldo Hill's starting job next season.

c. I really "misunderestimated" the Colts' DTs, Daniel Muir and Antonio Johnson. They both played fantastic, and drove the Broncos' interior players backward consistently.

d. Ryan Clady didn't play very well in the running game, which was a departure from what we've been seeing lately. He got pushed backward several times when he lost leverage, and he misread a few run blitzes, and didn't hit the right guy. He's young and growing, and we can only hope he learns from this game.

e. Brandon Marshall was spectacular, of course. It's obvious that Kyle Orton really trusts him to make plays at this point. I wish he trusted Eddie Royal a little more, though. The truth is, though, Royal hasn't come up with some plays when he's had chances to do so.

f. I was happy to see Jabar Gaffney back in the mix this week. He's a pro's pro, and the Broncos offense is better when he is involved.

g. I was pleased with what I saw from Robert Ayers and Elvis Dumervil, despite the Broncos' lack of sacks. Both played well against the run, and generated pressure against Manning.

h. Peyton Hillis isn't a very good lead blocker, and I think a key part of the trouble the running game had was with the loss of Spencer Larsen. Larsen has been knocking heads the last two weeks, and he wasn't there this time, obviously.

Hillis is a good RB, but he's a true HB, not a FB. The truth is, he is where he should be on the depth chart; the third RB for the Broncos. Zappa said that some DP posters were calling for Knowshon Moreno to be benched, and Hillis to get the starting job. That's not going to happen, and frankly, it's asinine. Hillis could get more opportunity to make plays, but he deserves to be behind Moreno and Correll Buckhalter. There's no question in my mind of that.

i. The Colts' last drive was enabled by missed tackles by Vonnie Holliday (first play of the series) and Mario Haggan (3rd down inside the Broncos 10).

j. Oh, Dallas Clark. Ty Law did a good job on him, but he often was assigned to cover Austin Collie. Wesley Woodyard is a good zone player, but he can't cover a Clark in man-to-man. That 4th-and-4 was badly schemed, because Brian Dawkins shouldn't be manned up on Clark, either.

Finally, at the end of the game, the approach should have been to look at the formation. The power was left, and the only receiving threat was Clark, playing with his hand down on the right side. You need somebody to drive him straight into the ground, so he can't get out in the pattern. That's how I would coach that situation, anyway. Tackle him when he pretends to block, without getting called for holding.

k. D.J. Williams had a very good game, except for the one stupid penalty. Darrell Reid got (another) one of those too, while we're at it.

3. Information From My Eyes, Other Games

a. I thought Thursday's Browns-Steelers game was pretty riveting, and I almost wish I went (but not quite). Several of my friends tried to get me to go, because everybody in the world was trying to dump their tickets. It was 12 degrees, with 50 mph winds, and felt negative-7 in Cleveland that night. That's a recipe for freezing your hind-parts off, as Omar would say.

The Browns are changing for the better, and I wonder if it saves Eric Mangini's job. They're doing some very interesting things, like using Mike Furrey at FS. He's played both ways in his career, but has been more of a WR in the NFL, and caught 98 passes for the Lions in 2006, which was second in the NFL.

He did some nice things at Safety in the game, and it reminded me of Troy Brown playing defense for the Patriots, though, as I mentioned, Furrey has played defense at the professional level. You have to be impressed with a player doing what it takes to help his team win.

b. A guy who I have always liked, who the Browns found for free is Matt Roth. He got on the wrong side of Bill Parcells and Tony Sparano in Miami, and they put him on the Reserve/Non-Football Injury list, and then waived him in November. The Browns smartly claimed him, and he's played very well for the Browns thus far. The Sam position in a 3-4 is pretty hard to fill, because it's a unique skill set. Lamarr Woodley and Mario Haggan are both very good at it, and Adalius Thomas used to be, but like RT on offense, there are a lot more average 3-4 Sams than there are good ones. Roth is a good one, because he sets the edge well, and generates a good pass rush when he's called upon to do so. Finding a guy like him in-season is what a bad team has to do.

c. Two unheralded guys who the Browns have discovered on offense are RB Chris Jennings and TE Evan Moore. Jennings won a Grey Cup recently with the Montreal Alouettes, and looked like the best back on the Browns roster last Thursday. He ran with power and explosion against an excellent run defense.

I meant to mention Moore last week and forgot; but I know a football player when I see one, and he's a player. He was a big WR at Stanford for 4 years, and also played basketball for his first 2 years. His fluidity, body control, and overall athleticism jump off the screen, and really remind me of Antonio Gates. I don't know if he's as fast as Gates, but he looks to me like he could definitely be a Brent Celek-caliber receiving TE. He's been key to Brady Quinn's recent improvement, because Quinn does his best throwing work inside the numbers.

Jennings and Moore are two players who the Browns can be very excited about, as they figure out what their program is during the offseason. Like Roth, they came with no significant cost. Now the Browns just need to nail their offseason.

d. I had a friend who is a Steelers fan ask me what was wrong with his team, and I think I may have disappointed him by not having a real definitive answer ready. It's kind of a tough question to answer, really, because Mike Tomlin had it exactly right when he said it was a function of struggles in all three phases of the game.

The defense really misses Troy Polamalu, who I think might be the most irreplaceable defensive player in the NFL. No safety plays with the speed of Polamalu, and the Steelers are much more conservative in their blitz packages without him. Their CBs are also playing pretty poorly over the last five games. On offense, I think the Steelers play-calling has been suspect. Rashard Mendenhall has emerged as a good RB, and the Steelers seem reluctant to commit to letting him run. I'm not surprised at the rumblings Sunday that some offensive coaches are likely going to get whacked after the season.

e. Now, on to why the Browns won Thursday. There were two reasons. One reason is that Joshua Cribbs is a great football player, and he carried his team on offense and special teams. The other is that the Browns covered the Steelers' receivers at a shockingly high level. ST&NO Favorite Brandon McDonald was fantastic. He might have had the best coverage game I have seen from a CB this year (although Andre' Goodman was awesome on Sunday, too). Eric Wright was strong on the other side too, though he gave up a few completions to Santonio Holmes. As has often been the case with the Broncos this season, the coverage allowed the pressure to get to Ben Roethlisberger, who was sacked 8 times.

f. It was another annoying weekend when almost every game was early, including the Broncos. I had the Chicago-Green Bay game on at the same time as the Broncos game,. and as I watched some of it, I was struck by the fact that neither team showed me anything that I didn't already know about them. Aaron Rodgers continued his recent run of getting sacked less, and the Packers defense was strong again. The Bears had some flashes, but self-destructed at key times.

The only real takeaway from this, to me, is another reminder why I don't really like fantasy football. The number one player in the Official MHR League this year has been my QB, Rodgers. In real football terms, he played fine on Sunday. He completed 16 of 24 throws for 180 yards, and lost a fumble on a blind-side sack. His team won the game, so no worries, right? Well, in fantasy terms, he tanked. Not only that, I am playing Zappa in the playoffs this week, and he has Ryan Grant, who had a monster game with 137 yards and 2 TDs, because the Bears were playing coverage to prevent big plays in the passing game.

g. Speaking of guys who tanked on my fantasy team, Randy Moss, this skunky, warm Miller High Life is for you. One catch for 16 yards, and a lost fumble? Really? He really looked like he wasn't trying hard, too; it was a total flashback to the Oakland days. Good thing I had Brandon Marshall and the Eagles (TD scoring) defense.

h. I think the Patriots are in trouble, and that their culture needs an adjustment. I read Bill Belichick's sending tardy players home as a clear indication of that. Adalius Thomas lipped off in the media, and got benched for it, and Randy Moss did it with his play somewhat on Sunday. I wouldn't be shocked if both are gone after this season. Thomas is gone for sure, and Moss is a possibility. The Patriots have a lot of draft assets with which to restock the WR position, and they're pretty solid at LB anyway, with guys like Tully Banta-Cain and Rob Ninkovich making positive contributions.

It was pretty interesting how Tom Brady and Bill Belichick came to Moss's aid on Monday, after he clearly was dogging some pass routes. Michael Lombardi had a good point on NFL Network that Moss has done that his whole career, and that the Patriots probably weren't too alarmed by it. I think it's pretty bad, personally.

i. Scary moment in Arlington, Texas, when DeMarcus Ware was carted off the field with a neck injury. The Chargers had a false start, and then went right down the field in two plays to score the deciding TD afterward. Reports on Monday were that Ware would miss the next two weeks, which would really handicap the Dallas defense. Most casual fans think of Ware as just a pass rusher, but he is a rare player who stars against the run, and in zone coverage too.

j. I alluded to this thought last week, but it was well-articulated by Michael Lombardi last night; Dallas's struggles have nothing to do with what month it is. The same can be said of the Chargers and their success in the month of December. If you're playing in a lot of places where there's bad weather, then maybe the month is a semi-meaningful data point, but neither Dallas nor San Diego particularly qualifies. I know somebody is going to say that a game in December is a pressure game, but even that's not true a lot of times. San Diego has tended to be healthy in December, and Dallas has tended to be banged up. San Diego has tended to play weak late-season schedules, and Dallas has tended to play difficult ones. Don't get caught up in things which Peter King would incorrectly call a factoid.

k. That Radio Shack commercial with the sleeping scruffy dude saying "Dance, Sugar Plum Fairies" is bizarre. It makes no sense at all to me, and I can't imagine how it would make anybody want to shop at Radio Shack, or buy that craptastic phone from Sprint.

l. NBC lucked out with a great game on Sunday night between the Eagles and Giants. Neither defense looked particularly good, but both offenses lit it up. The difference in the game was a defensive TD from Sheldon Brown, and a punt-return TD from DeSean Jackson. Those plays also provided the difference in the Shallow Thoughts team beating Zappa's Sactown Beavers in the playoffs.

m. I would never let Jackson get off the line of scrimmage without getting hit. Teams just insist on letting this guy run free through their secondary, and he kills them. Little, fast guys like him must be re-routed off the line, and then you want over/under coverage on him after that. He's not the typical big, physical number-1 WR like Brandon Marshall, but he does need double-team attention, or at least Cover-3 behind him, so he can be hit at the line with confidence.

n. Brandon Jacobs, to me, is like a 98-mph fastball that's a little too straight, and rarely misses bats. Jacobs has been running harder lately than he was early in the season, but he doesn't make anybody miss. He takes so many hits, and this year, he's going down more easily than he used to. I think the Giants offense is better when Ahmad Bradshaw is getting more carries than Jacobs at this point, even as Jacobs has been better lately.

o. Speaking of the Giants, I want to share some ST&NO light with a Giants fan, because I've coincidentally been listening to his music as I wrote this part of the column. If you like hip hop, you ought to check out Nickel at his website www.SpotMeANickel.com. He's got a couple albums worth of MP3s available for free download there. I went to high school with the guy at Norwich Free Academy in Norwich, CT, and it's cool to see him doing well, and making good music.

p. As always, I watched 5 games on Monday night, and the one I learned the most from was the New Orleans-Atlanta game. Very simply, New Orleans deserved to lose the game, and I haven't seen or heard anybody acknowledge that. I take that as a reaffirmation that my effort is worth the time.

Brent Grimes got called for two horrible pass-interference penalties, on plays where he reached around his man to play the ball. Those two plays directly led to 14 points being scored, and the Saints won by 3. The officials bogusly penalized ST&NO Favorite Thomas DeCoud on an even better play in the fourth quarter too, but Garrett Hartley subsequently missed a Field Goal, so it didn't affect the scoreboard. The Saints are a very good team, and they don't need any bonus help, but apparently you can't breathe on their receivers. It reminded me of the 2006 NBA Finals, when Dwyane Wade got "fouled" practically every time he touched the ball, and it disgusted me just as much to watch.

q. Jonathan Vilma deserves credit for sealing the win for New Orleans. He intercepted Chris Redman with 3 minutes to go in the game. Then, after the Saints arrogantly tried a fake field goal, rather than taking the points and going up 6, Vilma tackled the formidable Jason Snelling cold in the open field, a yard short of the first down on 4th and 2. He made the plays that were there to be made.

r. While I'm on the topic of the Saints, here's an E! True Hollywood Story for you. Or maybe it's a Letterman-style Top 2 list. Yeah, that's the ticket.

Top 2 Things Ted Bartlett Currently Doesn't Give A Damn About (And Al Roker's Forecast Calls For No Change:)

1. Whether or not the Colts or Saints go 16-0, and on a related note, whether or not they rest their starters.

2. Who wins the NFL MVP Award.

Going 16-0 doesn't matter to anything. All it would do is create something which Peter King would someday mistakenly call a factoid (even though it's actually a fact). The only thing that matters is going 3-0 (or 4-0) in the Playoffs. Plus, the whole thing puts Mercury Morris back in the spotlight, and he's a jerk who doesn't deserve it.

As for the MVP Award, really, who cares? I may start caring if somebody other than a QB or RB can win, other than the rare Lawrence Taylor in 1986. (Since the AP award began in 1957, only DT Alan Page, K Mark Moseley, and Taylor have won the award from positions other than QB or RB. Taylor is the only winner for the Pro Football Writers Association award, which began in 1975. This is an absolute farce.)

Remember ST&NO Rule #1: If reporters vote for it, and decide it, it's usually not particularly worth paying attention to. That includes any and all power rankings, the NFL All-Pro team, all season-ending awards in all sports, and membership in all Halls of Fame. Reporters often mean well, and they add some value to the overall football discourse, but the value they add ends when they're not asking questions, finding things out, and reporting those things. When you ask them to judge something, most can't get past the very obvious, or what other people tell them, and nearly all are biased by what they consider to be the most interesting story. While that's understandable, given the fact that they're in the interesting story business, it's also self-serving, and represents noise rather than a reflection of truth.

s. The more I watch Chad Henne, the more I like his mechanics, all the way through the process of playing QB. I most especially like the way he carries out his fakes after he hands off the ball. You can tell that he's very well coached, both at the collegiate level and the professional level.

t. Speaking of good coaching, if Head Coaching jobs were being handed out based only upon excellence as a coordinator, Mike Mularkey would be looking pretty good for a shot at another job. People who know things about offense, and pay attention, know that Mularkey has been getting a lot of production out of some pretty marginal talent the last two seasons. It's equal parts scheme, knowing the capabilities of his players, and getting his guys to execute, but Atlanta's offense overachieves. Remember - Mularkey didn't get fired in Buffalo; he resigned in 2006 because he didn't see eye-to-eye with the recently hired Marv Levy. He's up there with Houston's Kyle Shanahan on offense, and the Broncos' Mike Nolan, Cincinnati's Mike Zimmer, and Arizona's Bill Davis on defense as guys who I think are adding a great deal of value to their sides of the ball.

u. I tend to dislike University of Texas players, because they have a well-known reputation for being coddled in Austin, and often coming into the NFL as soft players. A limitation of making evaluations from a distance is that you sometimes have to rely on information which may or may not be meaningful, such as the fact that coaches are prohibited from cursing at players at UT. That's pretty absurd in my opinion, like the urban legend about stress cards in basic training.

I didn't take to Brian Orakpo much coming out of college, partially due to the UT factor. Turns out, he's very good, and he's brought a lot to the table for Oakland. He has had a very good rookie season, but he was dominant on Sunday against the Raiders' bad offensive line and indecisive JaMarcus Russell. I still prefer Knowshon Moreno to Orakpo for the long haul, and I still think the Redskins should have taken Michael Oher (after the Packers should have taken Michael Oher). Orakpo was a good choice though, and is a good player, so I missed on that one.

v. I said a couple weeks ago that I was pretty sure that the Chiefs didn't regret acquiring Matt Cassel, and he's proceeded to have the two worst games of his career the last two weeks. His ability is very clear, so I still don't think they regret it, but he needs to step it up, and buy Todd Haley and Scott Pioli some cover. Kansas City has an aggressive local sports media, led by Adam Teicher and Jason Whitlock. Whitlock has already renamed Pioli as Scott Egoli, so it would be mighty helpful to this regime if they and Cassel could finish the season stronger than they've been showing, and feel like there's something to build on.

w. A vital part of a 3-step drop passing play is that the outside blocker on the throw side (usually the Tackle) needs to cut the Defensive End and get him on the ground. The 49ers RT, Adam Snyder, failed to cut Darnell Dockett twice in the first half Monday night, resulting in an Interception by Dockett, and another deflection by Dockett, which Alex Smith caught himself, and promptly was tackled for a 6-yard loss. Neither play was Smith's fault; his job is to get to the top of his drop, and let the ball go. Snyder's job is to clear the throwing lane.

x. Speaking of guys clearly not doing their jobs (and jumping back to the Dallas game because of the topic), Tony Dungy was right on when he was asked if coaching was the problem in Dallas. He said that he knows Terence Newman has been coached to jam a WR and re-route him in Cover-2, and that coaching definitely wasn't the problem on the big Vincent Jackson 39-yard catch on 3rd and 12 (right after the aforementioned Ware injury).

That was the key play of the game, and Newman didn't make it. As the play happened live, I yelled out "Where's the f$%^&* jam, 41?" I was glad Dungy called him out, although I bet he wasn't moved to profanity like I was. I've always thought Newman was highly overrated, by virtue of being a Cowboy. It comes with wearing the blue star, I am afraid.

y. Usually, when a defensive lineman is drafted highly, you expect him to be a big sack guy. The Bengals once drafted Justin Smith fourth overall, in 2001. His career high in sacks, mostly as a Right DE in a 40-front, was 8.5 in his rookie season. He had 6.5, 5, 8, 6, 7.5, and 2 in his next five seasons, which are respectable numbers, but not for an open-side DE drafted that highly.

Smith signed a 6-year $45 million deal with San Francisco in 2008, and moved to 5-technique in a 30-front. It's the role he should have been playing all along, because he's always been a physical, block-defeating player more than a speed-rushing player. It's not too different than the highly drafted Derrick Harvey from the Jaguars, or Jamaal Anderson for the Falcons (who moved to DT eventually). Their skill sets are just better suited to playing with physicality than with speed. (Harvey got only his second sack of the year Sunday, and Anderson has 0.5).

Anyway, Smith was dominant on Monday night, and consistently held the point of attack, while often penetrating and disrupting the Cardinals offense. It sure seemed like he is earning his money. I was also very impressed with the pass-rushing skills of Ahmad Brooks, who used to be just a MLB.

z. Another rookie I criticized for seeming to be soft was Beanie Wells, and he continues to play like he isn't. His TD run early in the 4th quarter Monday night was a man's TD run, all second effort. He did fumble later in the 4th quarter, but it was on a kill-shot by Dashon Goldson, who had a couple of those in Monday night's game.

aa. Genetics are a funny thing. In my family, we have something called the Bartlett Calves. My dad and all his siblings have them, and all my siblings and I have them, even my 8-year old half-sister Abby. The Bartlett Calves are notable for being disproportionately muscular and large, compared to the rest of our bodies. I am 6 feet tall and weigh 235 pounds, and when flexed, my calves are 18 inches around, which is 3-4 inches bigger than the average man's calf, and an inch bigger than the average man's neck.

I bring up this genetic oddity, because it makes me feel a certain kinship with Frank Gore, who has thunder thighs like whoa. He's found out a way to make good professional use of his thighs, because they're what give him such impressive power in traffic. Mine don't really come in too useful as an accounting manager and blogger.

ab. The jury is in as far as I am concerned for San Francisco. The 49ers are on the right track, and ST&NO Favorite Alex Smith has definitely emerged as their long-term QB. They have 2 first-round picks this season, which are both going to be in the 10-15 area. They need a CB and an offensive lineman with those picks, or maybe even two offensive linemen. This team is not far at all from the playoffs, and they're not even going to miss by much this season.

ac. The Cardinals are still legitimate championship contenders, but they got their hind parts kicked Monday night. The result of the game was more a reflection of good play by the Niners than it was of bad play by the Cardinals. The bright spot for Arizona was the excellent Adrian Wilson, who baited Smith into a dumb INT, and was around the ball constantly, the whole game.

4. I couldn't agree more with TJ Johnson's piece about deferring the option yesterday, and a smart analyst got out ahead of me before I wrote about it, which happens once in awhile with a Tuesday slot. I'm always glad to see an in-house MHR guy do it. Big up TJ! If you haven't read his article, you should. So should Don Banks (and Dan Fouts.)

From Banks:

• Did I hear that right, the Broncos won the coin toss to start their game at Indy and deferred to the Colts? And Peyton Manning? Why exactly would you give Manning the chance to get the ball in his hands any more than you absolutely have to? What were you thinking, Josh McDaniels? That's a dubious, rookie-like call for the Broncos new head coach. I do believe McDaniels was guilty of overconfidence in his defense.

My two cents was going to be that each team gets the ball kicked to them to start one half, and there's no way around that fact, so if you consider just this fact, it's utterly meaningless which half a particular team gets their opportunity to receive. TJ goes much further, and finds that there is actually evidence that teams who get the ball to start the second half tend to experience more success. Very interesting stuff.

5. That first-rounder from the Bears is looking really good right now. Chicago fell to 5-8 Sunday, and I like them to finish 6-10. They play at Baltimore and home against Minnesota before finishing at Detroit. For the Broncos' playoff chances, I'd like to see the Bears beat the Ravens, but I doubt it happens. A 6-10 record is probably good for a pick in the neighborhood of 9th or 10th overall. I gave a cursory look at the remaining schedules of every team with a losing record, and this is what I came up with for season-ending records, and way-too-early possible picks.

1. St. Louis 1-15 Sam Bradford QB Oklahoma

2. Tampa Bay 1-15 Ndamukong Suh DT Nebraska

3. Detroit 2-14 Gerald McCoy DT Oklahoma

4. Kansas City 3-13 Eric Berry S Tennessee

5. Cleveland 4-12 Russell Okung T Oklahoma State

6. Oakland 4-12 Carlos Dunlap DE Florida

7. Buffalo 5-11 Jimmy Clausen QB Notre Dame

8. Washington 5-11 Trent Williams T Oklahoma

9. San Francisco ~~Carolina~~ 5-11 Joe Haden CB Florida

10. Seattle 6-10 Anthony Davis T Rutgers

11. Denver ~~Chicago~~ 6-10

12. San Francisco 7-9

13. Pittsburgh 7-9

14. Houston 8-8

15. Tennessee 8-8

With a 10th or 11th pick, you can get yourself a difference-making defensive player like a Terrence Cody, Rolando McClain, or Brandon Spikes. You could also go outside the box, and draft a guy like C.J. Spiller from Clemson, who projects as a major home-run threat, a la Chris Johnson, at the NFL level. You have to admit, he'd make a nice tandem with Knowshon Moreno. My move, though, might be to try to trade down, and enjoy some of the depth of this Draft. (I say try, because you can't always do it.) I am treading kind of lightly with this line of thinking, because I am a well-known believer that players are better than draft picks. (A player is a real asset, and a draft pick is a derivative asset; when you're needing to operate now, it's better to have a barrel of oil than a contract guaranteeing the delivery of a barrel of oil at a future date and price.)

To me, the Broncos could get back once or twice to #20 or so, and take someone like either Mike or Maurkice Pouncey from Florida, if they elect to enter the draft. (Incidentally, I think Florida is going to lose a bunch of underclassmen.) Both are 6-5 320-pound interior offensive linemen, and would fill what I think is the Broncos' biggest roster need. The overall point, though, is that it's good to be in the position the Broncos are in right now, with this pick coming in higher than their record would earn. For those who were sure the Broncos erred in trading their own pick rather than Chicago's, I'd hope they remember that you don't know how things are going to play out until they play out.

6. Bad news emerged for QB-needy teams yesterday that Washington junior Jake Locker will return for his senior season. It was not altogether unexpected, but I believe that Locker would have been the first QB selected, and maybe the number-1 overall pick. His talent as a thrower and runner is way ahead of the other guys in this class. The guy who benefits is Sam Bradford, because if he checks out healthy, his size and arm are both a bit better than Jimmy Clausen's. I, personally, am not in love with either guy. Bradford looks like a young Matt Hasselbeck to me, while a comparison for Clausen doesn't come to me so easily. Clausen is short, average athletically, looks like he needs to get a lot stronger, and has an average arm. He looks a bit like a young Drew Brees, before Drew worked so hard to become what he became. I am reluctant to make that comparison, but it's the best one I can come up with.

7. Retired for John Elway.

That's all I have for this week. We'll be back next Tuesday with more Shallow Thoughts & Nearsighted Observations. Until then, have a fantastic Raiders Week, and Go Broncos!

New Orleans Saints' Defensive and Special Teams Player Grades @ Falcons

saints-nation — Tue, 15 Dec 2009 12:00:24 -0000

by Dave Martin - AP

3 days ago: New Orleans Saints linebacker Jonathan Vilma (51) reacts after the Saints stopped the Atlanta Falcons on fourth down near the end of their NFL football game in Atlanta, Sunday, Dec. 13, 2009. (AP Photo/Dave Martin)

View full size photo »

Here's the defensive and special teams grades. They are really, really bad. Keep in mind that while, yes, they held Atlanta to 23 points, they were torched by Chris Redman.

Saints vs Falcons recap

Saints vs Falcons boxscore

Saints vs Falcons coverage

Will Smith: D+ (2.74) Smith was completely neutralized on his pass rushing attempts. I don't know what teams are doing differently, but I sense they're taking advantage of Grant's nonexistent play to load up against Smith. Smith finished with 1 tackle on a nice hustle play downfield inside the Saints' 5 to tackle Tony Gonzalez from behind and save a touchdown. No matter, the Falcons would score on the next play. An extremely quiet day for the normally more active end.

Charles Grant: F (1.97) Congratulations, Charles, you've received my first official F of the season. It's quite an impressive feat, actually, that of all the performances I've graded throughout the season Grant has been the only one bad enough to get this grade. It takes a true commitment to laziness, failure and apathy to pull this one off. To get an F despite playing on a 13-0 team is even more impressive. Wow, Charles, you've outdone yourself. At one point Grant was beaten around the edge and showed decent pursuit, only to make his one and only tackle around the line of scrimmage as the play was held up on the sideline, I was almost disappointed. I thought to myself, "man that was a decent play Charles, are you going to pull off another D-?". But screw it, I'm done with the guy. He deserves an F. He's lining up pitiful performance after another, and on top of that he's rewarding the opposition with personal foul penalties and free first downs into field goal range. It's bad enough that he's being manhandled and completely useless, but he's got to cost us 15 yards too? Saintsational mentioned he's not hungry. I beg to differ, he's obviously very hungry, have you seen his stomach? His GPA is plummeting faster than the stock market was in March. Pass rushing? Forget about it. I'm telling you all right now that the chance of this guy getting another sack this season are zero. Run defense, his supposed strength? Forget about it. He's now too fat, too slow and too effortless to make a play. Am I too hard on the guy? Probably. But enough is enough. He's one of the highest paid players on the team and he has sucked. Am I even allowed to say that? Saintsational might dock my salary.

Bobby McCray: D (1.97) Nice GPA, Bobby. You guys might notice that McCray's GPA is dangerously close to someone else I've been ragging on. So close in fact, could they be the same player? McCray is getting less and less playing time in this defense. I know he's listed on the injury report and limited in practice each week. Is he too hurt to play? He's regressed majorly from a season ago. When he did get in against Atlanta, Redman had all the time in the world. No tackles for McCray.

Anthony Hargrove: C- (2.31) Hargrove had decent push up the middle, and had a nice tackle against the run. That was his only tackle, though, despite extended playing time. Ultimately, the defensive line as a whole got absolutely no pressure on Redman and they were manhandled by the Atlanta pass blocking depsite the fact that they were battling numerous injuries.

Sedrick Ellis: B- (2.70) Ellis wasn't great, but he was much better than his counterparts. He has still seemed rusty to me, and at one point I saw him walk gingerly off the field. I don't think his knee is close to 100%. One thing is undeniable, though, and that's that even when Sedrick Ellis isn't playing lights out, he's not giving up. Same came be said for Smith, and effort goes for a lot. Sometimes good things happen to you and plays find their way to you when you go out there and make some effort. Ellis finished with 3 tackles, and he got a borderline "sack" when he stopped Chris Redman around the line of scrimmage. That play was nice, though, because it forced Atlanta to kick a field goal on a 3rd and 2 play.

Remi Ayodele: B (2.31) Ayodele did an excellent job again clogging up the middle and limiting Atlanta's ability to run the football with a skeleton crew. He just had one tackle, but his impact was evident and useful. He's lined up a couple straight solid performances, so he's starting to grow on me. Atlanta finished with 89 yards rushing, but that didn't stop them from passing almost at will on the Saints.

Scott Shanle: C- (2.59) It's not that he was particularly bad in this game, it's that he wasn't really involved. This was a hard performance to grade because I couldn't really point to any things that Shanle did that disappointed me. You guys all know by now I'm a bigger fan of Shanle's than the average Saints fan. I always have been. Just 2 tackles though, and he was very quiet.

Jonathan Vilma: A- (2.98) I was upset with Vilma for allowing Jason Snelling to slip into the middle of the field for a 38 yard gain on the opening drive. Vilma took a bad angle on the play and showed poor speed catching up. Beyond that mistake, though, Vilma was pretty solid throughout. Then, when the game was on the line, he went from pretty solid to instrumental. First, Vilma intercepted a pass and set up what should have been the game killer. Oh, the offense couldn't put it away? No problem. On the next Falcon drive, Vilma hit Jason Snelling on 4th and 2 on a pass over the middle and blasted him backwards, stopping him short of the first down marker and ending the game. Make no mistake, despite a very poor performance by the offense, special teams and coaching staff down the stretch, Jonathan Vilma won this game for us. with those two plays. He finished with 7 tackles.

Randall Gay: B+ (2.67) Gay was by far the most performant player in the defensive backfield. He finished with 8 tackles. He was solid and physical in coverage, either breaking up passes or making sure tackles when he gave up a play. He also assisted his teammates in tackles, often cleaning up their mistakes. Some of you will remember the woeful performance Gay had against the Rams, but against the Falcons he showed how he can handle himself when he's not lined up against a blazing speed receiver. When used to his strengths, that is: playing in the slot, the box and close to the line of scrimmage covering underneath routes, Gay impresses. He deserves credit as well for blowing up an end around to Eric Weems for a 12 yard loss.

Malcolm Jenkins: C- (2.63) Malcolm made strides after last week, but he's still struggling to come into his own. I wonder if his destiny will be replacing Darren Sharperat free safety like we all speculated about after the draft. He's an aggressive and physical player with good instincts, but I wonder if he has the foot speed to play corner as well asTracy Porter and Jabari Greer. You could tell against Atlanta he was giving more cushion to the receivers, most likely because he's lost a little confidence after getting beat deep. He finished with 4 tackles, but his coverage and tackling wasn't impeccable.

Roman Harper: D (2.87) The recipe for moving the ball by and large the past two weeks has been to find Roman Harper on passing plays. He's been victimized in the passing game and he's really struggled. You can say the absence of Greer and Porter hurt the Saints' ability to play pass defense, but Harper and Sharper's play has been most suspect of late. You can't blame the poor pass defense on the corners this week nearly as much as the safeties. The Saints dialed up the blitz early and often, leaving Harper on an island often, and they paid for it almost every time. He finished with 5 tackles.

Darren Sharper: D- (2.89) Sharper had his worst game of the season, by far. He flirted with an F as well. He bit badly on a double move by Michael Jenkins and was victimized by 50 yard touchdown pass. Jenkins beat Sharper deep to get wide open on another play, but fortunately for Sharper the pass was overthrown because that would have been 14 points on Darren. Sharper looked very slow and vulnerable. This was not the same Darren Sharper that discovered the fountain of youth earlier in the season. He wasn't particularly good coming up and making tackles, either. He finished with 3 tackles. Let's just hope he can rebound from this disastrous performance.

Troy Evans: B (1.92) Evans was the biggest surprise of the day. He was good against the run, and while he wasn't great against the pass he was at least active and around the ball. Evans is never going to blow anyone away with his play, but he played within the defense and tackled well. If he can play like this while Fujita is out, he won't be the defense's problem. He finished with an impressive 5 tackles.

DeMario Pressley: B- (2.75) He finished with 1 tackle, doing a good job on a running play. He had limited action, but once again looked promising when he was in.

Pierson Prioleau: C (2.43) Prioleau never makes major mistakes and you can tell he's a Gregg Williams favorite because he's a high IQ football player. That said, the guy gives too much cushion to his receivers in an effort to limit the damage. He finished with 1 tackle.

Mike McKenzie: C+ (2.22) McKenzie played a decent amount in the second half and he was picked on by Redman with mixed results. At one point Roddy White was wide open and McKenzie was fortunate that Redman's pass lacked accuracy because he was beat. That said, McKenzie showed good spirit and energy out there. He had one tackle, but more importantly he showed he still has that fire in his belly.

Thomas Morstead: A- (3.05) He only got to punt once, and it was fair caught after a pedestrian 35 yard effort. He earned his keep this time with consistent depth on kickoffs. Of the 6 he hit, 4 were kneeled for touchbacks. Good thing, because Eric Weems is a dangerous returner and he was able to take one out for a 37 yard gain. Morstead has been incredibly valuable in setting opponents up with bad field position.

Courtney Roby: C (2.92) A plain performance from Roby who averaged 19.5 yards on his two kick returns.

Garrett Hartley: C+ (3.00) Hartley hit a big field goal from 28 yards out to break a 23-23 tie. That ended up being the difference, so give him credit. That said, are the Saints incapable of finding a guy that doesn't miss extra points? That's now 3 on the season and this is really starting to get ridiculous. What's more, that 23-23 tie I speak of was thanks to the shank. Hartley was also perfect on a 33 yarder earlier in the game, but the missed extra point is flat out inexcusable. While the fake field goal wasn't his fault, I wonder if the call was partially due to the coaching staff's lack of confidence in Hartley? The pathetic crew of Joe Buck and Troy Aikman mentioned that he was "big time struggling" and "couldn't make a kick in warmups". Not sure how accurate that is, considering he was 4-5 last week and his only miss was an unrealistic 58 yarder in bad conditions. Perhaps they were basing their statements on what they saw in the pregame. For what it's worth, I also read a Jeff Duncan tweet that mentioned Hartley nailing a 58 yarder in warmups that would have been good from 60. The bottom line is I am not asking to Hartley to be perfect, but I do expect him to be perfect on PATs.

My Defensive Player of the Game: Jonathan Vilma
My Special Teams Player of the Game: Thomas Morstead

Poll

Who Was Your Defensive Player of the Game?

Saints @ Falcons: Official Wednesday Injury Report

Saintsational — Wed, 09 Dec 2009 23:37:02 -0000

NEW ORLEANS SAINTS

Practice Report
	DID NOT PARTICIPATE IN PRACTICE
	Wednesday	LB Scott Fujita (knee), CB Jabari Greer (groin), LB Marvin Mitchell (hamstring), CB Tracy Porter (knee)

	LIMITED PARTICIPATION IN PRACTICE
	Wednesday	RB Mike Bell (knee), RB Reggie Bush (knee), T Jermon Bushrod (thumb), TE Darnell Dinkins (foot), DT Sedrick Ellis (knee), G Jahri Evans (toe), CB Randall Gay (hamstring), C Jonathan Goodwin (ankle), RB Lynell Hamilton (shoulder), DE Bobby McCray (knee), WR Lance Moore (ankle, hamstring), RB Pierre Thomas (quadricep), LB Jonathan Vilma (knee), S Usama Young (hip, calf)

ATLANTA FALCONS

Practice Report
	DID NOT PARTICIPATE IN PRACTICE
	Wednesday	G Harvey Dahl (ankle), CB Chris Houston (hamstring), C Todd McClure (knee), TE Justin Peelle (head), QB Matt Ryan (toe), RB Michael Turner (ankle)

	LIMITED PARTICIPATION IN PRACTICE
	Wednesday	DT Jonathan Babineaux (shoulder), T Sam Baker (elbow), WR Michael Jenkins (ankle), T Will Svitek (ankle), WR Roddy White (knee)

	FULL PARTICIPATION IN PRACTICE
	Wednesday	CB Christopher Owens (shoulder)

New Orleans Saints' Defensive and Special Teams Player Grades @ Redskins

saints-nation — Tue, 08 Dec 2009 19:00:15 -0000

by Gerald Herbert - AP

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Brace yourselves because it isn't pretty. I know I sometimes get criticized for being too harsh in my grading of certain players, and if you're one of the people that generally complains about that you will not be happy with some of these grades. As always I'm interested and looking forward to your feedback. Below are the player grades for defense and special teams at Washington. The letter grade represents the player's performance in the game and the GPA represents the player's cumulative effort on the season.

Saints vs Redskins coverage

Saints vs Redskins recap

Saints vs Redskins boxscore

Will Smith: B- (2.86) Smith fought through constant double teams and struggled to put much pressure on Campbell. He was very helpful against the run and did a good job there, finishing with 4 tackles. He was able to hit Campbell hard twice as the ball was released, but he saved his grade mostly for his performance against the run.

Charles Grant: D (2.14) Charles Grant finished with 2 tackles, both coming late in the contest. Otherwise, he was utterly and completely invisible. On most running plays, he was either blown completely off the ball and out of the play, or he overpursued the edge leaving massive running lanes for the Redskins to take advantage of. He really had a horrible, horrible game and at one point I considered giving him an F. If he hadn't registered a tackle, I would have given it to him. Grant has been undisciplined in his play, lazy, and overall bad as of late. I'd rather Bobby McCray get more snaps at the position at this point.

Bobby McCray: B- (2.06) McCray's lone tackle was on a running play where he blew the Redskins up for a big loss. Once again he surprised me by playing the run better and I think that part of his game has come a long way. His pass rushing skills have suffered a little from that improvement, but I can deal. He did get upfield a couple of times and force a quick release, but the bottom line is Campbell was getting the ball out too fast to wide open targets to get much of a pass rush. McCray doesn't get nearly enough playing time, and based on Grant's recent performances I'd like to see him start at Atlanta. Who knows if that'll happen, but a man can hope.

Anthony Hargrove: C- (2.36) The love affair with Hargrove for most continues despite him struggling to do much of anything in games. I'd say at this point he's played 2-3 good games, but the guy is a defensive end to me. The switch to defensive tackle hasn't worked out that well and he hasn't played the run with any inspiration. He finished with 1 tackle and was seen knocked off the ball repeatedly.

Sedrick Ellis: B- (2.71) Ellis finished with 6 tackles, including 1 for a loss. He's slowly getting back to his pre-injury level of play. He did allow a few players to slip out of his grasp by not wrapping up properly and showing poor tackling technique, but the effort and pursuit was always there. The Redskins only rushed for 88 yards and a 3.5 average per carry, so while it would seem like everything the Redskins did worked, the Saints were actually very good against the run.

Remi Ayodele: B+ (2.24) BY FAR, in my opinion, Ayodele's best game as a Saint. For me this was his coming out party. I've been hard on this guy all season and I've constantly complained about how this guy can be in the mix, but now I understand why. He was pushing the pile constantly, FANTASTIC against the run, and came up big on several third and short plays. The Redskins had no answer for his push up front, and as the game wore on the Redskins essentially gave up on running the ball because it wasn't really working and the pass yardage was coming so easy. He finished with 6 tackles, including one for a loss, and anytime a player was in his grasp he wasn't getting away.

Scott Shanle: B- (2.67) I heard rumblings that some fans were unhappy with Shanle's play, but I actually thought he was ok. On one running play he absorbed a strong block, opened his shoulder and was able to stop a run for no gain dead in it's tracks. Impressive play there, and overall Shanle used the lanes Ayodele and Ellis provided him to be effective stopping the run. He finished with 4 tackles, but he did miss a tackle or two. The major liability, for me, came in his pass coverage. He did a poor job on Fred Davis. Suprising because Shanle usually does a good job covering but he just couldn't run with Davis. Shanle got good pressure on the Vilma interception blitzing, forcing a quick release and bad pass from Campbell.

Jonathan Vilma: B- (2.92) Vilma finished with 5 tackles, but I thought he had a mediocre game overall. He wasn't aggressive and shooting gaps like he normally does. As I screamed at the TV for the defense to make a play, every time I'd notice Vilma pursue a play and get blocked out of contention. He saved his grade with a BIG interception with about 30 seconds left in regulation. That pick stopped a Redskins drive that could have given them a shot at a game winning field goal.

Malcolm Jenkins: D (2.76) The good: he had 9 tackles and was able to knock Campbell down on a blitz from the edge. The bad: those 9 tackles were a product of him getting beat repeatedly, and he dropped the easiest interception he'll ever get which would have killed a Redskins drive late in the red zone. The ugly: he looked like a rookie that was completely lost out there. He took horrendous angles on ball carriers, he bit badly on any fakes and double moves, he was often beat deep, and the "lack of speed" that many pre-draft gurus warned teams about before selecting Jenkins was exposed BIG TIME. He still tackled well, and he's just learning so I don't feel like we should all take the sky is falling approach by any means. Jenkins is still a good young player that will only get better... but this was a really bad showing for him. Hopefully he'll learn from it.

Roman Harper: D (3.03) Harper played his worst game of the season, hands down. We all know he's usually terrific in the box in run support, and we all know he's somewhat of a liability in coverage (especially downfield). Well, in this game he was bad in the box, and he was laughable against the pass. ESPN currently claims he had 4 tackles, whereas NFL.com has him listed as having as 2 tackles. So I don't know which one is accurate. What I did see was that Harper missed a repeated amount of opportunities to tackle someone, and his help over the top on pass plays downfield was late and pathetic. He gets a D instead of a D- for saving a touchdown on a kick return by Devin Thomas.

Darren Sharper: C (3.09) Sharper finished with 5 tackles. His lack of speed was an issue. On Fred Davis' first touchdown he took a bad angle and was beat to the corner. He was late bringing help over the top, like Harper. That said, Sharper was many times the security blanket, and he at least did a good job of limiting the damage. I felt like there were a few plays that were just "bad" instead of "disastrous" because Sharper was there to end them. Give him credit for coming up with a HUGE stop on 3rd and short right before Shaun Suisham's miracle miss.

Troy Evans: D+ (1.55) Evans did finish with 5 tackles, but he was bad in pass coverage and bad in run defense. Twice I caught Sean Payton laying into him on the sidelines for missing assignments. He was third in line to play the position, but had to play with the starting unit once Scott Fujita was made inactive and Jo-Lonn Dunbar got injured early (looked like a hamstring pull). I hear Fujita may be out for a while after he had emergency surgery following a bursa sac rupture in his knee that caused a staph infection. I don't know if that means he's out for the year or what, but we're in MASSIVE trouble if we can't get Fujita back. Too bad, he was playing at a high level. Evans, however, was not. Hopefully Dunbar can get back on the field because he's a much more palatable option.

Pierson Prioleau: C- (2.50) He was ok in coverage, actually, except for one play where he played too far off his receiver and allowed a first down in front of him. He finished with 3 tackles. He'd get a better grade, but he came up with a real boneheaded facemask penalty late that gave the Redskins a chance to win the game.

Usama Young: B- (3.00) He got some reps again at corner in dime packages after McKenzie went out with an injury. His coverage was good and he handled himself fine. He didn't really have anything memorable to write about, but no mistakes either. His biggest play came on special teams when he recovered a fumble right before halftime to give the Saints good field position after they had been stopped down 17-10.

Mike McKenzie: D- (2.17) As good as he was last week, it was back down to earth for Mike McKenzie. McKenzie just couldn't seem to do anything right whatsoever. He was beat deep routinely. He blew just about every open field tackle he had a chance at making. He gave receivers way too much cushion, and yet they would still blow right past him. At one point he took a terrible angle, and Sharper made the tackle behind him and gave him a death stare and screamed letting him not it's not ok to mess up plays like that. At times he seemed disinterested in being out there. At one point he was beat deep, the receiver then fell down, and McKenzie didn't even bother hustling to touch him down. He did finished with 4 tackles, but probably could have had about 10-15 with the number of plays being run right at him. The injury he suffered in the game is unknown, but I was glad it took him out of the game. He flirted with an F for large portions of the game.

Chris McAlister: C+ (2.50) McAlister, like Jenkins and McKenzie, was getting beat routinely and did a poor job of tackling the screen receiver pass the Redskins ran all day. He gave a lot of cushion to his man as well, inciting the Redskins to continuously use that play. He finished with 3 tackles. McAlister, though, came up with arguably the biggest play of the game. He hit Mike Sellers and managed to jar the ball loose in overtime, and had the good sense to recover the fumble as the whistle was being blown and Sellers was called down. The replay showed the head referee that it was indeed a fumble (not sure about that call, but I'll take it), and McAlister single handedly got the Saints the ball in overtime. Ultimately, they would turn that turnover into the game winning 3 points.

Garrett Hartley: A- (3.67) Surprise move to see Sean Payton go with Hartley for this game instead of John Carney. Chris Berman on ESPN said at one point that Carney was hurt, but I think he's misinformed. I think this move was strictly performance based, though I could be wrong. Regardless, Hartley was excellent. All of his kicks were right down the middle. He was 4 for 5 on field goals with a long of 34 yards. His miss was a 58 yarder as time expired, so it's hard to blame him for that miss. Extra points might not be a big deal, either, but Carney has been shaky on that all season long and Hartley did tie the game at 30 with his PAT after Meachem's touchdown. He also hit the game winning 18 yarder, twice, as the first was called back by a Zorn timeout. I don't think there's any way Carney kicks next week and this could mean the end of the veteran's reunion run with the Saints. Hartley was impressive with his accuracy.

Thomas Morstead: C (3.00) Morstead's kickoff depth was much shorter than usual. To be expected given the weather and field temperatue. He did manage to get one about half way into the end zone in overtime, which was an important time to do so. His punts were largely poor, as he averaged 33.3 yards on 3 punts. He did manage to pin one inside the 20, though. One of his punts was so short, it hit an unsuspecting Redskins' blocker in the back, resulting in a turnover for the Saints. The punt was bad, but the end result was magnificent.

Courtney Roby: B+ (3.00) Roby was routinely getting past the 30 on kickoff returns, and almost broke one big on a couple of occassions. Per usual his returns were impressive. He also made a nice tackle on special teams as a gunner.

My Defensive Player of the Game: Remi Ayodele

My Special Teams Player of the Game: Garrett Hartley

Poll

Who Was Your Defensive Player of the Game @ Washington?

Jets Flight Connections 120809

dvdvil — Tue, 08 Dec 2009 15:33:51 -0000

The New York Jets got a little help from the Packers last night. Rex Ryan was not rooting for his former team.

Meanwhile, Mark Sanchez did not practice yesterday. Somebody else was wearing his jersey on the field.

The Head Coach on the QB's situation, from NorthJersey.com:

I know he expects to play. We’re optimistic he’ll play. ... I think he seems to be getting better each day. We’re obviously going to be smart with this. I’m going to consult with the doctors [and] get their opinion of things. We’ll do the same thing about should he play in this game or not. All of those decisions are what we always talk about. We’ll consider what’s best for the player first, team second. We’ll see.

The Jets had the best defense in the league before the MNF game last night. Still, it's the highest rating our defense has had this late in the season in a long time. And we're still in the top rankings in other categories.

Speaking of defense, you can meet Kris Jenkins and Jim Leonhard next month.

More connections after the jump.

If you live in the Tampa area, you might want to check out this fan club.

Bart Scott and the Xaverian football team helped out the Food Bank on Thanksgiving.

Tom Brady thinks the Patriots don't fight very hard at times. New England may no longer be a dynasty, but they still control their destiny.

The Dolphins didn't use the Wildcat in their win. I did see Pat White in there, but I guess that doesn't count.

The NFL Commisioner is not impressed with LandShark Stadium, or whatever you call it these days.

And Bills DT Kyle Williams is not impressed with his own team.

Former Jets WR Wayne Chrebet admits some of his concussions could be due to his own competitiveness.

His former teammate and current Saints LB Jonathan Vilma likes the new rules on concussions.

Lastly, the NFL takes from the rich, but doesn't want to give to the poor.

New Orleans Saints' Defensive and Special Teams Player Grades vs. Patriots

saints-nation — Thu, 03 Dec 2009 12:00:15 -0000

by Dave Martin - AP

16 days ago: New England Patriots quarterback Tom Brady sits on the sidelines during the fourth quarter of an NFL football game against the New Orleans Saints, Monday, Nov. 30, 2009, in New Orleans. (AP Photo/Dave Martin)

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You know the drill by now, below are the grades.

Patriots vs Saints coverage

Patriots vs Saints recap

Patriots vs Saints boxscore

Will Smith: B+ (2.88) Early in the game, Laurence Maroney ripped off a 22 yard run, and Will Smith had a clear shot at him around the line of scrimmage. Sometimes I feel like he's focused on improving his sack total and his run defense has suffered from it. That said, he did a good job of staying in Brady's face despite double teams for a good portion of the game. He finished with 4 tackles, hit Brady 3 times, and ended with 1.5 sacks. He was the beneficiary of a stat padding sack at the end of the game, and that sack gave him 10 for the season. It's been a while since we've had a double digit sack guy, so that's nice to see 11 games into the season. After having a lower GPA early in the season, Smith's grades have been rising steadily and he continues to pile up consistent performances.

Charles Grant: D (2.24) For an extended portion of the game, Grant was nowhere to be found. He was manhandled anytime a play came his way, and he was unable to get any pressure whatsoever on Brady. On an end around to Welker at one point, Grant showed ZERO pursuit or effort. I was pretty disheartened to see on tape what I concluded was a lazy performance. He did finally get good pressure on a 3rd down play in 4th quarter, though, hitting Brady as he released the ball. It was tough sledding for the Saints' pass rushers though, as they dropped most players they had and often rushed only 4 or sometimes even 3. He finished with 2 tackles.

Sedrick Ellis: C+ (2.71) Nice to have the big man back, and his presence against the run game was felt. He was rusty, though, so I'll expect better things as he gets more reps. I'm sure everyone remembers the fumble fiasco. Hey Sedrick, YOU ARE A DEFENSIVE TACKLE. Fall on the ball already. The fact that he picked up the ball and tried to shimmy his way to the open field like Barry Sanders was laughable. I give him credit for a good all around effort, though. He was sloppy in his tackling at times, but he was also disruptive. He had a terrific tackle at the line of scrimmage at one point on Kevin Faulk. On the Darren Sharper interception, Ellis put nice pressure on Brady to force a bad pass. He finished with 4 tackles.

Remi Ayodele: C- (2.14) Ayodele really didn't play much, surprisingly. When he did, I thought he did an ok job of congesting the middle and forcing Maroney outside. The Saints spent a large part of the game either with a 3 man front, or using Hargrove more because of his superior pass rushing ability and the decreasing threat that the Patriots would run.

Anthony Hargrove: C+ (2.43) As much as Hargrove played he was rather quiet, but he did show terrific effort and a good motor. The plays just didn't really come his way. He finished with 2 tackles, and he did get a chance to force an incompletion by poppin' Brady pretty good right as he released the ball.

Bobby McCray: B (2.00) Finally I saw McCray come in and show me some of those pass rushing skills. Finally! McCray got the other half of the sack with Will Smith, but I felt McCray got the better pressure on that play. He was often coming off the edge and drawing either a double team or a chip block. On one play he absolutely CRUSHED Brady as he released the ball. He also had very good pressure on the long pass to Moss and almost got a sack but Brady evaded him before getting rid of the ball off his back foot. He finished with just 1 tackle, but given the limited help he got rushing the passer I thought his performance was much improved.

Scott Fujita: B+ (2.81) Fujita played MUCH better in the second half. In the first half he was mostly quiet, and I saw him stand out on a play he got beat with on pass play over middle. In the second half, Fujita was dominant. He made a terrific play to force the fumble that Ellis recovered, and he got terrific penetration on that same drive to nail Sammy Morris in the backfield. Kevin Faulk did beat him to the outside on one run, but he was very aggressive and all over the field. He finished with 7 tackles.

Scott Shanle: C- (2.67) Pretty forgettable performance from Shanle who is losing his early season form. He was burned badly by Kevin Faulk on the opening drive of the gain to convert a 3rd down. Then, he was blown up on the 4th down touchdown run by Maroney. He had an absolutely miserable first half. As the game progressed he got more involved and absorbed blocks better, but he was unusually mediocre in pass coverage. He finished with just 3 tackles.

Jonathan Vilma: C+ (2.94) Vilma was up and down during the game. He had 9 tackles, which would lead you to believe he was active and all over the field, but he was also involved in way too many negative plays. Vilma was blown up on first run of the game. Later, he whiffed on Maroney badly to allow the back to get big yardarge. On a pass to Welker, Vilma showed poor awareness. While Welker wasn't his assignment, he had a chance to jump that throw and break up the play or maybe intercept the ball. Instead it was a completion. Like Shanle, his first half was by and large dismal. He did get good pressure on Brady a couple of times blitzing right up the middle. He made up for a shaky start when he BLEW UP Maroney in backfield shooting the gap in the second half. Just when he got on my good side again, though, there was that moronic late hit on Welker out of bounds to give the Patriots 15 free yards. He did get better as game progressed.

Malcolm Jenkins: B (3.06) He was often lined up against Wes Welker and he did an admirable job. He was very physical with Welker, sometimes getting away with possible penalties, and you could tell Welker got frustrated by it. He was PHENOMENAL with tackling all day long, and any time he had a shot at Welker he made sure the slippery receiver went down. He was caught holding twice, once negating an intentional grounding by Brady and another time giving the Patriots a first down - but that was all part of him roughing up Welker. Great job, and I'm glad we have him. Did I already mention he's a terrific tackler?

Chris McAlister: B- (2.67) McAlister was pretty solid all day in coverage, especially in the first half. Despite being matched up against Randy Moss, he didn't allow the future hall of famer to catch a ball until very late in the second quarter. He was however responsible for the long pass to Moss in the second half, and he was fortunate that Brady overthrew a long ball intended for Aiken because McAlister was beaten badly and it would have been a touchdown. He finished with just 1 tackle and he didn't offer much support against the run. Give him credit though, he's only been with the Saints 2 weeks and his he's obviously still capable of covering elite receivers.

Mike McKenzie: A- (3.67) Per Jon Gruden on Monday Night Football "he has guts". I thought that described McKenzie best. He gambled and occasionally lost, but his aggressiveness and fire was instrumental in the win. It was clear the Patriots were going to attack him, and he responded present. It was almost like he never missed a beat from his peak performances 2 years ago. His interception was a HUGE momentum changing play. Later in the game, he had a 3rd down tackle short of 1st down, forcing the Patriots to punt. At one point, beaten by Moss, he dove to make the tackle and somehow jarred the ball loose for a forced fumbled. It was a suspect play, but he saved the Saints from Moss getting major yardage after the catch. He did give too much cushion at times, and was beat on a 3rd and 9 throw curl route to Aiken. The Patriots tried to run that same play soon after and McKenzie jumped the route and almost had another pick. He allowed a first down late by missing a tackle I've seen him make countless times, but he redeemed himself moments later by killing the game with a BIG 4th down play breakup on a pass intended for Moss. He finished with 3 tackles, an interception and 3 defended passes. It's nothing short of incredible that this guy could play at this level after being out of football for a year. The Saints are very fortunate he was available. The welcome back party was in full effect for #34.

Pierson Prioleau: B- (2.67) Prioleau was used as the dime back on some passing downs, and had awesome coverage on a deep pass to Ben Watson down the seam for a breakup. He did a pretty good job in coverage when he was in.

Roman Harper: B (3.21) I have no earthly idea how Harper totaled 10 tackles. He seemed to have a very quiet game, but somehow Harper gets his nose in a lot of plays. He was quiet about his business, but I did notice a big hit he put on Wes Welker on a crossing route early that slowed the receiver down just enough to allow Malcolm Jenkins to knock him down and force the Patriots to kick a field goal. He did get flagged for an illegal contact on a 3rd down to give the Patriots an easy 1st down, which was stupid and negated a good pass rush by Bobby McCray.

Darren Sharper: A- (3.20) Sharper seemed more interested in laying the wood early than getting himself another pick. It seemed like there were passes out there he could have tried to make a play on, but he was focused on crushing anyone that came over the middle. I liked the change in philosophy because he knew he had corners that needed help and he let Pats know early, you go over middle, you pay. Specifically he had a DISGUSTING hit on Faulk that I'm not quite sure how the LSU product got up from. He was very solid all day in coverage and he was a good security blanket limiting the damage when a play would break open. He finished with 6 tackles and was rewarded for his good play with an interception late on a gift wrapped terrible pass by Tom Brady.

Jeff Charleston: C+ (2.33) Not a ton to say, but he played a good amount and was decent pass rushing and decent against the run. He finished with 2 tackles.

John Carney: D (2.61) He was awful. His first field goal hit the upright, and he was fortunate to give the Saints a 3-0 lead when his 30 yard kick bounced in. With the game out of reach he also missed a 36 yarder. So you're thinking, "he was 1 for 2 on field goals, not that bad". True enough, but once again his extra points were VERY dicey. At least three of his point after touchdowns barley made it just inside the right upright. He's already missed 2 this year, and lately it's felt like an adventure with him out there. Not impressed with the guy lately, but I also know he's capable of bouncing back from a bad performance. That said, this extra point thing is nothing new. He's been shaky on those all season long. I've mentioned this before, but I wonder if Brunell being left handed isn't part of the problem? Or maybe the new snapper?

Thomas Morstead: A- (3.09) Every single kickoff he booted went in the end zone, and over half were downed for touchbacks. I mean the guy is just awesome on kickoffs. On punts, it wasn't his fault Welker ripped that big return. He had a nice high and deep punt that the coverage unit should have covered better. He did manage to get another punt inside the 20.

Courtney Roby: B+ (2.97) Roby's best kick return was his first one, which went back to the 35. Two other times he had a shot at getting nice gains but he slipped. As usual he was good and dangerous. He made his grade covering kicks this time. First he caught Welker from behind on that long punt return showing amazing speed. If he doesn't make that play Welker is gone for a touchdown, and McKenzie doesn't come up with a pick on the next play. He also had terrific coverage on a punt to force a fair catch by Welker.

I also need to give props to Lynell Hamilton. He gets an incomplete grade based on limited playing time - but he had a punishing closeline tackle on kick return, and he was a decoy on the touchdown pass to Dinkins.

My Defensive Player of the Game: Mike McKenzie

My Special Teams Player of the Game: Thomas Morstead

Poll

Who Was Your Defensive Player of the Game vs. the Patriots?

Darren Sharper

45 votes

Malcolm Jenkins

41 votes

Mike McKenzie

602 votes

Will Smith

8 votes

Roman Harper

6 votes

Scott Fujita

6 votes

708 votes | Poll has closed

New Orleans Saints' Defensive and Special Teams Player Grades @ Bucs

saints-nation — Tue, 24 Nov 2009 12:00:24 -0000

by Chris O'Meara - AP

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Below are the grades for the defense and special teams @ Tampa Bay. Some terrific play all around.

Saints vs Buccaneers coverage

Saints vs Buccaneers recap

Saints vs Buccaneers boxscore

Will Smith: B+ (2.83) Smith finished with 3 tackles and a sack. He did a reasonably good job of putting pressure on Josh Freeman, and was able to waltz in untouched for an easy sack on a missed blocking assignment. It was nice to see Smith help against the run on a number of occasions, too.

Charles Grant: C (2.37) Grant finished with just 2 tackles, and he knocked Freeman down once on a pass rush. His pass rushing was mediocre, and his run defense was mediocre... so he gets a mediocre grade to go with his mediocre GPA.

Bobby McCray: D+ (1.89) What happened to this guy? He was a very solid pass rusher last year, but his reps get lessened each week mostly due to his complete lack of production. At one point in training camp they were talking about installing packages that would include McCray blitzing from the linebacker slot. Whatever happened to that? No tackles for McCray in this game despite a decent number of snaps. He was complete neutralized on pass downs, too.

Anthony Hargrove: B- (2.44) Just one tackle for Hargrove, but he did a good job getting push on passing plays up the middle, and he recovered a CRUCIAL fumble that broke Tampa Bay's back.

Remi Ayodele: B (2.19) Ayodele plugged up the middle much better than usual and forced the Tampa backs to often bounce their runs outside, allowing the Saints' linebackers to make plays. He finished with 3 tackles and also showed more effort than what I've seen in the past. The main problem I've had with Ayodele is he has a lazy streak where he won't play to the whistle, but I didn't see that in this game.

Scott Fujita: A- (2.72) Fujita is back and playing at a high level. This was arguably his best game of the season. He was making terrific reads and had a very impressive play getting in the backfield and hitting the Bucs' runner for a loss. His tackles were sure and he showed no ill effects from the calf injury that slowed him down. His biggest play was a blitz off the backside where he sacked Freeman and knocked the ball loose, leading to Hargrove's big recovery. Nice to see Fujita making plays, he's been missed. He was a major reason the Bucs struggled to move the ball after that first drive.

Scott Shanle: C+ (2.77) Quiet day for Shanle, who really didn't do much until the second half. There were no major mistakes, but some of the bigger runs early in the game were plays going right at him where he didn't absorb the blocks very well.He was solid in coverage and ended with 2 tackles.

Jonathan Vilma: A- (3.00) Vilma was all over the field, looked fast and was steady. He finished with 6 tackles, a defended pass, a knockdown on a blitz, and an interception. When he gets a clean look at stopping a rusher he almost always makes the play. I don't think he's playing at quite the level he was a season ago, but he clearly makes everyone around him better. Nice to see him get that pick, he made a fantastic catch covering a tough customer in Kellen Winslow Jr.

Randall Gay: C (2.59) Gay was pretty solid in coverage before leaving early with a tweaked hamstring. From what I've heard it sounds unlikely he'll be back in time for the Monday Night game.

Malcolm Jenkins: A- (3.07) Jenkins made a terrific interception, the first of his career, going to the ground to come up with a low pass. He benefited from Antonio Bryant slipping, but still jumped the route well and showed terrific hands. He led the team with 7 tackles on the day and 2 defended passes. He held a very good receiver in Antonio Bryant to just 3 catches. Bryant did have a 21 yard reception against Jenkins at one point, but the coverage was picture perfect and Bryant just made a ridiculous catch on his outside shoulder - not much you can blame the rookie for there. He really stepped in and did not miss a beat.

Roman Harper: B (3.23) Harper dropped an easy interception, jumping a route well but failing to come up with the catch. If there's one thing I've learned from watching Harper all the years is the guy has the worst set of hands I've almost ever seen. He finished with just 3 tackles, but was sent blitzing a number of times. He was able to register a half sack, and he also knocked Freeman to the ground two other times.

Darren Sharper: B- (3.15) Sharper was fine. No real chances to get a pick this time. The few times he was in a good position, the ball by Freeman was so poorly thrown that Sharper had no chance. He finished with 5 tackles and was especially helpful against the run. His grade suffers because of yet another personal foul 15 yard penalty. He's had at least 4 or 5 this year. It was a blatant facemask penalty, and there really was no need for him to do that.

Jo-Lonn Dunbar: C+ (2.73) Dunbar finished with 3 tackles and played in spot duty late in the game at linebacker. He was aggressive and did ok. He over-pursued twice but with the game so far out of reach it's hard to grade him. I'll give him some love for doing a great job on special teams, though.

DeMario Pressley: B- (2.78) This guy deserves to start alongside Sedrick Ellis. There, I said it. I know there's a love affair going on with just about any avid Saints watcher and Anthony Hargrove, and the coaching staff seems enamored with Ayodele, but Pressley has been the tackle performing most consistently. I see him sometimes get pushed off the line of scrimmage, but once when that happen he bounced back up the middle and ended up making the tackle. Even when he's beat he plays to the whistle and shows terrific effort. He finished with 3 tackles and did a decent job rushing the passer.

Pierson Prioleau: B- (2.67) He finished with 3 tackles and did a fairly good job in coverage. With the Saints depleted at corner thanks to the injuries to Torrence and Gay, he stepped in and helped hold down the fort.

Usama Young: B (3.17) Young also lent a helping hand at corner with the Saints shorthanded by injury. He was pretty good, especially helping in run support. He finished with 2 tackles. His grade gets a boost, too, from 2 spectacular special teams plays. First he forced a deep punt to be fair caught inside the 20 with terrific downfield coverage, then he dove on a ball and downed it at the 1 yard line after another great punt by Morstead.

Leigh Torrence: C (2.00) Torrence was placed on IR, I'm told, and that's too bad. The guy was finally getting some playing time. Sure, he wasn't the best corner but you can't argue with the guy's toughness. He separated his shoulder and came back in the game to play and make a tackle due to the Saints' injury problems. He finished with 4 tackles and teamed up with Harper to get the other half of a sack on Freeman. He was also responsible for the touchdown pass to Michael Clayton, though, and I feel like his coverage was spotty enough that a better quarterback could have made him pay. I'm surprised as far as he was playing off receivers that Freeman didn't take advantage of the short routes in front of him.

John Carney: A- (2.77) Carney did his job, so it's hard to give him a worse grade. He hit a big 38 yard field goal to break a 7-7 tie, and at the time it was important. He also hit all 5 of his extra points, but once again got one or two barely inside the upright.

Thomas Morstead: A+ (3.03) He was booming the ball all day long. I tip my cap to you, Mr. Morstead, and I can't tell you how glad I am the Saints kept you over Glenn Pakulak. He was, in a word, fantastic. Every kickoff he booted went into the end zone, and as the game progressed they kept getting deeper and deeper (I believe his last 3 were touchbacks). Clifton Smith is known for being one of the most dangerous returners in the NFC, and Morstead completely neutralized him. He also blasted 4 punts for a 48.8 average, and pinned two inside the 20 (one of those at the 1). He only had one of his punts returned for 11 yards, so he ends up with an extremely impressive net average of a little over 46 yards. Without question his best game as a Saint.

Courtney Roby: B+ (2.93) Roby was pretty good returning kickoffs. No standout plays but he returned 2 kicks for a 25.5 average. His coverage skills, however, are what earned him his grade this time. The play that Usama Young made at the one was only thanks to a great athletic and head's up play by Roby, as he dove into the end zone and tipped the ball back into the field. For some reason the Bucs challenged that play, too, which had to be one of the dumbest challenges of all time.

My Defensive Player of the Game: Malcolm Jenkins
My Special Teams Player of the Game: Thomas Morstead

Poll

Who Was Your Defensive Player of the Game?

Malcolm Jenkins

200 votes

Scott Fujita

113 votes

Jonathan Vilma

111 votes

Chris Reis (didn't play enough to get a grade, but I'll give him props for his pick)

17 votes

441 votes | Poll has closed

Jonathan Vilma Speaks About the Brady Quinn Cheap Shot

Saintsational — Thu, 19 Nov 2009 17:09:49 -0000

In week 4's matchup against the Jets, Jonathan Vilma took a low-blow block from Mark Sanchez, for which Sanchez was fined. Now he's speaking out against Brady Quinn's cheap shot on Baltimore's Terrell Suggs last week. Here is what Vilma had to say on his PlayMaker Mobile page last night.

What bothers me about this play is, for one, Brady Quinn is not a rookie—he's a third year guy. Two, he knows right and wrong, he knows fair and foul play. And three, as much emphasis as there is put on protecting quarterbacks, quarterbacks need to understand they need to do the same thing. There is a reason defensive players can't go low on quarterbacks. Look at Tom Brady. Look what happened to him. So why would you reciprocate and do the same thing if you're the QB? That's what really bothers me.

It's not like Mark Sanchez where it was his fourth game starting and he was a little bewildered and he was just out there. Brady Quinn has been around and he understands right from wrong. He understands fair and foul play. That bothers me. Yeah, Brady Quinn gets fined but that fine isn't going to help the Ravens, it's not gonna help Terrell Suggs get back any quicker, and now they've got to play Peyton Manning this weekend.

Not having Suggs impacts them in so many different ways. Now do they not only miss one of their best pass rushers but they miss one of their best players on defense, period. The guy can stop the run and the pass and you need that against a guy like Peyton Manning, where everyone says "don't blitz Peyton," but you need someone to rush the passer and that was their guy. That's what's especially frustrating. To see that happen, the way it happened, being on the defensive side it really bothers. We have to be really conscious about where and how and how hard we hit a quarterback, and now QBs are just going after defensive players because they're afraid of being blocked, they're afraid of being hit, and that's just not right.

What do you guys think about Vilma's thoughts and words?

New Orleans Saints' Defensive and Special Teams Player Grades @ Rams

saints-nation — Tue, 17 Nov 2009 12:15:20 -0000

by Jeff Roberson - AP

about 1 month ago: St. Louis Rams running back Steven Jackson (39) is stopped by New Orleans Saints defensive end Charles Grant (94) as Saints linebacker Jonathan Vilma, left, looks on during the fourth quarter of an NFL football game Sunday, Nov. 15, 2009, in St. Louis. The Saints won 28-23. (AP Photo/Jeff Roberson)

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Below are the grades for the Saints' Defense and Special Teams @ the Rams.

Saints vs Rams boxscore

Saints vs Rams coverage

Saints vs Rams recap

Will Smith: B- (2.78) Smith registered yet another sack which also forced the ball loose, but unfortunately the Saints weren't able to recover. The Rams ended up scoring on the next play on a long pass to Avery. He's been getting better and better this season rushing the passer. Against the run he was mediocre. He finished with just 2 tackles.

Charles Grant: B+ (2.41) Grant was terrific against the run for the second straight week. He finished with 5 tackles and was present on many of the stops the defense made against the run in the second half. 2 of his tackles were plays where he beat his blocker and was able to meet Steven Jackson in the backfield for a loss. His play was aggressive and his tackles were hard to break. He even had a couple of decent pass rushes, and I felt he deserved a half sack on the sack given to Ayodele.

Bobby McCray: B- (1.96) McCray showed some nice ability against the run for once, and this time he got more pressure on the quarterback. Just one tackle for McCray in the game, but I at least saw him involved, active, and always in pursuit. A promising performance given how invisible he's been.

Anthony Hargrove: C (2.42) Hargrove did finish with 4 tackles, and his pressure on Marc Bulger was good, but he's still a little light to play the run effectively. He was pushed out of the way often and mauled on several of Jackson's big runs.

Remi Ayodele: C (2.09) Ayodele got a coverage sack, and just 1 tackle. He was surprisingly pretty good rushing the passer and he pancaked Bulger on another play just as Bulger released his pass. Otherwise, he was eaten alive on running plays and did a poor job of playing at the point of attack. Sedrick Ellis needs to get back in the lineup healthy because the last three weeks watching the Saints attempt to stop the run have been painful.

Scott Fujita: C- (2.53) Fujita was feeling things out early and he seemed rusty in his first game back from a calf injury. He was juked a couple of times by Jackson and allowed him to run through weak arm tackles at other times. As the game wore on, though, he seemed to get better and better as he adjusted back to the game speed. He was in the right place for most of the game and played well in coverage. He finished with 4 tackles, and I hope he'll play more like he did in the second half for all of next week.

Scott Shanle: B (2.81) Nice to see Shanle bounce back and play a pretty solid game. Like Fujita, he was pushed around a little early and seemed to be too tentative in his reads. He did make a couple of terrific open field tackles on a very hard to bring down Steven Jackson, though, and those plays could have been massive gainers if Shanle doesn't come up with the tackle. His tackling technique is very sound, and it's nice to have a linebacker you can trust. True to form he also did a good job in coverage. He finished with 6 tackles including one for a loss.

Jonathan Vilma: B- (2.93) Mixed bag for Vilma. He did have 8 tackles and seemed to get better as the game wore on, but he also had a number of opportunities to make plays where Jackson made him look like a backup. Vilma did a good job on a blitz of hitting Bulger, and almost got a sack at one point but Bulger released the pass as he was going down. Vilma also missed a couple of assignments in the passing game, allowing Daniel Fells to make plays.

Marvin Mitchell: B- (2.45) Mitchell had 2 tackles, including one which was a vicious hit. Overall he didn't make mistakes and looked good against the run and pass in limited duty.

Tracy Porter: C (3.11) Before Porter left the game with an injury, he was having a forgettable game. Assigned for a large part of the game to cover rookie Brandon Gibson, who had no catches on the season going into this game, he was beat all too often. On the play he was injured, he was not only beat but completely blew the tackle. Porter finished with 2 tackles. The news that his injury is only a strain is huge, though. The Saints need him desperately, and the fact the he should be back in time for the stretch run and the playoffs is crucial.

Randall Gay: D- (2.67) Gay was beat on two touchdown passes to Donnie Avery and the Rams in general picked on him all day. He looked slow and despite good coverage on the second touchdown he showed terrible ball skills. Gay did finish with 4 tackles on the day. Gay in my estimation is best used in the slot as a physical corner. I know the Saints were short handed, but matching him up against a burner like Donnie Avery was a terrible matchup. I heard whispers of Jason David comparisons (ahem, Saintsational) and that is going a little too far. Just because he can't run with Donnie Avery it doesn't mean he has no clue out there. Gay will be fine, just a rough day for him lined up against a receiver that is as fast as just about anyone. Next week against Antonio Bryant and Michael Clayton I think Gay will look better.

Malcolm Jenkins: C+ (2.92) He was ok, not great. He finished with 2 tackles and put nice pressure on a couple of blitzes. He did have one devastating hit on Bulger that the Rams' quarterback barely got up from. He also had a big "defended pass" late in the game, where he ran with Avery before getting hit in the back with the ball. One thing I was impressed by was a running play where it was Jackson, a blocker and Jenkins, and Jenkins did a good job of sticking his head in there and trying to take out Jackson's legs. He slowed Jackson down enough to make it an easy tackle for his teammates. Malcolm is pretty physical for a corner.

Roman Harper: B+ (3.26) Another solid game from Harper. He's becoming a pretty steady performer for the Saints, and brace yourselves because he actually looked good against the pass. He was around the box a good amount, especially in the second half, and finished with 8 tackles. He did a good job, mostly, of limiting Jackson's effectiveness at the second level. He had a key pass breakup late in the third quarter on a 3rd down in the red zone forcing a Rams' field goal, and he was involved on the hail mary attempt breakup.

DeMario Pressley: B (2.84) He was pretty good against the run. Sure he was pushed around at times and somewhat responsible for the yardage Jackson amassed, but he looked aggressive and I liked his hustle. Given the fact that Pressley is essentially a red shirt rookie that's only in his second game as a pro, he's performed admirably. He had 5 tackles including 2 for losses.

Pierson Prioleau: C+ (2.67) Prioleau gave up a couple of passes but also laid some nice hits. He finished with 3 tackles and helped the Saints out when they were so thin on the final drive in dime coverage.

Usama Young: B+ (3.33) At times Young looked like a harder hitting, faster version of Darren Sharper. He had a terrific break on the ball on his interception, and he also defended another pass showing nice anticipation. He finished with 4 tackles and had some nice hits. His grade could be better, but he took a couple of bad angles on Jackson at the second level and did a bad job of wrapping up at other times which allowed the Rams to gain more yardage.

Leigh Torrence: C (2.00) Torrence did finish with 4 tackles, and showed pretty good coverage specifically on a deep ball late in the game, but in general he played too far off his man allowing easy throws underneath. He was beat at least twice on slants. He was responsible for Gibson once Porter left with an injury and he did very little to slow him down.

John Carney B- (2.67) No field goal attempts and Carney finished 4 for 4 on extra points. I'm sure some of you are thinking: well, he did everything we asked him to do, why doesn't he get an A or an A-? Well, first off, the best I'd give him for that minimal of a contribution is MAYBE a B+, but couple that with the fact that the Saints were forced to punt once and go for it another time on 4th down because Carney's leg strength was unreliable and there you have it. As much as I like Carney and trust his accuracy, it's a bummer that we don't have an option we currently trust with the game on the line and the ball at our opponent's 35 yard line.

Thomas Morstead D+ (2.89) Morstead didn't have any touchbacks on kickoffs, but his depth was ok. His punting performance was actually pretty dismal. He averaged just 37.3 yards on 3 punts, and netted just 20.6 per punt if you count 2 touchbacks and a 10 yard punt return. On his last punt he blasted it out of the end zone, but it sounded like there was a coaching mix up and he was just following instructions.

Courtney Roby A (2.88) Roby took one to the house to open the second half and break a 14-14 tie. His speed hitting the hole on that return was impressive and no Ram ever had a chance at him. I'm happy to see Roby solidify his standing as the team's returner. I also liked that on a deep kickoff later in the game, he didn't let the big play go to his head and he downed it for a touchback. He also came close to making a nice play as a gunner on a punt that bounced inside the 5, but punt returner blew him up before he had a chance to down the ball prior to it going in the end zone. Glad he didn't get hurt on that play, it was a vicious hit and we need him.

Jo-Lonn Dunbar: B (2.83) Dunbar threw an awesome block on Roby's return, and he was credited with a tackle as a gunner. I could have SWORN I remember him making two tackles, though. None the less, he was involved downfield and had a good day on special teams, so I thought I'd give him his props.

My Defensive Player of the Game: Roman Harper
My Special Teams Player of the Game: Courtney Roby

Poll

Who Was Your Defensive Player of the Game?

Usama Young

108 votes

Jonathan Vilma

20 votes

Roman Harper

102 votes

Charles Grant

55 votes

285 votes | Poll has closed

New Orleans Saints 28 @ St. Louis Rams 23: Who Dat Say!?

Saintsational — Mon, 16 Nov 2009 12:00:35 -0000

Twitter

LanceMoore16 Congrats to my teammates. It wasn't pretty but we got the job done. Feels great to be 9-0!!!

ChaseDaniel Win is a win! Loving this brisk air up here in the Lou, headed back to the airport! Lots of support out there today! Thanks!!

ltorrence24 Winning aint easy! This team has a lot of heart, Saints 9-0! Who Dat!

reggie_bush 9-0 baby feels good!!!!!

SupaFreak69 ain't notin worse than sumone farting on the plane nxt to u...not gonna say no names..

ChaseDaniel Just landed..heard a rumor around the plane that there are going to be 5,000 fans waiting for us outside the airport! We'll see!

SupaFreak69 Who dat who dat who dat said dey gonna beat dem saints....

usama_young28 Another big win NOLA! Thanks for the support everybody. Icetub, icecup, bed... Here I come! WHO DAT!!!

reggie_bush Come on Patriots! Lol! Saints only undefeated team? Sounds good to me!!!

LanceMoore16 There's still two undefeateds and ill take it as long as we're one of them!!! 9-0 gotta keep it going.

reggie_bush First the fat boys break up and now the Patriots makin bad decisions! What is the world coming too!

Harp41 9-0- WHO DAT

robyslyfe 9-0 Truly BLESSED and So Thankful.

Linkage

Saints hold off stubborn Rams 28-23 to remain undefeated - Times-Pic

"I don't know if satisfaction is the right word. But we're excited; 9-0 is a great place to be. What's even more exciting is how much better we can play, "

-Jon Stinchcomb

"I've been on those teams where we've ended the season with a losing record. I understand that wins are not easy to come by in this league. So to be 9-0 is something special. And we're proud of that fact, but we're also aware of how much better we can play once we cut out some of these things that are costing us."

-Jon Stinchcomb

"We're not just content with where we are, and certainly not content with the way we've played these last few weeks,"

-Drew Brees

"This wasn't a comeback, it was just one of those where we had to close it out in a manner that I think we would have liked to (avoid), " Saints linebacker Scott Fujita said. "Our level of play has to match our expectations. We've got to raise the bar. We are dodging some bullets here."

-Scott Fujita

"We thought we had a good play called, and they just kind of got him down," Saints guard Jahri Evans said. "I don't know exactly what happened. I just know we didn't make it.

"We've got to be better at that as an offensive unit, to where we have the ball, finishing it out and not leaving our defense out there to have to finish the game every time."

-Jahri Evans

"The second one was a great throw and catch. But I feel like I've got to make that play, "

-Randall Gay

"I was pleased we got the win, " Payton said. "You know, it ended up being certainly down to the finish, closer than we would have liked. There's a number of things that I think are going to get us. There's a number of mistakes we made that we're going to have to continue to work on. I was proud of the way we were kind of able to battle through it, though."

-Sean Payton

"We know we've got to take care of this, or eventually it's going to come bite us in the ass, "

-Jahri Evans

Saints defense finds its groove in second half - Times-Pic

"We had to tackle better, " Saints linebacker Jonathan Vilma said. "There were times when we had guys in the hold, and he'd make a move, somebody would miss a tackle. . . . We wanted to shore that up, and I think we did a better job in the second half of doing that.

"We have to give credit to him. He's a very good back. He had his mind set on running the ball today, and he did a very good job."

-Jonathan Vilma

"Well, they always had eight in the box the entire game, " he said. "To explain it in simple (terms), they misdirect. They know a running back has to read a defensive line, so they were just doing stunting with their D-line and linebackers, which they weren't doing at first."

-Steven Jackson

"I hate to say too much positive when you lose, " Bulger said. "It's not what this league is about or what this organization is about. There were a lot of positives. At the same time there were a lot of negatives."

-Marc Bulger

"That's all we can ask for, to have a hard-fought game and be in a winnable situation within the last two minutes. Going up against a great opponent like we did today, that's all you can ask for. No one can walk out of this locker room with their heads down."

-Jason Brown

Recapping the New Orleans Saints at St. Louis Rams game - Times-Pic

"We're not content with where we're at and the way we've played these last few weeks, " said Brees, who threw a laser to wide receiver Robert Meachem for a 27-yard touchdown in the fourth quarter. "We as an offense need to close the game out when we're given the opportunity. We didn't do that (today)."

-Drew Brees

"I was just reading my blocks. They did a great job of covering people up. Then, I just tried to find the kicker, and once I got around him, I just wanted to be sure I stayed in bounds, "

-Courtney Roby

"I think we were catching them in their nickel personnel, and I think that's why we were so successful in the running game when I was in there, "

-Reggie Bush

"I say this all the time: Your roster has to be ready to play, and that is the nature of this league. "

-Sean Payton

Saints, though 9-0, not juggernaut that started the season - Times-Pic

"It's already hard enough to get wins in this league, it's even harder when you have a team that has two weeks to prepare for you," running back Reggie Bush said. "I don't care who they are. I don't care if they haven't won a game, period, it's going to be a tough game."

-Reggie Bush

"Obviously, we're not happy with the turnovers," Brees said. "It's going to get our butts beat pretty soon if we don't fix it."

-Drew Brees

"Glaring issues like stopping the run, turnovers, those are things that if we don't get corrected can come back to bite us,"

-Jonathan Vilma

"We have a lot of confidence in all of our guys, but you're only so deep," Fujita said. "It's challenging."

-Scott Fujita

"We're happy with the win, but we understand we have to play a lot better," Fujita said. "Clearly, we have a lot of things to clean up."

-Scott Fujita

New Orleans Saints' injuries in secondary mounting - Times-Pic

"I couldn't see what happened..."All I could do was feel it. "I'm happy that we got a win, but I'm hoping that Tracy isn't hurt too seriously."

-Usama Young

"I was going for an easy (interception), then it became a trash pile and everybody train-wrecked me, "

-Roman Harper

"I went to try and hit one of their receivers, " Young said. "Then I saw the ball hit the ground and I said 'game over.' "

-Usama Young

"This is the NFL, " Torrence said. "Everybody on the roster has to be ready to step in when needed."

-Leigh Torrence

"When something like this happens, we got to come together as a group."

-Roman Harper

"Everybody is going to give us their 'A' game. It's lonely at the top, and we've got to keep battling to stay up there."

-Roman Harper

Saints at Rams Game Story - New Orleans Saints official website

"A win is a win in this league. It’s tough to win any game, much less one on the road. It’s never easy. The records get thrown out when you line up. We just passed the halfway point of the season and there is still a lot of football to be played. We will stay focused on just taking it one game at a time. It’s worked for us so far."

-Randall Gay

"Steven Jackson is a hell of a running back. It was clear they wanted to run on first and second downs and pass on thirds. But the thing to take out of the game is that we won and now we turn our attention to Tampa. Everyone is dangerous and it’s a division game next week."

-Scott Fujita

Grading the Saints' performance against the Rams - Times-Pic

New Orleans Saints able to turn ugly into victory: Peter Finney - Times-Pic

Rams Report Card vs. Saints - St. Louis Post-Dispatch

Saints at Rams Notes - New Orleans Saints official website

NINE IS FINE Bush’s two touchdowns help Saints hold off upset-minded Rams, stay unbeaten - Sun Herald

Escape from St. Louis: Bush lights out as 9-0 Saints survive 28-23 - New Orleans Pro Football

Saints vs Rams: The Imperfect Path to Perfection - Chicks In The Huddle

Video

Jeff Duncan's Saints-Rams Vlog (Nov. 15, 2009)

Audio

Here are your Sports Talk audio clips. In order: Sean Payton, Jonathan Vilma, Will Smith, Carl Nicks, Bobby Hebert, Hokie Gajan, then two Point After Show clips.

SB Nation - Jonathan Vilma

Shallow Thoughts & Nearsighted Observations

New Orleans Saints' Defensive and Special Teams Player Grades @ Falcons

Who Was Your Defensive Player of the Game?

Saints @ Falcons: Official Wednesday Injury Report

NEW ORLEANS SAINTS

ATLANTA FALCONS

New Orleans Saints' Defensive and Special Teams Player Grades @ Redskins

Who Was Your Defensive Player of the Game @ Washington?

Jets Flight Connections 120809

New Orleans Saints' Defensive and Special Teams Player Grades vs. Patriots

Who Was Your Defensive Player of the Game vs. the Patriots?

Darren Sharper

Malcolm Jenkins

Mike McKenzie

Will Smith

Roman Harper

Scott Fujita

New Orleans Saints' Defensive and Special Teams Player Grades @ Bucs

Who Was Your Defensive Player of the Game?

Malcolm Jenkins

Scott Fujita

Jonathan Vilma

Chris Reis (didn't play enough to get a grade, but I'll give him props for his pick)

Jonathan Vilma Speaks About the Brady Quinn Cheap Shot

New Orleans Saints' Defensive and Special Teams Player Grades @ Rams

Who Was Your Defensive Player of the Game?

Usama Young

Jonathan Vilma

Roman Harper

Charles Grant

New Orleans Saints 28 @ St. Louis Rams 23: Who Dat Say!?

Linkage

Video

Audio