Scouting Notes on Saints-Cowboys
Short notes and quick hits on the Saints' second preseason tilt in Shreveport

posted August 21, 2006 - print me!
updated August 22, 2006
neworleansprofootball.com

QB Drew Bledose passes past DE Will Smith (AP)

Read neworleanssaints.com's game story here.

Starting lineups: Defense: S Jay Bellamy, S Roman Harper, CB Mike McKenzie, CB Fred Thomas, WLB Colby Bockwoldt, MLB Jay Foreman, SLB Scott Fujita, RDE Will Smith, LDE Charles Grant, DT Hollis Thomas, DT Brian Young. Offense: WR Joe Horn, WR Donte Stallworth, FB Mike Karney, RB Deuce McAllister, QB Drew Brees, TE Ernie Conwell, LT Jammal Brown, LG Jamar Nesbit, C Jeff Faine, RG Jermane Mayberry, RT Jon Stinchcomb.

As expected, QB Jamie Martin did not play. Also sitting out were: P Mitch Berger (groin), RB Aaron Stecker (ankle), LB Tommy Polley (shoulder), T Chad Setterstrom (knee), QB Adrian McPherson (knee contusion), DT Rodney Leisle (knee), WR Michael Lewis (knee). DT Willie Whitehead (ankle) was a late scratch. LB Russel Rabe, C Pascal Matla, DE Jimmy Verdon also did not get into the game.

Special Teams: Punting in place of injured veteran Mitch Berger, Steve Weatherford had several great punts. If not for a shank early in the game, a healthy Berger would be in danger. As it is, Berger may take weeks or months to recover from a difficult-to-diagnose groin injury... Rookie safety Roman Harper blew back LB Ryan Fowler's block attempt on the opening kickoff and drills kick returner Skyler Green... WR Bethel Johnson saw action at KR early and late, and is clearly being given a shot to win a job at that position, although Devery Henderson and Donte Stallworth each got a shot at a kick return... Stallworth slipped down on his kick return as sheets of rain fell during halftime... Reggie Bush stepped onto the field to return a punt, but let it bounce... K Connor Hughes' only kickoff was short...

Secondary: On the opening play, Cowboys QB Drew Bledsoe zipped the ball to tight end Jeremy Witten for a 16 yard game, right between Scott Fujita and Fred Thomas... Harper started a trend on the second play: the secondary as run stoppers... CB Mike McKenzie learned a lesson about taking on the stout Julius Jones high early on, but caught him a couple times later... Jason Craft, Bryan Scott and Omar Stoutmire entered the game on an early third and seven on a zone dog blitz that saw DE Charles Grant drop into coverage and Fujita and Craft blitz the left side. WR Terry Glenn converted the first down on a pass from Bledsoe... CB Fred Thomas was active in run support and made some good tackles. It is fortunate that as cornerbacks come, McKenzie and Thomas are above average tacklers, as the Saints' linebackers usually failed to get outside to help them out... S Josh Bullocks did a good job stringing a run out and ending it himself... McKenzie was beat by Glenn on the first touchdown of the night to the side of the end zone when Glenn made a remarkable one-handed catch. Not much more McKenzie could have done... Joey Thomas was burned by rookie Hurd for the second score on a similar but less spectacular play to the front corner... QB Drew Bledsoe was just about unstoppable. On a couple plays he became visibly aware of his lack of mobility and hurried his throws, including an ugly hopping off-his-back foot throw that reminded of Aaron Brooks and - predictably - forced his receiver to dive in vain at an underthrown pass... One time where Bledsoe was stoppable was on the first drive. With first and goal from the seven yard line, the Saints held Jones to a two-yard run then forced two incompletions. On second down Bledsoe had forever in the pocket but could find no one open, and had to jettison the ball. On third down, Harper delivered just enough turbulence to prevent Witten from hauling in a high comeback route... Harper also delivered a few solid hits on Julius Jones and started alongside Jay Bellamy. Harper and Bellamy are the two best run supporting safeties although Stoutmire also did a good job stuffing the run lanes at times... Three one-handed catches by the Cowboys in the first half, two by Glenn and another by Jones. Nothing went wrong for Parcell's team in the passing game tonight, and the Saints couldn't do much to stop that... Undrafted rookie Ray Williams was burnt by WR Miles Austin on a basic fly route down the sideline for the Cowboy's final touchdown. If he was expecting help over the top, S Steve Gleason was yards away. Just a flew plays earlier Gleason made a great diving pass breakup...

Linebackers: Fujita was stuck and stalled by fullback Lousaka Polite at the line of scrimmage and Julius Jones scampered away. While Fujita is hardly an always-around-the-ball player, he's clearly the best linebacker in a terrible linebacking corps... Jay Foreman was caught late or behind in pass coverage multiple times, although he delivered a couple good hits in run support and showed the ability to shed blockers near the pile, but not consistently... Weakside starting linebacker Colby Bockwoldt used to be able to hang his hat on being in the right place at the right time. He was out of position or caught up in trash around the line far too often Monday night... LB Alfred Fincher played most of two quarters at middle linebacker, but notched his only two tackles on special teams. His only real impact on defense was an illegal contact penalty he drew covering a tight end down the field. This team needs a middle linebacker badly. In fact, the starting linebackers were just about invisible, constantly gobbled up by blockers... Terrence Melton stumbled in coverage of runningback Marion Barber III, allowing him to get open and get the Cowboys out of the shadow of their own goalline after Branch's fumble... LB EJ Kuale made a play once that the rest of the linebacking corps needs to emulate. Advancing on the carrier at the line, Kuale got through the trash near the line and got his legs around Barber... Not so admirable was late in the third when both Kuale and Foreman overran run pursuit and allowed Barber to cut behind them up the field for six yards... Late in the game, Fincher couldn't get outside fast enough and dove for Tyson Thompson's footprints. On the next play, Fincher ran up to the line and vaulted over the fullback, right past the runningback who was moving upfield past him. Neither MLB looked good or was even moderately active in run support...

Late in the game the linebackers of the Saints were outmatched... With five minutes left, Tyson Thompson rambled off right guard virtually untouched for 25 yards. On the play, DT Josh Williams got bent aside by the Dallas center, Melton ran right up to meet the fullback, and Fincher was met four yards downfield by the left guard who sealed him off in textbook fashion. Nate Wayne couldn't make the tackle 12 yards later and Josh Lay had to drag him down well into Saints territory. Pretty elementary blocking by the Cowboys and the Saints were aimlessly playing along.

Defensive Line: DT Hollis Thomas made a solid play separating from his interior lineman and jumping on the back of the runningback at the line. The Saints will need more of that all season... As the Cowboys were driving in the first series, Will Smith finished the play by shifting his leverage and hurling Cowboys LT Pat McQuistan to the ground. The next play, McQuistan stood Smith up and drove him out of the play... On one pass play, DT Brian Young bull rushed massive Cowboys center Andre Gurode five yards back and into Bledsoe's face. The quarterback would connect deep with WR Terry Glenn. As we wrote in this space last week, Young must use (and did) superior technique to account for his sub prime interior size, and had a good game to night... Tall DL Tony Bryant, playing inside at tackle, beat his man several times and made some good plays in the run game by using his upper body quickness.. DT Joe Mincing spent some time in the Cowboy's backfield in the first half and seems similar to Young.. Rookie Rob Ninkovich got some good pressure and penetration tonight in the passing and running modes. Early on he got a clean alley at Julius Jones, wrapped him up but as the whistle blew, slammed him down. An intense rookie making a splash on his first big play is totally forgivable, even though it cost his team 15 yards. Later Ninkovich blew by McQuistan, wrapped up and - legally - rolled Bledsoe into the turf. In the second half, McQuistan would get the better of Ninkovich on more than one occasion, although Ninkovich would find his way into the backfield once to drop the runner for a loss. In all, the rookie from Purdue would lead the team with eight tackles, two sacks, a hurry and two credited forced fumbles. But Payton let him have it regarding the unnecessary roughness penalty... DE Will Smith beat McQuistan and dropped Jones for a loss... DE Javon Nanton did a good job coming off a stunt, racing through the line and getting pressure on Romo to help force his fumble, one of the few big Cowboys errors of the night. Harper looked good running with the ball after picking it up off the turn. Hopefully we'll see more of that this year. The second and third stringers did a decent job of pressuring Romo in the third quarter...

Wide Receivers: Fewer "bubble" receivers caught passes tonight, and some of the young guys in the deep receiving corp barely saw the field. Joe Horn, Colston, Stallworth, Henderson, Chris Horn and Jamal Jones all caught passes. Mike Hass and Chase Lyman got into the game but didn't get a pass thrown their way... Seventh round pick Marques Colston entered the game early as the slot receiver with the starters. Colston made some really impressive things happen. On Reggie Bush's 11-yard pickup on a swing screen late in the first half, Colston made two downfield blocks that took two defenders out of the play. On the same play, Jamar Nesbit and Jeff Faine pulled all the way out to the right perimeter to deliver their blocks. A well executed screen play!... Jamal Jones and Devery Henderson opened the second half. TE Billy Miller entered the game in the second half but wouldn't catch a pass... Colston would continue to shine in the second half. Playing like a veteran, Colston lined up slot left, ran an underneath pattern, found a hole in the zone and waited at the first down marker, catching the pass and falling forward. Love it... On the other hand, later WR Devery Henderson ran a quick out, turned and caught the ball low a yard short of the first down marker. That was so 2005... Colston broke away from Al Singleton in coverage late in the third quarter, and played throughout the game... Henderson would make a nice catch down in the red zone on the first play of the fourth quarter, but appears to be losing ground on the depth chart...

Runningbacks: The Saints' first play from scrimmage was out of the I formation with Karney in front of Deuce McAllister. Deuce carried for three and five yards before Reggie Bush came in on third and short but lost three yards in a sweep. On that play, the Saints stacked tight ends Ernie Conwell and Mark Campbell to the left and ran towards them. But Campbell and Jammal Brown both went after the same perimeter defender and Bush was swarmed over for a loss... Deuce played only the first quarter, and finished with a catch, a drop and two carries. Bush was bottled but for the most part, but late in the first half showed some of his moves a swing pass and screen. Late in the second quarter, Terrance Newman and Bradie James had Bush dead to rights at the line off right tackle. But Bush burst forward between them and dove forward for a nine-yard gain... Later, Bush would let himself get strung out for a loss on a toss left. He must learn to make the move upfield and resist the temptation to spring to the sideline in the NFL... Bush finished with four carries for seven yards and two catches for 14 yards... With Stecker on the bench, RB Jamaal Branch picked up where he left off in Tennessee with inspired running. Keith Joseph and even Fred McAfee got into the mix in the second half. In fact, McAfee led the team with three receptions. McAfee, 38, was absorbing some good hits from guys 15 years younger. Still, McAfee showed a spin move here, some nifty receptions on slightly errant Bouman throws... Branch took run off left tackle away from pursuit down the left sideline, showing some Bush-like acceleration. Would have liked to have seen a Bush-like finish as well, but Branch escorted himself out of bounds. What has Jamaal Branch proved to anyone that he can take it easy after a decent run? Later, he fumbled on the one yard line after diving to set up first and goal, further building the barrier between him and a final roster... Later Branch would score by muscling through Al Singleton at the goal line, the Saints' only points of the night. Both Billy Miller and Keith Joseph had good blocks on the play...

Offensive Line: Jammal Brown fared somewhat better tonight. He didn't have any disastrous series like he did in Tennessee, but once he was bull rushed by DeMarcus Ware back into his own quarterback, who had lined up in the shotgun. Brees made an ill-advised throwaway that was almost intercepted by DE Greg Ellis as Brown came charging backwards into the pocket... Ware was all over the place and is a special player. Late in the second a quick pass to Bush left Ware and Bush alone in the open and five yards apart. Ware had the quickness to close the gap and made the tackle on Bush himself. Wow... Brown maintained his block for as long as he could, but Chris Canty eventually got past him to hurry Drew Brees' throw to Horn on their 28-yard connection... On the last snap of the first half, Jammal Brown locked up Ware tight and could have held him at bay forever. It's plays like that that tell me Brown can play left tackle, but he's still getting the hang of it... TE Ernie Conwell did a good job blocking tonight, and he helped Jon Stinchcomb not get himself grotesquely exposed as often as we're used to seeing... Ben Archibald and Zach Strief were the second half offensive tackles. Jonathan Goodwin played center with Todd Bouman and Dwayne Alford and Montrae Holland started at the guards in the second half... Alford did a good job in slide protection, coming over from right guard to pick up a blitz in Bouman's left hand field of vision... Goodwin made a great block on a screen to Jamaal Branch, dumping LB Shane Shanle on his face in the process. Branch picked up the first down on the play... Ben Archibald and Jonathan Goodwin were outmatching their men late in the game...

Quarterbacks: Drew Brees threw at his backs' feet in the flat three times, but completed 7 of 12 passes for 67 yards, including finding his buddy Joe Horn on a crossing route for 28. Bush and Joe Horn look to be the main contributors in the passing game this year, if practice and the first two preseason games are any indication. Brees was also off on the last play of the first half, a fourth-down throw to the front corner of the end zone as time expired. Colston couldn't turn around in time to snag the audible-call throw... Joe Theismann said he thinks Drew Brees' arm is not fully back yet... Brees played the entire first half and Bouman most of the second... Bouman looked good again, although his passes were all a little bit off for the most part. He could have collected his second touchdown pass of the preseason if he had led RB/FB Keith Joseph a little more in the flat near the goal line. He made McAfee leap for a simple dump off. That sort of thing... Bouman was efficient and benefitted again from a deep and talented receiver corps, finishing 13/16 for 117 yards... Fifth stringer Jason Fife entered the game before the two minute warning and handed off to Jamaal Branch five times to wind down the clock... QB Adrian McPherson remained out.

Miscellany... For a sports sideline reporter, Suzy Kolber's questions to Louisiana Governor Blanco were pretty meaty. Not bad at all...

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