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RB Reggie Bush |
Saints Flatten Chiefs, 30-7
N.O. rolls over K.C. as Saint QB's near perfect;
Pierre Thomas takes over in fourth quarter with 90 yards, 2 TD's
posted August 23, 2007 - print
me!
neworleansprofootball.com
How far away is Canton, OH?
It's safe to say that the Saints have found their timing. Evening
their exhibition record at 2-2 with a Kansas City obliteration
of the Chiefs on Thursday night, the Saints looked awesome.
Three Saints quarterbacks completed 29 of 34 passes for 295 yards,
a Drew Brees TD pass to David Patten and a tipped ball interception
from Jamie Martin.
Herm Edwards on the other hand got little from his top two quarterbacks.
Brodie Croyle started off shaky and got worse. Completing 3 of
14 passes in the first half, and 2 of 4 in the second, Croyle
was off target and haunted by Will Smith and Charles Grant. Backup
Casey Printers captained a comedy of errors and rookie third string
Chiefs QB Jeff Terrell - go figure - completed five of five passes
and led the Chiefs on their only scoring drive late in the evening.
Croyle had his best drive to start the game, reaching the Saint
47 yard line before punting. Croyle and the Chiefs offense would
get no closer until the third quarter, when they would get to
the 45. Casey Printers managed to explore deep into Saint territory
- the 35 yard line - with a drive that ended on downs late in
the fourth quarter. Terrell finally led the Chiefs on a scoring
drive inside the two minute warning, completing all five of his
passes for 54 yards.
Brees started the game and played most of the first half, moving
the ball up and down the field. The first Saint drive went just
less than 80 yards, ending on fourth down when Deuce McAllister
was rejected at the goal line. Brees and David Patten really got
going in the first half, and their timing was apparent. Patten
took a textbook post down the seam from his slot receiver position
for 33 yards, on his way to six catches for 75 yards in 25 minutes
of action. Brees' only two incompletions came on the leaping drop
of a deep pass by Patton and a deflected pass drop over the middle
by Reggie Bush.
The Saints threw Bush or McAllister up the middle of the line
four straight plays in a row, stopped short by the Chiefs defense
each time. On the fourth down, Jeff Faine was pushed into the
backfield and when McAllister went to leap he knocked into Faine
and was swarmed over. Faine left the game after the first drive
and Jonathan Goodwin subbed in. Faine had missed time in practice
and the last preseason game with a calf injury.
The next Saint drove ended at the Chiefs 10 with an Olindo Mare
field goal, a drive Brees powered with first down completions
to Deuce McAllister and Terrance Copper and a Reggie Bush 12 yard
run on 3rd down. Another Croyle-inspired punt, and the Saints
started at the Chief 45 after a facemask penalty on a Lance Moore
punt return. McAllister ran for six yards, then Brees completed
five straight passes, capping the drive with a bootleg pass to
the right and finding David Patten alone in the back of the end
zone.
Patten's mastery of the Chiefs' starting defense, which played
well into the third quarter, came with starters Marques Colston
(knee) and Devery Henderson (hamstring) sitting out, and starting
center Jeff Faine playing only the first drive of the game. He's
likely won the right to be the third receiver for the Saints,
and will be running the seam slant down the middle of the field
all season long, as opposing safeties keep their attention on
the Marques Colston, Reggie Bush and Deuce McAllister, among other
weapons.
Two plays after Patten's touchdown, CB Jason Craft picked off
Croyle at his own 23. Craft started across from Mike McKenzie
as Jason David has temporarily left the team to be with his wife
and the birth of their first child. Jamie Martin entered the game
and moved the ball down near the goal line, but Antonio Pittman
was stopped short on fourth down. Pittman was one of the few low
points on the right, often running without aggressiveness or burst.
He ran hard, but at times very tentatively, and will hear it from
the coaching staff for getting blown up in blitz pickup again
this week. Pittman was rocked backwards into the pocket by blitzing
safety Bernard Pollard in the opening drive of the third quarter,
meeting him too high. Pollard got close, got his hands up and
deflected a Jamie Martin pass that was intercepted by Jared Allen.
Zach Strief also had problems with Allen, winning some battles
and losing others. Strief disengaged from Allen a moment too early
early on, allowing Allen to run behind him and drop Reggie Bush
short of the end zone. Strief then allowed Allen to take him deep
into the backfield, then the skilled defensive end reversed and
ran shallow into Brees for the sack. Earlier, Allen blew right
by Strief on a speed rush but Brees got rid of the ball to the
other side of the field.
Brodie Croyle's first half was awful. He had one solid completion
to rookie WR Dwayne Bowe on the Chief's third drive. Bowe is huge,
and took S Kevin Kaesviharn for a ride down the field before a
gang tackle. That 21-yard gain was more than half of Croyle's
first half passing yards.
The Saints got to Croyle in the backfield on the second drive
when they blitzed Scott Fujita, who returned from his waterpark
foot injury, and Brian Simmons, starting for Marc Simoneau. The
linebackers came in hot behind Charles Grant as Will Smith dropped
into shallow coverage, and Simmons brought down Croyle by his
ankles. DT Kendrick Clancy, who lost his helmet on the play, still
jumped on Croyle as the secondary blanketed receivers behind him.
It was a symbolic play for a team defense that really came together
to punish Croyle and the offense, sans Larry Johnson. One time
Saint RB Michael Bennett finished with 27 yards on seven first
half carries.
Later, strong safety Roman Harper missed a chance to sack his
former University of Alabama teammate Croyle on a dead run, getting
only a hand on him as the stepped out of the way. Will Smith followed
up on the next play, beating left tackle Will Svitek and despite
being held, lowered the boom on Croyle with his left arm. It was
a clear indication that the referees were to let the teams play
on the night. After getting a few flags in the secondary out of
the way early on, the refs looked the other way especially when
it came to line play.
Other highlights of the starters-on-starters first half included
Jay Bellamy delivering a devastating hit on the Saints' first
kickoff, fantastic downfield blocking by David Patten and Lance
Moore to spring Reggie Bush for a big run, Mike McKenzie hammering
Michael Bennett with a perfectly timed hit, and Moore muffing
but luckily falling on a punt. Left-footed booter Dustin Colquitt's
strange-spinning punt got the best of Moore, but Moore got the
best of the Chiefs first and second string defenses, playing most
of the game in multiple receiver sets and getting open for Brees
and Martin. Moore led all receivers with six catches for 88 yards,
including a gorgeous adjustment on a deep pass. Brees called an
audible, pumped and tossed down the left sideline to Moore, who
made a spinning catch on an underthrown pass and then ran away
from his double coverage. The gainer led to Mare's second field
goal. It was just one of Brees' ultra-sharp passes on the night,
placing the ball where Moore could make a play in front of his
defenders.
Sometimes a fat new contract will make a player lazy or content.
Just the opposite with Charles Grant, who appears to be playing
the best football of his career. The combination of Grant and
Smith is going to make Saint defensive tackles and linebackers
look better than they probably are, and will redeem Saint cornerbacks
more than once per game. The Saint defense allowed 69 yards and
five first downs to the Chiefs in the first half. Remember though
that the Chiefs were missing LT Damien McIntosh and most importantly
the focus of the franchise in runningback Larry Johnson. After
tonight's performance, Brodie Croyle has probably lost the starting
job to veteran QB Damon Huard, who didn't play because of a minor
injury.
Jamie Martin was serviceable in the second half, playing the
type of safe, no-lose football he always has. Payton's scheme
fits this stage of Martin's career perfectly. Martin hit 10 of
13 passes for 93 yards, even as the Chiefs left defensive starters
well into the third quarter. TE Billy Miller had a good night,
taking LB Derrick Johnson out of a play with a block to the feet
to open up room for Pittman on a 15 yard run, then springing Aaron
Stecker for a 19-yard gainer with a downfield block even after
he'd been knocked down.
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RB Pierre Thomas |
The fourth quarter became the Pierre Thomas show. The undrafted
rookie out of Illinois made the home town Chiefs look silly, with
his low, hard running style and some very nice cuts. Even in pass
protection, Thomas matched up and squared off against edge rushing
safety Jon McGraw. Running behind converted fullback Jamaal Branch,
Thomas marched through tired tacklers. On his first touchdown,
Pierre fought through three Chiefs for the goal line.
Taking handoffs from third QB Tyler Palko, on the next drive
Thomas took the Saints 51 yards down the field in two carries,
the first a stumbling, rumbling burst right through the arms of
five different Chiefs before a shoestring tackle brought him down.
Then Thomas vectored himself around the pile and he trotted into
the end zone from 19 yards out. After each touchdown, Pierre stayed
on the field and ran down the kickoff. Could Thomas knock Stecker
or Pittman off the 53 man roster, or force the team to keep five
runningbacks? At this point, Pittman is a liability in pass protection
and won't see a lot of action.
Thomas has earned it, and has one more game of running behind
impressive fellow rookies Jermon Bushrod and Andy Alleman to prove
it. The Saints end their preseason schedule in one week, on Thursday
night in the Superdome against the Dolphins.
In injury news, TE Eric Johnson had the wind knocked out of him
in the second quarter. Holding the ball in his right arm, Johnson
was tackled after a pass from Brees by Kendrell Bell, who held
his left hand back. Johnson landed squarely on the ball and Bell
landed on his back, but Johnson returned.
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