Saints Sideline Blog

“PACK"ING A PUNCH

Friday, September 9th, 2011      Email Print

DATELINE: GREEN BAY, WI ( An instant Cheesehead Classic)

They were down but never out. Down 14-0 was hard but the Saints never surrendered. Behind 21-7 would have frustrated many on the road against the defending Super Bowl Champs but the Saints didn't blink. In the land of Lambeau, Sean Payton's guys never led for a second but made every Packer fan sweat this one out until the final play of the game.

This Opening Day loss was by no means pretty for New Orleans which displayed many of the same fatal flaws that had Seattle handing them their exit strategy a year ago. First and foremost the defense was awful early. The mis-tackles that plagued this team in the preseason carried over to the state of Wisconsin where Aaron Rodgers showed no signs of a Super Bowl Hangover. He completed his first 8 passes en route to a pair of early drives that put his team up for good. Afterwards veteran Scott Shanle offered no excuses for the unit's effort showing disappointment but also hinting that with Drew Brees in control it gave as usual the D reason to never wave the white flag.

Brees was typical Brees throwing for 419 yards, three touchdowns and no interceptions. It was in the red zone where the Saints failed to capitalize, "I think the biggest stat for us that is disappointing is our red-zone efficiency,"Brees said afterwards."We were 1 for 5 scoring touchdowns only one out of five times in the red zone. That's not going to win you a lot of games, especially on the road in this type of enviroment against this team."

Sure give the Packers credit---they were every bit as good as advertised and unlike the Saints-they made the big plays when it mattered the most. In a game where both teams piled up loads of yards, it was those short yardage situations that were the dagger for the black and gold. In the 3rd quarter, the Saints were down 35-27 and driving but on 3rd down Mark Ingram was stuffed then on 4th Sean Payton went for it and called for the play action, a decision he would regret afterwards. "Hindsight, it's easy to say kick the field goal. But that being said, we felt we had a play we wanted to run, but it didn't work. Its not an easy call, but it's one that you look back on and I'll kick myself a bit."

Brees told me afterwards the Saints have converted that play more times than not and he is right but this team drafted Mark Ingram to convert those types of plays and he didn't deliver in Green Bay especially in the final hour. Despite all the breakdowns on defense and special teams-the Saints were on the doorstep of possibly forcing OT but the Saints rookie couldn't find the endzone on the final play.

Ingram's debut was disappointing while Sproles was spectacular. The Saints star had a 72 yard punt return for a TD and tied for the team lead with 9 catches. His game sparked a twitter frenzy-"Reggie Who?" The former Lightning Bug turned Cajun Cricket was all over the football field averaging 46 yards per punt return, and 10.7 yards a catch.

In the end the Saints had the right perspective despite the pageantry of a game which had a Super Bowl type atmosphere-this game is simply one of 16. Many lessons learned in this one. We learned the running game remains a work in progress and despite the additions,the Saints D still has a ways to go. Not much different than a year ago-time will tell if the end result will spell a change of heart this season.

WHO DAT HITS

CAREER HIGH -The Packers 42 points were the most surrendered in the Sean Payton era. Previous highs included last year's 41 point playoff effort by Seattle and the Colts 41 point total in the 2007 season opener.

KASAY AT THE BAT-After a stormy preseason debut where kicker John Kasay missed a point after and a field goal vs Tennessee, the veteran was perfect against the Packers,nailing every extra point and field goals from 30 and 38 yards out. His 1st field goal was his one for somebody other than Carolina for the first time since 1994.

TOTING THE LINE- Zack Strief told me after the game that despite the fact he's stepping in for Jon Stinchcomb and they are breaking in brand new center Olin Kreutz-he likes the chemistry so far. With that said the O-Line shouldered the blame for the short yardage struggles.

NOBODY ASKED ME BUT-Green Bay may not have the nicest city or stadium in the NFL,but there is no doubt they are home to the nicest people. From the many fans whom were seen welcoming the Who Dat Nation to the accomodating stadium staff-its always a great road trip where there is no doubt the Cheeseheads roll out the green carpet.

UNTIL NEXT BLOG
Mike Nabors
CST

By: Mike Nabors

An Emmy award winning sports reporter who covers a wide variety of events for CST. Primarily, Mike serves as the network's reporter for Saints coverage.

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