Saints 1999 Game Reports
Game Four: Atlanta
This is starting to get redundant. We'll start with the offense. With Hobert, it's decent. Hobert finally connected with Kennison on a deep ball, resulting in a 90 yd TD. Otherwise, the offense d well at times, only to have the drives stall. Then Doug Brien misses 2 of 3 FGs. Hobert got hurt, and save for one drive ending in a Bret Bech TD, Tolliver sucked.
QB: C-. 2 TDs, 2 INTs, no help for the running game. When healthy, he can move the offense; but he's not healthy, with recurring effects of the neck stinger he received last way. I haven't heard what the long term effects will be. Tolliver was not effective at except for one TD drive. But is Hobert doesn't come back, we're stuck with him.
RB: C. Ricky didn't have a good game; he had a low average & a fumble. He did't have much blocking, but wasn't his usual aggressive self either. I think he's still feeling a few effects of his arm injury and was protecting the ball more than he usually would; he'll be back to normal soon. Lamar Smith had little impact. No one else had any.
WR: A-.
TE: B
OL: F
DL: C-
LB: C
DB: C-
Special Teams: F
Coaching: D. , especially for the offensive playcalling.
more details later. gotta go.
Game Three: at Chicago
The Saints lost another close one, this time to the Bears. The Saints completely shut the Bears down until the last four minutes of the game, but then fell apart. I blame the coaches. The coaches made bad decisions, bad calls & let their team play dead in the Bears' last two drives. The Bears tried their hardest to give the Saints the game, but five turnovers weren't enough, as the Saints couldn't score after them. The offense had problems all game, but it was most evident in the 3rd quarter, when the Bears turned the ball over on all 4 of their possessions, but the Saints could score only 3, and passed up several field goal tries to go for it on 4th down. Some were short enough to practically be chip shots, even in the rain & wind.
QB: C. Hobert was pretty good, scoring the only Saints TD, but getting hurt on the TD just before half time. Tolliver came in and looked as rusty as he did in preseason. He just wasn't very accurate. But the coaches insisted in putting the ball in his hands on crucial plays, like a 4th in 12 from the Bear 28, and a 3rd and long on the Saints last drive when they should have been running out the clock. (he threw a bomb, which -- uncalled pass interference aside-- was a stupid call and never should have been made.) The coaches have to recognize that Tolliver's not on before making these calls. At least he didn't throw any interceptions.
RB: B-. Ricky Williams was very good. And considering he wasn't supposed to play and was in great pain, it was a very gutty and impressive performance. He had 84 yards rushing on 21 carries and even caught a pass for 10. But he missed a lot of plays, mostly due to the injury -- he couldn't block & I think the coaches were worried about a fumble on some short yardage plays. Lamar Smith and Aaron Craver were very ineffective rushing, especially on short yardage plays. Don't worry, Ricky'll be doing that next week -- he didn't get hurt this week.
WR: C. What I saw was ok, but I didn't see these guys much. But part of this is due to Tolliver's inaccuracy in the 2nd half. Kennison had a few short catches, but still isn't getting open deep. Keith Poole caught 2 passes; we need more production from him, but I'm not sure if the lack thereof is due to the QBs not looking for him or his not getting open. I have a feeling it's the latter.
TE: D. Slutzker actually caught a ball, but Cleeland dropped the only two balls that came his way and had a very costly holding penalty on the Saints last drive that nullified a 4 yd run by Ricky and stopped the clock, saving the Bears a timeout.
OL: B. The run blocking was good most of the time, but the pass protection is still pretty iffy.
DL: C+. On run defense, the Bears line was getting more of a push than it should have; the pass rush was OK until the last two drives when there wasn't any. Love that prevent.
LB: B. What I saw was good, but I didn't see enough. These guys need to make their presence felt more often. All 3 made good individual plays, but tend to be invisible for long periods of time.
CBs: Ambrose was great, but got hurt at the end of the game. 2 really nice INTs and a couple other very good plays. Weary had some pretty good plays and some pretty bad ones, par for the course for him. Tyrone Drakeford had one really sweet pass breakup, but was otherwise dreadful. He can't cover or tackle.
S: Rob Kelly continues to impress, but Sammy Knight continues to disappoint me, especially with his tackling.
Special Teams. C-. Tommy Barnhardt can't kick the ball 40 yds. Doug Brien apparently has lost Ditka's confidence, which cost us the game, even though Brien did convert his only attempt. The kick coverages were good, but the return games didn't show up.
Coaching: F. The playcalling was bad frequently on offense and at the end of the game on defense. Where was the pass rush? On the Bears' 2 TD drives we were playing what was suspiciously reminiscent of a prevent defense. The decisions to not kick field goals are very questionable. The team doesn't execute when it needs to, and looks unprepared to hold a lead.
I'm not very optimistic about next week. The Falcons are desperate for a win; they're not very good, but the Saints can't put anybody away. It promises to be an ugly game from both teams. If Hobert plays, the Saints win, but if he doesn't and Chandler does, I think the Saints could get blown out.
Game Two: at San Francisco
The Saints lost a close one to the 49ers, 28-21. The Saints clearly outplayed the 49ers and should have one, but couldn't hang onto a late lead. The Saints played pretty weel, but forces were conspiring to let the 49ers win, as usual. The officiating sucked, as it always seems to in the 49er games. Hmm. . . The refs refused to call anything on the niners, despite a dozen obvious holds and pass interferences. And some of the flags that went against the Saints were bad as well. On the 4th quarter drive where the 49ers scored their 3rd TD, the Saints several times stuffed the niners on the 1st three downs, only to have a penalty called on 4th down. I am particularly pissed about the roughing the passer called on Chris Hewitt; yes, his helmet did touch Young's helmet, but it was clearly incidental & not flagrant. It isn't like Hewitt was trying to hit Young in the head -- he quite obviously did not lead with the crown of his helmet, but rather his arms hit Young's body before the helmets hit. It should have been a no-call, and if it is, the Saints win. On that same drive, a pass interference call on Drakeford was a really bad call. I think that was on 4th down too.
For most of the game the offense looked very good, but should have scored more often. The defense played pretty well considering what they were up against. Both units certainly played well enough to win.
The pass rush was again great, most of it coming on blitzes. The tackling was again ugly. We must get better tackling, particularly from the DBs. On the Saint's last offensive play, Ricky Williams sustained yet another injury - this one an hyperextension of his elbow.
Grades:
QB : B+ Hobert looked sharp for most of the game. He threw a few great passes, moved around well in the pocket, and made good decisions. I think he lost his composure at the end of the game, and made a bad decision on the pass that was intercepted in the 4th quarter. He doesn't have the deep ball to Kennison down yet. But overall, I was very pleased by his performance. All three TDs were very good passes. He's convinced me he deserves to be a starter in the NFL.
RB: B Ricky Williams was pretty impressive. He started off slowly, fumbling his first carry, and losing yards on the next two (no blocking). When the line game him any blocking, he ran very well. He got stronger as the game went along, ending up with 22-80. Lamar Smith did well in limited action. Aaron Craver didn't do anything when they gave him the ball, but there was no blocking. The team had over 100 yards rushing.
WR: B+. The receivers caught well & got open most of the time. Eddie Kennison looked really good on short passes, but couldn't get separation on the deep balls. Keith Poole did it again, turning a short catch into a long TD; however, he was invisible in the second half. Lawrence Dawsey and Andre Hastings also looked pretty good. But the 49er corners aren't very good, and I can't help thinking they should have been open more often. But still, you can't complain about three TDs.
TE: B. Cleeland played pretty well. His blocking was good, save one holding call, & his receiving was also good. He had one catch for a long gain, and another for a 1st down, bowling over Tim McDonald.
OL: B . The run blocking was good after the first few series & pass blocking was better. Not too many penalties.
DL: B The D Line put pretty good pressure on Young, but most of the time a blitzing LB or Db was needed. Too many holes against the run.
LB. B. The LBs actually plated pretty well. They had lots of key stops, including a nice play by Bordano to stop Tommy Vardell on a 4th and goal from the 2. Fields was more visible than last week, getting 10 tackles and a sack. Bordano & Keith Mitchell also played well, finally looking like they deserve to be starting. But there were some runs & screen passes where they were nowhere to be seen. These guys still can't cover on pass plays.
DB C-. They held together for a while, but still disappointed me. Ambrose got beat a few times but was generally good. Drakeford & Knight can't tackle. At all. Rob Kelly actually turned in a decent games, but he has some tackling problems too.
The special teams were good, but don't seem to have been in there much.
The Saints are off next week, facing the Bears the week after. My prediction will come later.
Game One: Vs. Carolina.
The Saints won their 1999 season opener, beating Carolina 19-10. But Ricky Williams reinjured his ankle and only played about a quarter. Still, when he was in there, he ran 10 times for 40 yards with little support from the best of the team. Except for the kick coverage unit, which scored a TD, the team played a lackluster first half, but looked much more spirited in the second half. The run blocking was much better (Oh, what Ricky could have done with the holes in the second half). Billy Joe Hobert looked pretty rusty, but also got better as the game progressed. He completeed 11 of 22, and threw for 132 yards, half of which were on a long TD to Keith Poole. Unfortunately, the pass blocking was bad throughout. The receivers dropped a few passes as well.
The pass rush was great, getting seven sacks, but then again, Carolina's offensive line is pretty pathetic. Injuries had Clarence Jones starting at LT for Carolina. The run defense was OK, giving up a high per-carry average, but most of that on a few long runs. The pass coverage had its good and bad moments. Ashley Ambrose was good, but Tyrone Drakeford and Sammy Knight didn't look good at all. I expect Fred Weary to be starting before long.
The Grades:
QB: C. Would probably be an F but for the Poole TD; don't forget that Hobert had less than 2 quarters of preseason play, so he hasn't gotten all of the rust off yet.
RB: A. The Saints ran for over 140 yds on 41 carries, including 40 for Williams and over 60 for Lamar Smith. The Saints were able to control the ball in the second half and run the clock out.
TE: D . Scott Slutzker blocked well, but was a liability in the passing game.
WR: C. Pretty mediocre, except for the one play to Poole.
OL: B-. The run blocking ended up being very good, but the pass blocking must improve.
DL: A. They put great pressure on the QB, albeit against a very weak OL, and played the run fairly well.
LB: D-. We had linebackers out there? I remember hearing Bordano's name 3 or four times, and that seemed to be it for the the entire unit.
DB. C+. Ok, but they need to be better. They still can't play zone and don't provide much run support.
Special Teams: B. The special teams overall were positive. The Panthers fumbled the opening kickoff, which was returned for a touchdown. But Tommy Barnhardt's punts were short and returnable, and Doug Brien uncharacteristically missed an extra point.
No definite word on Ricky's status for the next game.I have a feeling this is going to be a nagging injury thtat will bother him all season. The Saints looked pretty good overall, and dominated in the second half, but the main thing to remember is that Carolina is really bad right now. Bottom line, the Saints are 1-0, but next week won't be nearly so easy. We get San Fran next week. The Niners got whipped today, so they are more beatable than usual, but they are still better than us. But it should be closer than usual. I'm thinking SF 28-21.
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