I hope this is the worst AFR blog I write all season. What we saw Sunday just was not the New Orleans Saints we‘ve come to know over the last seven years.
From the preparation to the execution, things just seemed off.
Let's break it all down.
Where the Game was Lost
The start wasn't terrible; the finish was at least positive but in the 22nd and 3rd quarters is where the Saints lost this game.
In those middle 30 minutes, the Redskins outscored the Saints 20-10 but more importantly benefited from the three biggest plays of the game.
-The first came just before halftime when Drew Brees hit Marques Colston on a 3rd&7. For the first time, everyone seemed to be in sync. The line blocked, Darren Sproles picked up the blitz and Brees took advantage of the man-to-man coverage on the outside. Colston ran a double move post route, caught the ball but as he gained possession, the ball was ripped out of his arms and rolled out of the back of the end zone. Instead of a sure touchdown, it was a touchback. I know the Saints scored on the next possession with the blocked punt, but a touchdown there and the blocked punt would have given the Saints the lead.
- On the first drive of the third quarter, the Saints defense faced a 44th&1 when Roman Harper was flagged for a very questionable pass interference call. It appeared Harper got his head turned around as both players went up for the ball. The Redskins got the ball on the 1-yard line as a result and scored a touchdown on the next play.
- Later in the third quarter with the score 30-17, Patrick Robinson was flagged for being the 12th man on the field. The result of the play gave Washington the 1st down and the result of the drive was a field goal.
Those three plays accounted for a 17-point swing in favor of the Redskins.
The Saints were never able to recover.
Rating the Rookie
I'm a tough grader, especially when it comes to quarterbacks, but I have to give Robert Griffin, III an ‘A.'
And it's not because of his athletic ability, nor his big arm. It was his decision-making that impressed me most.
RG III always seemed to make the right decision. Even on his incompletions, it seemed to be the right call.
Usually when a rookie makes his first start, particularly athletic quarterbacks, there's an element of freelance to their game. They don't always know what they're seeing so they improv on the fly. Griffin III didn't have a lot of that Sunday.
Not only did Griffin make the right decisions, he seemed to do it within the framework of the Mike Shanahan offense. You didn't see many drop backs or roll outs where Griffin would create a play out of nowhere. He stayed within himself, within the playbook and steadily made play after play.
Case in point in the fourth quarter, with Griffin under center, he faked the handoff and fired a bullet to Aldrick Robinson for 13 yards. It wasn't flashy or explosive, but it was decisive. He knew where he wanted to go with the ball and threw it with confidence. The kind of confidence a veteran has, not a rookie making his first start.
The moment never got too big for him and if I were a Redskins fan I'd be excited of what's to come.
Offense is Offensive
If RG III gets the game ball for the players, Redskins defensive coordinator Jim Haslett should get one for the coaching staff.
Haslett put together a masterful game and challenged the Saints offense all game long. The Saints for the most part weren't ready for it. And that was by far the biggest disappointment from Sunday's loss.
The offensive line was an absolute mess.
Haslett trusted his secondary in man-to-man coverage and blitzed Drew Brees on nearly every play. Seven different times I counted Brees had an unblocked defender bearing down on him before he could even finish his drop.
This was perfectly illustrated on the Redskins first sack. The formation was outstanding; DeAngelo Hall lined up over Colston then on the snap ran behind the blitzing safety. No one ever saw him coming and before Brees could even set his feet, Hall had him on the ground.
Somehow that was one of just two Redskins sacks, but the relentless pressure led to several throw-aways and pass attempts that had no shot of completion which would explain Brees' abysmal sub-50% completion percentage.
The lack of preparation also led to a little bit of panic by the coaching staff. The Saints had the sixth best rushing attack in the NFL last season but they completely abandoned it after the first quarter. The score was 10-7 at the time, and the biggest margin of the game was two touchdowns, but the Saints only had SEVEN rushing attempts after that.
The ironic part is, despite low number of rushes, the running game was fairly effective when they did use it. They finished with 10 rushes for 32 yards, which is only a 3.2 average but they only had one negative run and converted two first downs by way of rush. Plus, if you look at the lopsided time of possession (39:10 /20:50), the Saints defense could've benefited from a grind it out drive by the offense.
The Redskins didn't show they could consistently stop their rushing attack but the Saints never forced them to really try.
Sloppy, sloppy, sloppy
They were times Sunday that just made me question where the Saints' heads were at.
Zach Strief and Lance Moore had false starts on back-to-back plays. I can't remember the last time Moore had a penalty called against, much less a false start.
The Saints had to waste a timeout on Ben Grubbs inability to tie his shoes. Who knows what could've happened with that extra timeout at the end of the game?
But the most frustrating play was Robinson's 12 men on the field penalty from above. It was pure laziness. The penalty didn't happen on a last-second personnel change or quick snap where Robinson had to sprint off the field. He was still on the field from the previous play. He defended a Griffin pass then took perhaps the slowest jog in NFL history to the sideline. During that time, the Redskins entire punt unit and Saints return unit came on the field, set up their formations then snapped the ball. From the time the play ended until the Redskins punted there was at least thirty seconds, yet Robinson still couldn't get off the field in time. Totally inexcusable.
Payton Factor
Is it fair to question if the Saints already miss Sean Payton? Yes.
But I'm not going there. Not yet. Ask me at the midway point.
Here's why.
The Saints have been lackluster before under Payton (see St.Louis 2011, Cleveland 2010). But also under Payton they've overcome sloppiness to give themselves a chance to win in the end.
They did that again on Sunday.
Anyone watching that game knows the Saints didn't deserve to win. The Redskins flat out beat them from start to finish. Yet, there they were at the Redskins' 30-yard line with a chance to tie it in the end.
Obviously they couldn't pull off the miracle. But to play so poorly and still have a chance gives me some hope that the values of the program are still in place. Quite frankly, that was a
Payton-coached finish to a game.
However…
They must bounce back. If the sloppiness and slow starts continue, the Payton factor will only get bigger.
Other Observations:
-Junior Galette must get more defensive snaps. He only got five Sunday .Those five plays resulted in the Redskins first three-and-out, a kneel down and 3rd down stop in the 4th quarter where Galette ran down RG III from behind on a critical 3rd&16 to stop him two yards short of the first down and give the offense the ball back.
-Same goes for Martez Wilson. He only got one snap, by my count, on defense and he dropped into coverage on that play, not rush the quarterback. Wilson is a playmaker who made two impact plays on special teams. One came on the clutch blocked punt, the other on a play where he nearly tackled the punter on a 4th down. Wilson and Galette are without question the most athletic defensive ends on the team and the Saints were playing one of the most athletic quarterbacks in the NFL. I'm not sure why those two weren't featured more in the defensive game plan. I hope that changes this week in Carolina.
-My Saints game ball goes to Cam Jordan. Jordan's improvement this year is evident. I didn't see him come off the field on defense. He finished with 11 tackles but what was most impressive was on a few bootlegs, Jordan was able to shed blocks and pursue Griffin. In that situation there's a quarterback who runs a 4.3 on the edge on a 275 pound defensive end. The advantage would seem to go to Griffin but Jordan held his own and forced Griffin to pass.
- Anyone else notice how upset Mike Shanahan looked when his headset was nearly ripped off by an assistant coach signaling in a play on the critical 4th& 1 call?
- There is no better way to cover Jimmy Graham on the touchdown pass he caught in the first quarter. Washington had London Fletcher in front of Graham with their safety coming over the top of Graham. It didn't matter. Brees still put it up for Graham who out-jumped both players for the catch. Graham is the ultimate red zone weapon.
- Graham was very fortunate, however, to have the official rule his forward progress was stopped in the second quarter. After watching that play several times, it was obvious the fumble should have stood.
- The best screen team in the NFL only had one on Sunday. Brees hit Pierre Thomas for a 12-yard gain.
- One thing the Redskins must be mindful of with RGIII is the amount of shots he takes during games. Obviously he had ten carries running the ball but he was also knocked down (legally) on four different pass plays. Those hits will add up by season's end.
- The Saints led the NFL in 3rd down percentage last year. On Sunday they were awful in that department. They finished 2-11 and of those 11 plays the average distance was just over nine yards.
- I think everyone involved in completely underestimated how talented that Redskins front seven truly is. From the Saints season opener to RG III's first start, I think that storyline got buried and it turned out to be one of most relevant ones in the game.
- I give the replacement referees an overall ‘C' for Sunday's effort. They called a combined 24 penalties. Of those 24, 19 in my opinion were legit. The pass interference call on Harper was awful. Plus, they were a little flag-happy when it came to the holding call. By my count they were five total called. Every one, except the call on Dave Thomas, seemed borderline. It's pretty much understood in the NFL that you can call holding on almost every play. I think that crew was a little too quick when they saw what was close to a hold, to throw the flag. It's a big reason why the game almost lasted nearly four hours.
UP Next
I expect a much better effort out of the Saints offense. I know Sunday's performance will eat at Brees all week long. I bet they come out on the attack.
However, I still think this defense has some growing pains to go through so I'm not expecting a complete 180 on that side of the ball.
Sunday will be another shootout.
Saints 34
Panthers 31
Brees was under constant pressure all game vs. Washington (AP Photo/Bill Haber)
