In Alphabetical order: Those Who Were Solid
DE Berry- Agree. He seems hungry and eager to pass rush. He still seems like he can be misdirected.
WR Breaston-Agree some more. Looked really fast on the drag.
DE Campbell-One of the first defensive lineman to move at the snap, which is something that reminded me as Dockett-esque.
T Gandy-solid performance He spent a lot of the game on an island. He showed great awareness when he allowed a stunting DE inside on an outside run, basically letting the DE run himself out of the play. The run itself didn't go anywhere, but it was a heads up play on his part. He wasn't flawless, and with a lot of these players, I worry about conditioning, he started to look tired too fast.
RB Hightower-great TD and runs...missed a block in protection Great vision too, on two plays where the blocks broke down early he improvised for positive yards.
DE Iwebema-best sack of the night (he'll feel it in the shin tommorrow) But needs to get a little stronger, once he used his first move up when engaged he seem to fizzle.
QB Leinart-poised and accurate No kidding, the first team pass protection was a failure tonight on the right. He stood tall and didn't show the happy feet we saw in the first few weeks of last season.
G Lutui-solid performance Strongly disagree. He showed slow feet and inconsistant punch. He and Brown were over matched with stunts. He was outsmarted, sped, and bullied by Kendrick Clancy a number of times. I'd say a D+ effort. Here are a couple of notes I made (I didn't write down distance and down, although I should have):
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"On third and long the Saints rush 5. 4 lineman and the Mike backer. The Ends are out in the far 9, James is in to help with protection. He slides to Gandy's side, but correctly diagnosis that Deuce needs help and adds a pop. Great job by Edge helping out. [/FONT]
[FONT="]On the Hightower run Deuce has real slow feet and is beaten inside. He rectifies the problem by falling on top of the DT. That works... I guess. Except he is now in the way of Smith's lead blocking. Hightower cuts over the huge hole left by Smith. Great vision there. Sendlein charges to the second level, then turns around to face Hightower. I don't know why. He does find his way under the pads of a LB eventually.
[/FONT] [FONT="]With 14 left in the second AZ runs again. Smith carries. The Dline stunts, DE to A DT to B. The run is to the left, so Gandy allows his man to cross over and run himself out of the play. The 3 linebackers key on the run immediately. The DE who crosses in front of Deuce gets lower and shoves Deuce's pads up through his helmet and walks him out of the way. Sendlein gets on MLB but SAM goes unblocked when Hightower hits Will. Wells takes his DT and drives him back. Pope was in as a blocker, but couldn't help as the play was going away from him.
False start on Pope. Next play Saints rush 4 against the pass. The DT starts shaded inside of Deuce. He works over to Deuce's opposite shoulder. Deuce gets lower, but doesn't move his feet quick enough and falls down. Brown is also beaten in a speed rush. Leinart stands tall under some heavy pressure from DT Clancy, a guy I always liked. Brown and Deuce are officially scaring the hell outta me.[/FONT]"
LB Okeafor-good pressure Agreed again. Was his transition to SAM so complete that he didn't even get in the three-point this game? I didn't see it.
CB Rodgers-Cromartie-good hit on the TE Amen. And on the Meechem deep-pass over Fransico, who was the player who flew in from the opposite side of the field? Oh yeah, 1st rounder.
S Rolle-good hit on a receiver Seems like he's ready to play. If this first game is any indication than his tackling is of no concern. He also got up to the LOS fast. I'd have no problem believing he'd be a ok SS too.
C Sendlein-steady Disagree again, he did help out Wells and Deuce a bit, but sometimes got ahead of the play. In fact, during on Hightower run, he ran past the LB, who broke down and was waiting to fill the hole, Sendlein then turned around and faced the QB/RB. He was able to get back under the LB and shove him aside, but he's still got a long way to go before I think he'll supplant Johnson.
RT Vallejo-set up was solid---needs to finish off his blocks Agreed.
G Wells-steady On the Hightower TD run he pulled and sealed to perfection. He did get bullied into the backfield on pass play, and straight fell down on the Edge sweep.
RG Keith- Had a dynamite game. Case in point, 10:42 left in the game. Pass play, Keith helps double the DT. Sees the LB shooting in hot, shuffles his feet and pops his arms out. Poor LB gets slammed right out of the rush lane. Great stuff. Showed a lot of power vs DTs and great quickness. Footwork was a little sloppy, when he's playing on instinct he spreads his feet too wide, but made up for it with insane natural quickness and strength.
He struggled when the defenders went to ground and tried to crawl past him. I think he's just too tall to do much there.
Want to see Keith face more complex schemes, he's got the one-on-one battle pretty well figured out.
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Those Who Struggled
RB Arrington-dropped screen--ran hard on one off tackle play, though I'd like to see him play a bit more before I write him off, but that dropped pass killed didn't it?
DT Branch-didn't do anything to stand out versus 2nd stringers He ended up going to ground a couple of times. Not impressive.
LB Dansby-looked slow, was ineffective I'm not sure he was a slow as he was disintrested. He was close to the ball at all times, but didn't wrap up tackles or use the closing speed we know he has.
Between tonight and last year's preseason I'm thinking he's just a guy who doesn't like anything but live fire. He's a practice loafer. It's fine if he turns it on.
S Francisco-was right there on all the deep passes but needs to locate the ball in order to break the passes up Struggled all night long and really didn't make me feel very good as a depth player. If the Cardinals base the FS position of tonight's performace, even with Rolle's limited playing, he wins hands down.
S Ware-a step slow on a couple of plays More frightening to me is just how bad his tackling was. He had no will to wrap and tackle through. He's not fast enough for a corner, but not physical enough for a safety.
T Levi Brown- [FONT="]More examples of trouble with speed coverages were on display all night. Here's a good example of a mental mistake: On the Leinart sack Levi gets fooled. There are 5 rushers, RDE stays home, as does Gandy. Sendlein is overpowered by the DT Clancy. SAM shoots outside in an edge rush, Pope tries to handle him. LDE stunts inside, crossing over Brown and Deuce. Brown chips him over. As Brown extends, MLB Simoneau stunts outside. Brown turns to engage him, but LB Simoneau is already around his outside shoulder. Matt steps up to avoid SAM and gets drilled by Simoneau.
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