NEW ORLEANS — We are just back from the Superdome where the Saints have opened their season with a win over the Tennessee Titans. And a couple of things jump out right off the bat.
To me, the biggest difference in this game was the way the Saints' secondary played. They were unbelievably good. The coverage was terrific.
Just to put it in context, Ryan Tannehill's quarterback rating for this game was a 28.8. He has started 143 NFL games, and this was the single worst NFL game by quarterback rating of his career. That's how good the Saints' secondary was.
Marshon Lattimore was just flat out spectacular.
He came out for one play and then Isaac Yiadom on that one play, made a tip to cause an interception.
Great day from the secondary, but also really good from the Saints' front four and they rotated eight different guys in those spots.
And what I thought really worked for the Saints was when they went to their dime package, it gave Tannehill fits any time they were in any kind of a passing situation.
They bring in rookie Jordan Howard and put him at free safety. They got two linebackers, six defensive backs and three linemen, which was Cam Jordan and Carl Granderson on the outside, and then either Tanok Kpassagnon or the rookie first-rounder Bryan Bresee on the inside. And they were able to create pressure by bringing either – or both – Pete Werner and/or Demario Davis.
It created havoc up front and then the six DBs did their job and Tannehill was simply terrible when facing the Saints' dime. It's the defensive alignment that set up Paulson Adebo's interception. They were terrific.
Saints offensive struggles...
Look on the offensive side of the ball, the Saints have some work to do, there's no doubt.
Trevor Penning had a bad first day.
Derek Carr said after the game he applauds Penning's demeanor and the way he accepted it. Dennis Allen said he knows he needs to get better. They believe he will. He's incredibly athletic.
But Arden Key, the defensive end from LSU, just literally ran right around him a couple of times. Penning struggled. The offensive line wasn't great. We knew that was the Saints' Achilles heel.
But the fact is, on offense, when the Saints had to have a play in the final few minutes of the game, Derek Carr made those plays. Rashid Shaheed was terrific. Chris Olave went over 100 yards. Mike Thomas was there for five big catches.
It was a solid job from Carr and the weapons. The offensive line needs improvement.
But the important thing is you get a win, and you may not see a defensive front as good as the Titans for a while. They were really good.
Special teams surprise...
And then the one final factor, the one big move in the offseason was to trade Wil Lutz and to keep the rookie Blake Grupe.
Grupe has four kicks, three field goals and an extra point, and he makes all four.
It's a one point game, so they needed all four – all 10 of Grupe's points.
They got them all and they got to win.
It's a great way to start the season.
It felt like all of last year the Saints were fighting uphill and they will not be fighting uphill to start this season.
What's next...
Week 2 is very winnable game.
It's on the road and it's on Monday night, but it's at Carolina where they're starting a rookie quarterback who was not great in Week 1.
This was a good one. Their defense was great, and it's going to keep the Saints in a lot of games.
Best part, the Saints are off to a 1-0 start.
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