The New Orleans Saints[1-0] defeat the Tennessee Titans[0-1] 16-15 in week 1. Next week, the Saints will travel to play the Carolina Panthers and the Titans will host the Los Angeles Chargers.
1st Quarter: On the opening kickoff, Saints Return Specialist Rashid Shaheed fumbles and Amani Hooker recovers for the Titans at the 24-yard line. Titans Kicker Nick Folk makes a 50-yard field goal. Saints Kicker Blake Grupe makes a 26-yard field goal. Nick Folks kicks a 27-yard field goal for the Titans.
2nd Quarter: Play calling seems to be an issue for the Saints with a lot of conservative play calls. Saints Linebacker Zach Baun blocks a punt and it is the Saints ball at the Tennessee 28-yard line. Blake Grupe makes a 33-yard field goal for the Saints. Titans Quarterback Ryan Tannehill throws an interception to Cornerback Marshon Lattimore who gives the Saints the ball at the New Orleans 41-yard line. Nick Folk kicks a 31-yard Titans field goal. Derek Carr throws an interception to Safety Amani Hooker who brings it to the New Orleans 22-yard line. The Titans lead at halftime 9-6.
3rd Quarter: Ryan Tannehill throws a pass that is tipped by Marshon Lattimore, intercepted by Safety Marcus Maye, and brought out to the New Orleans 6-yard line. Blake Grupe kicks a 52-yard field goal for the Saints. Ryan Tannehill throws an interception to Cornerback Paulson Adebo who brings it to the Tennessee 33-yard line. Saints Quarterback Derek Carr throws a 19-yard touchdown to Wide Receiver Rashid Shaheed.
4th Quarter: Nick Folk makes a 45-yard field goal. Nick Folk makes a 29-yard field goal with 2:17 left. On 3rd and 6, Derek Carr throws a 41-yard pass to Rashid Shaheed to give the Saints the ball at the Tennessee 26-yard line with 1:50 left. The Saints win 16-15.
Saints Notes:
Play Calling-Offensive Play calling was as atrocious as it was last season. Everyone was running similar routes leading to easy reads for a defense. No creativity on the play calls.
Penalties-Continued issue for the Saints. Dennis Allen has to disciplined this team better. The more discipline teams have fewer penalties and this team needs to fix them.
Derek Carr-Now he was not perfect. Carr held the ball a little too long and the interception was his worst decision of the day, but he did show potential for a completely better Offense this year. Carr was part of the reason the Saints won and, with one of the Quarterbacks from last year, this game would have ended with a loss.
Rashid Shaheed-He was the most improved player of the game. Opening drive fumble was an awful start but he ended the game with a third-quarter touchdown and clutch deep catches.
Michael Thomas-The stat line was pedestrian for Thomas but he still had some third-down catches and looked like the same Thomas from previous seasons.
Chris Olave-He was quiet the first half but the second half exploded. Olave finished with 8 catches for 112 receiving yards. Olave is the clear top target for Carr but we will see how that changes depending on matchups.
Run Offense-The Offensive Line blocks on run plays like they are blocking on pass plays which is weird but hear me out. They create no room for anyone to run in between the tackles. This was an issue last year and the assumption was maybe the Saints needed a power back since Taysom Hill was semi-successful but that was not the case. Jamaal clearly has explosive abilities but this O-Line would not give him any room to run.
Defense-Defense was fantastic in all aspects. If there was any slight negative it was the run defense but against Derrick Henry it was as great as I wanted it to be. 3 interceptions and holding DeAndre Hopkins to 7 catches for 65 receiving yards. Easily a top 10 defense and I can not wait to see them the rest of the season.
Final thought-If the coaches on Offense can get their act together and fix their glaring mistakes, then this team can be scary good. There are playmakers at every single position on this team and they should all be utilizing their talents.
-Jordan Burden