Kristian: Exciting win for the Saints over the Texans
by Kristian Garic
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posted Aug 26 2012 1:45AM
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No snooze-fest here: This one was exciting, unlike the previous three sleepers in the preseason the Saints and Texans were both impressive with New Orleans coming out on top 34-27. I like how the Saints battled adversity…after they quickly fell behind 14-0 to the Texans, they roared back with two touchdowns in 7 seconds.
Assistant Head Coach Joe Vitt agreed that it was a much improved squad in the Superdome against Houston.
"We improved tonight. We improved on our tackling and we had much better poise on the field than we did a week ago against Jacksonville," Vitt said. "We’ve got to be able to protect the ball better. Our team knows that and we will work hard on that. We still have to take the ball away a couple more times. If we do that, it will give us the chance to be the team we want to be."
Offensive machine: Yeah, the Saints offense looked ready for the opener with 24 points in the first half. You saw great tempo, and disbursement of the football to all the offensive weapons. Tight end Jimmy Graham made his presence felt with a touchdown grab. I thought the Saints ran the ball much better this week. Clearly the offense is fine-tuned and looks ready for the season opener against the Washington Redskins on September 9th.
Assistant Coach Aaron Kromer played a more extensive role on the sidelines against Houston, kind of a dress rehearsal for when he takes over while Vitt is out on suspension. QB Drew Brees said there were no snags with Kromer calling plays.
“No, everything seemed to be very, very smooth...I felt like the mechanics of him continuing to carry on his responsibilities with the offensive line like he normally would, as well as some of the little things, head coaching responsibilities so to speak. I feel like we have done things the right way throughout this whole process," Drew said after the win.
Defense adjusts: So, what did Coach Spagnulo tell the defense after giving up the early TD? Safety Malcolm Jenkins said Coach Spags told them just to settle down.
"We knew the Texans had an explosive offense," Jenkins said. "They made some plays on the first drive and we played conservative. (He told us) just to settle down and get after them with pressures a little bit and it turned us around. It helped that we got a touchdown on the kickoff.”
Stepping up: Defensive end Cameron Jordan is in line for a stellar 2012 campaign. He's turning into a force as a pass rusher, and it's something that we've noticed since training camp. Jordan's emergence is sorely needed with the looming four game suspension of Will Smith.
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