Wednesday, September 5, 2007

Game 25: Saints 27, Bengals 19

Bengals start with ball, but after TJ Houshmandzadeh gains 9, Rudi Johnson loses 7. Jason David (WHA?) has good coverage (WHA?) on 3rd down, and Cincy starts 3-and-out. They started the game in no-huddle but it didn't do much good.

Saints take over at the 30 after a penalty. Screen to Reggie Bush for a first down behind a ton of good blocking; *I* could have got the 1st there. Swing to Deuce McAllister for 10 more. Bush somehow manages to miss a gigantic hole on the right and gets 5 from midfield when he probably could have scored. Brees spears Terrance Copper for 10; Bengals D didn't even look ready to go. Saints pick up a Bengal blitz and Brees hits Bush for 10 more. Good play by Leon Hall stops Bush for no gain. Quick slant to Copper gives NO 1st and goal. Deuce surges through for a 9-yard TD behind a good block by Mike Karney. Saints lead 7-0 and look like a machine in the process. 10 plays, 69 yards, just under 5:00.

Olindo Mare boots his 2nd unreturnable kickoff, so Cincy will start from the 20 again. Mare may prove to be one of the sneaky good pickups of the offseason. 4 straight touches by Rudi Johnson takes Cincy across the 40. On 3rd-5, Palmer hits Ocho Cinco for the 1st for 15. Charles Grant takes Rudi down for a loss. Palmer and TJ beat a blitz for 9. Why blitz on 2nd-11? Rudi powers up the middle for the 1st. False start, Ocho Cinco. Josh Bullocks impressively knocks Rudi backwards, but Rudi still gains 4. Palmer misses Tab Perry wide open at the goal line vs. Mike McKenzie. Saints almost paid for another blitz there, bringing a CB. For some reason, the 3rd-11 call is a quick hitch, and Jason David (WHA?!?) makes another good play (WHA?!?) to break it up. Since he's under no pressure, Shayne Graham has no trouble with a 51-yarder to make it 7-3 Saints.

Lance Moore gets a good seam block on the left side to return the kickoff to the 45.

Jamie Martin replaces Brees. The Saints aren't anywhere close to the vanilla crap the Rams have
been running. They open this drive with an end-around with David Patten. Martin completes a pass
and is then nearly picked off by LB Landon Johnson. He throws a third-down incompletion under pressure from Justin Smith. Olindo Mare hits from 48. I'm putting that guy on top of my FFL kicker list. Well, after Jeff Wilkins, anyway. 10-3 Saints.

Kenny Watson replaces Rudi. Rushes twice for 11. Incomplete pass; Palmer and Tab Perry are really
not on the same page. Bengals face a 3rd-and-3 to start the 2nd quarter.

Palmer opens the 2nd by holding the ball way too long and succombing to an avalanche of Saint sackers. He's lucky he got out of that alive. Charles Grant and Antwan Lake got him. He did lose the ball, and the Saints start the next drive deep in Cincy territory.

Quick, short Saint drive ends with a nice cutback run by Bush for a TD behind the block of Jahri Evans. 17-3 New Orleans. The Saints are humming on both sides of the ball.

Because preseason doesn't matter and everybody runs vanilla offense and doesn't want to give up
any information before the regular season, Perry opens this Bengal drive with an end-around.
Palmer can't hit Funfundachtzig on 3rd-and-1, and Cincy 3-and-outs again. Jason David is having
a very impressive game, just like the whole Saint team.

The Bengals Network camera closes in on the ugliest cheerleader ever; she looks like Susan
Sarandon with a blonde dye job. That's not a good look for that outfit.

Copper takes off with about the fiftieth end-around of the night. Justin Smith mugs him and forces
a fumble. Bengals recover and send Doug Johnson in for Palmer. Bengals drive inside the 20, before
former Ram Scott Shanle makes a fine play, flashing into the backfield to drop Watson for a loss.
Bengals settle for a Graham FG. 17-6, Saints.

Saints sputtering now. After a false start, Jamie never detects Madieu Williams coming for a big hit and a sack. Saints replaced Antonio Pittman with Aaron Stecker after that play for blowing the blitz pickup. Then Stecker lost the ball the next play, fine strip by Umaga, er, Domata Peko. Martin gets sacked on 3rd-and-a mile, by Eric Henderson, who whips Jon Stinchcomb, forcing a fumble that Cincy recovers inside the 5. Way to go, Jamie!

Grant stuffs Watson for -4. 2nd-and-goal from the 7, Johnson rolls out & has his pass dropped by Watson, which would have gained 2 at most; what's the point? Johnson and Perry now cross wires on 3rd-and-goal to the boos of the crowd. Don't know if they were booing the awful throw or Perry barely trying for it. Perry not impressing a whit this evening. Graham hits a 25-yd FG: 17-9 Saints.

Bengals scoring drive was 4 plays, -4 yards. Bengals broadcast is really great about getting info
out there, and Munoz is a pretty decent analyst.

With the pocket awareness and mobility of a cigar store Indian, Martin gets sacked again, having
had all day to throw again, and fumbles again. Stecker recovers. Brian Robinson got the sack
there in a meeting of former Rams, wnkgtn (Japanese for iirc).

In the last 2:00 of the half, Johnson hunts and pecks his way down the field, inside the 20, where
he then has two receivers muff passes in the end zone (one was deflected by Dhani Jones and hit the TE in the knees, the other was blown by Perry). Bengals settle for their 4th FG and we have a halftime score of 17-12, Saints.

By the way, this game is only about 180 times better than that Bucs-Jags crapfest that put me into
about three different comas.

Martin returns as the Saint QB after halftime. Michael Myers stuffs Stecker on 3rd-and-2 near midfield to kill the drive.

Quincy Wilson in at RB. He gets a lot of running room on his first rush for 13. After that, bomb is short and incomplete; Wilson is stopped for no gain; and shotgun snap takes off on Johnson, who loses it for a fumble.

Third quarter of 2nd preseason game and Reggie Bush is returning a punt? Fair catch, though. Saints 3-and-out when Martin's hand is hit as he throws.

Very lackluster 3-and-out by the Bengals. No-gain pass, no-gain run, pass SHORT OF 1ST DOWN
DISTANCE. Pass defended by Usama Young, who I guess has been terrorizing opposing wideouts
this summer. No, really, Mr. Young's having a good preseason.

I don't know how long Martin thinks he's going to hang around if he can't hold on to the ball. He drops the snap on 2nd down here for his 3rd fumble tonight. On 3rd-and-long, terrific sliding catch by Lance Moore for 19 and a 1st. 14 more to Moore gets them inside the 30. He is doing a very nice job; Tim Brando raves about him. More Moore, nearly splitting two defenders for a TD but getting tripped up at the 10. As the 3rd quarter expires, John Busing makes a nice play to keep Moore out of the end zone on a flare route. Moore apparently got a 1st down at the 1, though. Pittman powers it in from there to put New Orleans ahead 24-12.

Chris Henry fakes Usama out for a gain (USA! USA!), but their drive stops with two no-gainers
by Curtis Brown and a pass by Johnson I just can't figure out. It was five yards past one receiver
and five yards short of another. I don't need to see any more of Johnson to declare that Carson
Palmer'd better stay healthy this year, and the Bengals had better look for a different solution
at #2 QB. Somebody like Ryan Fitzpatrick, for instance. Jermaine Hall brings the punt back all the way, but it is called back for multiple penalties.

Matt Baker, the Saints' FIFTH-string QB, is in. The Bengals blitz, and Ahmad Brooks sacks him on
his first pro play. On 3rd down, Baker gets absolutely DESTROYED by Hernandez Jones, as Cincy
blitzes a DB from one side and Jones from another. That was a Bobby Boucher hit there. Jones did
everything but say "courtesy of Captain Insano".

Johnson has two passes batted down this drive before Cincy punts. Former Seahawks bust Anton Palepoi having an impact in the second half.

Baker hits TE Billy Miller with a terrific pass for 15 on 3rd-and-1, but a wounded duck bomb flutters
incomplete the next play. Baker still drives the Saints inside the Bengal 10 at the 2:00 warning.
One fade pass goes through Meacham's hands, though, and a second is not catchable by Miller.
Mare puts the Saints ahead 27-12. -17- plays, 84 yards, 7+ minutes.

New QB for Cincy, Jeff Rowe. Thanks to a 22-yard pass on 3rd-and-4, Rowe mounts an impressive drive of his own, for under 2:00. He throws a TD to Skyler Green with :07 left, but that's obviously
not enough. 12 plays, 79 yards, though.

Saints win, 27-19. Oddly enough, that's less total points than in the Bucs-Jags game.

My goodness were the Saints ready for this game. Their offensive line dominated Cincy and has to be considered the best in the league. They were sharp on offense and defense, running sophisticated offensive plays well, though getting themselves into trouble now and then when blitzing. But they'll win any game that Jason David plays as well as he did this one, though I'm going to accuse him of getting his game up to face Chad Johnson. Funfundachtzig has that effect on DBs. They got good play from everyone on the roster except Jamie Martin, who was sacked three times and lost three fumbles. Future players to keep an eye on: KR/WR Lance Moore and DB Usama Young. And Charles Grant is playing like a man possessed.

Quite a different picture for the Bengals, who couldn't establish their offense, and you could tell they were expecting to. Injuries on their offensive line are short-circuiting them right now and are a big concern heading into the regular season. I don't know why they would keep Tab Perry on their roster; he played like a total underachiever. Like Martin, Doug Johnson is proving not to be an adequate backup QB. Maybe Cincy should make a move there. :) Justin Smith's playing well on the Bengal D, but they're going to need a LOT more than that, especially from the back 7. Looking like a repeat of last year in Cincinnati.

25 down, 40 to go. Up next: Texans-Big Dead.

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