It was the same old **** line that we've been running out there with the exception of Tunsil. We didn't play Scharpping or Roderick Johnson. What the hell???
Cup half full. Big underdogs. In loud place, new OL barely practiced together should be recipe for trouble. Instead, got 4 TD, and was a 58 yd FG from winning. Let that sink in, one of SB contenders at home had to make a long FG to win. At that distance no easy task. But it feels bad because they lost. Where is JJ Watt? Offense looks to be really good this year. Defense no so much.
It's been one game. ONE. And it's the first game of the season. And Watt now has to play without Clowney, a disrupter. And the Saints' O-line is one of the best in the league, if I remember right. Saying Watt has lost a step or that his age is showing, after one game, is as knee-jerk as it gets. If halfway through the season, this trend still continues, then I'll agree - Watt might not be as good as he once was. But until then, there's no reason to expect Watt is suddenly this washed up DE.
We almost won. Shook some rust off, and started some new players. Saw a lot of hopeful stuff. Saw some good plays on both ends of the field. We might be a whole lot of fun to watch this year with a healthy Fuller and the addition of Stills. Watson still seems to be throwing almost every pass to Hopkins though. I don't know if Fuller couldn't get open or what. I wanted to see more bombs to Fuller. I hate, that in this day and age, with all the technology available that we can't pick our field view on televised games. You can't ever see the guys running their routes because the camera is focused on the one with the ball. It's like watching with blinders on. As cool as Watson's TD run was, I'd rather the running backs or tight ends do that leaping into the end zone stuff. Sure, he scored a TD, but he's too important to risk running too much. We don't need him being a target for dirty tackles, and the Jags are some dirty guys. We don't need him being another Correa either. Young, great, but missing too many games because of injuries. I mean he's already torn 2 ACLs in a 4 year period and broke some ribs last year. The last thing we need is Watson getting back problems. Ask Correa. Shoulda coulda woulda drafted more offensive linemen. Now we have no draft picks left for the future. We have a whole lotta tight ends though. Boy, that made a difference. Did we even throw to one last night? Sunday scares me. I hope our offense can do what the Chiefs did against them, but the Jags have a better defense than the Saints. Not only that, they are just plain dirty, and out for blood.
Damn Im glad to come back to this thread and see a little more optimism for once. Last night, with the knee jerks, was rough.
They need to win some of these games, no question... At the same time, Brady is the greatest QB of all-time, Brees might very well be top 5 (they're both going to the HoF) and Wilson is... top 7, 8 QBs currently playing? Also, all four of those games? On the road. I'm as tired of moral victories as everyone else. But I tend to excuse helter skelter games that devolve into having to stop an all-time great QB at the end of a game in order to win. They must start doing it; at the same time... not a lot of teams do it.... That's why these guys are among the best to ever play.
I'm with you, but batting .000 in these situations is atrocious, with yesterday perhaps being the worst of them all. Crennel literally called the absolute WORST defense he could have in the given situation. Literally ANYTHING else could have been justified with some sort of rationale, but giving up that kind of cushion to prevent against the deep ball when everyone and their dog knew they were playing for the long FG is indefensible. After sleeping on it, I'm convinced more than ever that RAC's time in the league is up.
Has RAC been questioned about that last play? BOB was given a cupcake question, something to the effect, "I know you haven't watched the film yet, but do you think you could have done something different on defense in that last series?" Which he just replied yes.
Yeah; it could've been managed better, and I have similar concerns about RAC, bigger picture. But I keep landing here: the Saints kicked a 58-yard field goal to win the game..... It feels like too many people are treating it like.... a 48-yard field goal. I just... Look, I don't live or die by Texan results (or, sports results, generally) so I'm not going to angrily extract my pound of flesh here. I didn't think the Texans had a chance to win; I didn't think it would be competitive. Moral victories don't count but I was pretty pleased, overall, the final 37 seconds aside...
This was preseason game #1 for him and it showed. Just another one of the things I hate about preseason.
JJ played against the Cowboys and had a big TFL. There'll still be some rust but he simply did not have a good game. Saints keyed in on him and not until someone else can show up, not sure why teams won't continue to double him.
What does a guy have to do to get a screen play called when NO is blitzing with no regard for human life for most of the second half?
Who said he was washed up? Strawman much? I even said you were right that there isn't 4 other DEs better than him so quit with that. You then said you couldn't find better defensive players than him and clearly we disagree. Acting like 2018 Watt was anything like 2012-2015 Watt isn't it. Those years he was not only hands down the best defensive player, but he was also the best damn player in the NFL and in the running for overall MVP. That Watt didn't need Clowney, didn't need a secondary, didn't need much help at all to dominate. Last year's Watt wasn't that. I don't expect this year's Watt to be that either. Those were special years. I think people saying Watt returned last year forget how truly elite and historic he was in the first like 5 years of his career.
Bill O'Brien on Deshaun Watson and trying to prevent hits: 'We did a lot of good things in the game, but there are things we need to cut down the amount of times he gets hit. Some of that is his playing style. He has a great playing style. He keeps the play alive.' — Aaron Wilson (@AaronWilson_NFL) September 10, 2019 Bill O'Brien on Deshaun Watson: 'He flipped into the air. Nothing that's going to keep him out. Just normal bumps and bruises.' — Aaron Wilson (@AaronWilson_NFL) September 10, 2019
Yeah, this is where people harp on the times he gets sacked forgets that Watson sometimes holds on to the ball forever or looks to extend plays. I'm not complaining, it works out for him, I know he said before that he's always looking for the big play and honestly he finds it more often than not.
