The second preseason game will be one that the Saints defense will want to soon forget. The Texans offense racked up 405 yards and was 10-14 on 3rd downs in their 31-27 win over the Saints.
There were few bright spots for the Saints defense and leading the putrid play was Jason David, who still has not figured out how to play man-to-man defense. He still peaks in the backfield and still is out of position on 3rd and 12 passing downs. What is this guy's problem? I know playing DB in the NFL is not easy, but there's no way he should be 7 yards away from the receiver when the ball gets there. Houston continued to pick on him in the first half and the Superdome fans continued to boo his ineptitude.
It looks like its time to end the Jason David experiment. The Saints tried to convert a short, zone DB into their scheme and have failed. Its time to move on. At this point, I wouldn't be opposed to starting Aaron Glenn over him. Sure Glenn is in his late 30s but at least he's aggressive and won't continue to make the same mistakes.
Onto the Pros and Cons:
PROS:
Deuce McAllister - Deuce ran hard and finished with 4 carries for 16 yards and 2 catches for 10 yards. He was smiling with each touch and looked to really have fun out there. Saints fans were glad to see #26 back in the dome.
Reggie Bush - Bush has been running hard this preseason, but the holes just haven't been there for him. Give him the ball in space though, and he can be spectacular. His leaping TD run on his 12 yard catch shows that the potential to be great is there.
Marques Colston/Drew Brees - Colston's TD grab was another spectacular play. That's what the Saints need to do in the red zone. If he can consitently go up and snatch the ball out of the air like that, the Saints red zone numbers will be through the roof. Brees laid the ball up perfectly for him to grab. Brees has had a great preseason so far and if the team gets the running game going, he can lead this team to great things.
Punters - Steve Weatherford had one punt for 50 yards and Waylon Prather punted twice for an average of 54.9 yards. Pretty good punts from both.
CONS:
Besides David, the rest of the secondary didn't look good either - Matt Schaub finished 14 for 16 for 187 yards and 2 TDs. Sage Rosenfels was 6 for 8 for 94 yards. Enough said.
Pressure up front - Houston had 25 pass attempts, the Saints had zero sacks. Sedrick Ellis did break through the line early in the game, but the pressure wasn't consistent.
Injuries - Usama Young and Randall Gay both went out early with injuries forcing David and Tracy Porter to get more snaps, which would have been good if either stepped up, but both looked bad. Porter is a rookie, so he may take some time. Hopefully, Young and Gay's injuries aren't too serious because the Saints are in need of some quality corners.
Tyler Palko - Palko didn't get much playing time but announcer Solomon Wilcox was critical of his throwing mechanics during his brief stint. After almost two years in the Saints system, Palko isn't showing the kind of potential or development that you'd like from your 3rd sting QB. Some thought Palko would be challenging for the #2 QB job at this point, but he's battling to stay on the active roster again.
Next preseason game: Aug. 23 at Cincinnatti
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