Houston, we have a problem

By Randy Savoie  |   Sunday, August 17, 2008  |  Comments( 10 )

New Orleans Saints
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The New Orleans Saints' defense proved holier than the Sunday morning choir at Ebenezer Baptist Church down on South Claiborne Avenue in losing to the Houston Texans, 31-27, Saturday night at the Superdome.

This time, Goliath beat David -- Jason David, that is. The beleaguered cornerback acquired from the Colts last year must have felt as though he had a bull's-eye on his chest when quarterback Matt Schaub began taking aim at him early and often in the first quarter. David was beaten badly on three plays during the Texans' first drive, including a 26-yard touchdown pass from Schaub to Kevin Walter. However, it would be unfair to single out David when the entire defense struggled all game.

To his credit, David exhibited a lot of courage as he faced a pack of wolves disguised as reporters after the game.

"Preseason is kind of tough because you don't have too much time to prepare for the opponent," said David. "We're still in training camp mode. We just have to find a way to get off the field on third down. Defensively, we didn't do a good job on third down. We need to go back Tuesday and work it out."

David was wise in his choice of pronouns. Because the rest of the defense was as horrid as him against Houston, why should he shoulder all the blame?

The ineptitude of the Saints' defense one year ago has been well-documented. The offseason additions of pass-rush specialist Bobby McCray, middle linebacker Jonathan Vilma, cornerback Randall Gay and draft choices Sedrick Ellis, a tackle, and Tracy Porter, a CB, were supposed to vastly reduce the Saints' propensity for surrendering the big play. Some of the faces have changed, but the results remain the same. On Saturday night, New Orleans gave up 17 plays of 10 yards or more and six plays of 20-plus yards.

"It was just frustrating to watch," said Sean Payton, the clearly exasperated head coach. "It was painful to watch that game tonight. It was painful. Obviously, we're not good enough right now."

Linebacker Scott Fujita, perhaps the defense's best player, concurred with Payton.

"Every player has a long way to go. It's unfortunate. It's discouraging right now, but we still have some time left. Not a lot of time. I have to look myself in the mirror and we all have to do the same thing and get this thing headed in the right direction."

Yeah, the line to look in the mirror was long Saturday night.

Martin Gramatica gave the Saints a 3-0 lead after New Orleans' red-zone offense sputtered following a Troy Evans recovery of a fumbled punt by Houston's Jacoby Jones. Then Schaub wasted little time launching his aerial assault on David, burning him on two 17-yard completions and the aforementioned 26-yard scoring strike to Walter. On the next drive, Schaub found Andre' Davis in front of David for a first down on third and 8. The play kept a Texans drive alive that would lead to Houston's second touchdown of the night.

Although the Saints led 20-17 at halftime, their first-string defense allowed TD drives of 80 and 74 yards. With the exception of some early heat by Sedrick Ellis, New Orleans exhibited no pass rush, poor coverage and little ability to stop the run as Houston amassed 220 total yards in the first half. Schaub finished 14-of-16 passing for 187 yards and two TDs for a jaw-dropping 154.9 rating.

Drew Brees was as sharp as ever and the Saints' offense had its moments -- a spectacular one-handed scoring grab by Marques Colston and an acrobatic hurdle into the end zone by Reggie Bush that was reminiscent of his days at USC.

Unfortunately, the Saints' downfall in 2007 -- the defense's inability to prevent the big play -- has come back to haunt them early in 2008.

"It's a game where you want to see some growth. You want to see some steps from Week 1 to Week 2 and in some ways we stepped backward," said Payton. "If we're wanting to become a playoff team and a team that competes for championships, we're going to have to play a lot better on defense. It is what it is. You can say what you want. I know it's a preseason game, but it's disappointing."

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