5 Things That Actually Mattered In The Saints Preseason Win Over The Chiefs
There's a lot to overact too in the preseason, with players excelling against third and fourth-stringers with very little scheme past the first drives. However, if you look closely enough there are some tangible nuggets that are worth the time and energy to write about them, so here’s what I saw.
Derek Carr And The Starting Offense Looked Good
If Carr had come out and been underwhelming, would it have meant the sky was falling? No but does it help that he didn’t do that? Good lord it does. Carr manned the offense for 1 drive and that was all we needed to see.
The starting offense looked excellent as they marched 85 yards in 12 plays. Carr hit 4 different WRs and navigated the pocket extremely well, he avoided the rush on a couple of occasions by subtly moving in the pocket and still delivering an accurate pass. Carr’s pocket movement in this game was elite and if that continues it will be such a big improvement for this team in an area not everyone thinks about.
There already looks to be strong chemistry between Carr and Juwan Johnson. Johnson had 2 catches for 29 yards on the drive, with 1 of those catches coming on third down, a down I expect this combination to shine this season.
On first watch the O-line looked to hold up pretty well, Carr was pressured a couple of times which as mentioned he managed well, one AK run was dropped for a loss. The Chiefs were blitzing which you don’t always see in the preseason so that could have had something to do with the pressures rather than individual players getting beat.
I did notice even on the broadcast view that Penning MOVING people in the run game though which is encouraging, will be interesting with further review to see how he held up in pass protection, either way, it was good to see Penning getting extended snaps.
Penning with the flat-back finish + driving his weight into the DL's throat to get himself up. #football pic.twitter.com/XJU3ffBulJ
— Brandon Thorn (@BrandonThornNFL) August 14, 2023
Not to be forgotten Mike Thomas got in on action catching a low 16-yard pass from Carr (the lowness looked to be on purpose) after an un-Thomas-like camp it’s important to see him make plays in a game.
AK’s Burst And Usage Was Spot On
You thought I’d forgotten him, didn’t you? Nope just felt AK deserved his own section. Kamara had 5 touches for 35 yards on the drive and look great.
His infamous burst and cat-like agility looked to be back straight away as he bounced through contact and juked his way to a 12-yard gain on his first carry.
Crucially though and another reason Kamara needed his own section. His usage, the fact that Carmichael made a concerted effort on the first drive to give him 5 touches and crucially two catches is important. for the Saints to get the best out of Kamara he can’t just be pounded up the middle 15 times a game, he needs to be moved all around the formation and given the ball in space. On this drive, he caught a pass in the flats and Saints fans should rejoice all around the world, a screen pass was thrown to AK, and would you believe it? It worked.
Much more of this please Pete Carmichael JR.!!
The Starting Defense Looked Stout
Ordinarily, your starting defense giving up zero points and stuffing a 4th and short to force a turnover on downs in the preseason isn’t as exciting as it sounds because it may well have been against backups. Not today, the Saints' defense did this against Patrick Mahomes and the starting Chiefs offense.
Granted it was only for one drive so some excitement needs to be tempered but what we saw was very encouraging. The re-built d-line looked stout, especially Khalen Saunders who flashed especially against the run and Pete Werner still looked like an all-pro in waiting, especially blowing up the 4th and short TE Sneak.
Werner was made to play LB.
— Adam Ney (@sayneykid) August 13, 2023
What a read. What a play. pic.twitter.com/6LhqCuRm2d
The Saints starters stayed in for one more drive and stifled the Chiefs' backups (as they should have) with Marcus Maye showing why he could be a real difference-maker this season with a nice pass break-up on third down. Feels like Maye sometimes flies under the radar, now in his second season in the system and hopefully with better health he feels like a player who could take this defense up a level this year.
The WR room looks set
At this stage, the WR room looks set the only question that remains is how many are the Saints going to keep, 5 or 6? Keith Kirkwood worked with the starters as the 3rd WR which signifies the team’s confidence in him. He caught the TD from Carr to cap off the first drive and he’s also been excellent in camp.
My only pause with Kirkwood is could he have been playing the Tre’Quan Smith role? i.e., on the field as the vet WR for blocking etc… So when Smith comes back does that make Kirkwood more of a practice squad player rather than a player that makes the 53? Time will tell as we wait to see when Smith returns and if Kirkwood’s form continues, but he definitely seems to be the Vet WR making the team over Bryan Edwards and James Washington at this stage.
More importantly, after a slow start in the off-season programmes, A.T. Perry showed why a lot of people called him one of the steals of the draft when the Saints drafted him in the 6th round in April. Perry looked every bit his steal status catching all 6 of his targets for 70 yards and a touchdown. Yes, some of these were against backups but his 29-yard touchdown was against 2022 1st round CB Trent McDuffie who played well last season and is expected to be a starter for the Chiefs.
Does this mean A.T. Perry is the next coming of Marques Colston? No, not yet, but there have been many WRs especially UDFAs and late-round selections who have been electric in camp and been not existent in games before eventually fizzling out (I always think of Emmanuel Butler from a few years ago). Perry being the opposite gives me confidence that he could be a contributor for this team, and I think he almost assured himself a spot on the 53 with this performance.
Wait… What? A Turnover?
The Saints defense ranked 31st in the league last season in turnovers forcing 14 turnovers all of last season, they averaged 23.7 takeaways over the 7 seasons prior and never had under 21 in a single season. Forcing turnovers at times can come down to luck as much as skill but HC Dennis Allen has made forcing more turnovers a focal point of the offseason. So, it’s great to see that they are already forcing them in the first game of the year, Alontae Taylor tipped a pass that was intercepted by Ugo Amadi. There were three elements in this play that if they are not present the interception doesn’t happen. It started up front Bryan Bresee bullied two blockers and drove them back to the QB forcing the throw, Taylor had great coverage on the play and had the awareness to get his hands on the ball which tipped it up in the air where Amadi was stood in the perfect spot to make the pick. Hopefully, this is a sign that the bounces are coming back the Saints way and we could see some more turnover luck this year.
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