Well this Giants game was one hell of a rollercoaster game. I will say a win is a win which everyone can agree the Saints had to do today. So although they almost blew a 24 point lead you take the W and prepare for the Steelers in Paris next week. But let us quickly break down the game today and put into context the whole game. Coming into the game owner Gayle Benson called out the entire organization to say their recent play was unacceptable and needed to be corrected ASAP. She made an appearance at Saints practice on Friday which was mostly seen as I still believe in you so go out there and get this right type of move. So with that as the backdrop before the game how did the Saints do starting off this game? Not well. The start of this game was pretty much like all of the Kellen Moore coached games for the Saints. A struggle to find a rhythm, find some semblance of a run game, shoot, a struggle just to execute penalty free football. Essentially all of the issues people have been harping on were issues again today. If it were not for a Giants fumble before the half the Saints would have been down 10-3 at halftime however they managed to capitalize and tie the game 10-10. But I think what helped jumpstart the lifeless offense was the injury replacement of Jeremiah Wright who took over for Cesar Ruiz in that last drive before the half as suddenly the run game looked to have some teeth to it. With the Saints quickly finding the run game and thus a rhythm on offense, the offense came to life and put up a couple scoring drives to make the game feel out of reach for a Giants comeback. At least, that is what Kellen Moore and his staff thought with ten minutes to go with a 34-10 lead. They went ahead and put the backups in like they had already earned the win and made bad play call after bad play call because they felt it was wrapped up. But it was not and the Saints almost cost themselves the game because of it. The Giants had a real shot with 10 seconds and 10 yards to go to at least tie the game to force OT or even go for the win by going for two. The entire organization should feel fortunate the Giants' comeback fell short because I do not know if any one would have been safe for another week if a complete meltdown had occurred. But the Saints managed to win 34-27 and at the end of the day they did what they had to do. But I cannot come away after watching this game thinking the Saints have turned a corner with this performance. Kellen Moore and his staff bought themselves a bit more time. It could end up being just one more week when it is all said and done but I cannot help to feel like they lucked into this win based on how this game was prepared for and coached. Those two elements did not change with this win. There are just too many questionable coaching decisions being made hindering what the Saints could be right now to even begin to feel like this win was the start of the coaching staff fixing the issues plaguing the team. Thankfully for them those decisions did not cost them today. For now the Saints will board a plane and continue fighting for their season in Paris, France where the surroundings there are equally questionable as this Saints team.

We are almost a month out from my last college football player buzz article and more players have gained some buzz and piqued my interest. Jesse Legree (WR) 5’10 172 pounds - Oregon State - Freshman Jesse Legree is having a breakout freshman season for the Oregon State Beavers in their first season of the new Pac-12 conference. He is currently the leader in all of college football in receiving yards with 932 and touchdowns with 12 thus far on the season. He has gone nuclear especially the last two weeks as he combined for 347 receiving yards and 6 touchdowns. Legree is a big play waiting to happen and watching his performance against SDSU last weekend I can tell you the Aztecs had no answer for Legree. He should have a bright future ahead of him. Nick Marsh (WR) 6’3 210 pounds - Indiana - Junior Nick Marsh had a tantalizing start to his football career at Michigan State before transferring to Indiana over the summer to better show off his skillset. He got off to a slow start this season but has found his form the past two weeks as he produced over 300 receiving yards and 3 touchdowns. Marsh is a smooth mover at his size and does a great job of making some acrobatic, highlight reel level catches for his quarterback. Should he keep this positive momentum from the past two weeks for the rest of the season Marsh will probably hear his name called early in the next NFL Draft. Isaac Brown (RB) 5’9 190 pounds - Louisville - Junior Isaac Brown is your classic home run hitting running back where he can break off a long run on any given play with his game breaking speed at the position. Brown was another player who got off to a slow start this season but has rebounded quite nicely the past two weeks as he has combined for over 350 rushing yards and 3 touchdowns. Brown will get interest from the NFL scouting community as his skillset is always in demand at the next level. Jamal Roberts (RB) - 6’0 216 pounds - Missouri - Senior Jamal Roberts has done more than his fair share of shouldering the load on offense for Missouri in the absence of Ahmad Hardy this season. Roberts is second in both carries and rushing yards this season 828 rushing yards thus far on the season while averaging 5.6 yards per carry. But the last two weeks Roberts has completely taken over for Missouri as he produced over 430 rushing yards and 5 rushing touchdowns. He’ll be someone to watch the rest of the way this season as I am quickly becoming a fan of his. Ashton Hampton (CB) - 6’2 205 pounds - Clemson - Junior Ashton Hampton has been getting early round buzz for the NFL Draft for a while now and while Clemson has disappointed this season Hampton has been doing his part as he is currently the leader for passes defended in college football. It is easy to see why scouts are enamored with Hampton with his size and length for the position. You’d like to see more interceptions than what Hampton has had in his career but there is no denying the talent he possesses. He will be one to watch down the stretch this season as he continues to solidify his draft stock. Xavier Gilliam (DT) - 6’2 305 pounds - Tennessee - Sophomore Xavier Gilliam is one of the latest standout defensive lineman to breakout for Tennessee as he has 5 sacks on the season with the last two coming against Texas and Arkansas respectively. Gilliam is quick out of his stance and has great reaction skills to alter his rush depending on what the offensive line is doing. He is just scratching the surface of what he can do as a player and he is going to be a fun player to follow the rest of the season as he could shoot up draft boards if he continues to perform like this. Clev Lubin (Edge) - 6’3 260 pounds - Louisville - Senior Clev Lubin is an experienced edge defender for Louisville and has had a great career thus far. This season Clev is picking up where he left off last season as a terror for opposing offenses off the edge. He has a deep bag of pass rush moves he likes to use and understands how to alter his rush at various points to make the most impact as possible. He is also a complete player who can play on all three downs thanks to how well he can play against the run. Clev has been on the NFL scouting community’s radar for a while now and figures to hear his name called in the upcoming NFL draft. In the meantime he is someone I will be following for the rest of the year as he is always a fun watch.

Well another home game and another loss for the Saints. Where once again it was the same old stories being played out. Offense struggled mightily throughout the game and were fortunate the Saints defense was able to force the turnovers they did otherwise the score would have been even more lopsided. Minus those turnovers all three phases struggled in this game. The offense couldn’t move the ball all game long as they could not figure out the Vikings defense. The defense got some pressure on Kyler but otherwise he had his way with the Saints defense as they moved the ball with relative ease. Special teams struggled in return coverage today and missed an extra point. Just all around not good enough for the Saints yet again. Offensively the Saints have been dealing with the main issues of starting off slow in games, a struggling run game, questionable play calling, penalties, and too much pressure on the quarterback. Some are worse than others depending on the week but at this point they all show up week after week. Kellen Moore notices it and says they will adjust but it has yet to be seen. At least he takes accountability for the offensive issues thus far. The problem is Kellen Moore just does not have the answers to these problems. A good head coach sees a problem and then does everything he can to fix it right then and there. Something Kellen Moore has not been able to do yet this season. We’ll see how much time Kellen gets to right the ship but at this moment it appears the ship is already sinking and taking on more water with every passing week. Defensively the Saints actually had a bounce back game if you are going by how poorly the Falcons game went. They managed to hold the Vikings to 23 points which was fortunate on their part due to the defense forcing some timely turnovers. If they didn’t force those turnovers this game would have been even more lopsided. The defensive line was able to get pressure at times on Kyler Murray which was encouraging to see. However the Saints issues with mobile quarterbacks reared its ugly head yet again as Kyler Murray was able to extend and create plays all game long. Just another example of the Saints coaching staff just not putting the players in position to succeed. On Special Teams the coverage unit struggled to contain the Vikings returners. The returns allowed the Vikings to start drives in advantageous field position throughout the game. There were also a fair amount of penalties on special teams today to go along with the missed extra point by Daniel Carlson. Unfortunately the Saints could not hang their hat on any of the three phases of the game today. It was only a couple weeks ago where the Saints were coming off an impressive comeback win against the Ravens. Might as well be a lifetime ago based on how everything was trending then compared to now. Very little for the Saints to hang their hat on right now. Kellen Moore and his staff but ultimately the Saints organization as a whole have not shown to be capable of getting the team back to the days of winning the division, advancing in the playoffs and vying for SuperBowls. The Saints have let fan apathy reach dangerous levels where opposing teams and their fans can come into the Dome and completely take over. If this continues the way it has been Gayle Benson should be making some serious changes no later than the end of the season.

Well the Saints are at the first major inflection point in their season. Currently sitting at 1-3 in the standings the Saints face a must win game on Sunday against the 4-0 Minnesota Vikings. The Saints cannot afford to fall to 1-4 on the season if they wish to maintain their postseason aspirations. The Vikings however will be a tough matchup for the Saints as they have a phenomenal defensive unit coached by Brian Flores. Flores will do his best to stymie the Saints offense by calling exotic coverages and blitzes to attack the Saints weaknesses on offense. On offense the Saints could be without Kamara so the running back snaps will be worth monitoring throughout the game. Which is unfortunate because the Saints desperately need to figure out how to get the ground game going early in games so they can get off to better starts on offense. The Saints have also been downplaying a possible injury to Olave throughout this week as he had a rest day Wednesday and was limited on Thursday so he is worth monitoring during the game to see if he is being negatively impacted. Regardless of the injury situation the Saints have to find a way to start the games better before they fall any deeper into a hole in the standings. The offense cannot only be productive when playing from behind and forcing Tyler Shough to shoulder everything himself. Even then the protection gameplan needs to be better for Shough as he has been taking too many hits in the first quarter of the season. Kellen Moore and his staff have not met expectations in this regard yet and time is running out for them to solve these issues. We’ll see what they come up with this weekend. On defense the Saints will still be missing Kaden Ellis which is a major blow as the defense looks to rebound after their abysmal performance against the Atlanta Falcons. On the bright side the Saints could be getting linebacker Jaylan Ford back from injured reserve so the absence of Kaden Ellis could be lessened with Ford’s return. However there are still injury questions with Julian Blackmon, Christen Miller, Micheal Reid as well as the loss of Anfernee Jennings who was ruled out. Depth of the defensive side of the ball could be tested for the second straight game for the Saints. Even with these injury concerns it will be paramount for the Saints defense to have a great game on Sunday with the offense facing a major battle against the Vikings defense. If the defense can start off the game strong and build some momentum for themselves it could go a long way in winning this game against the Vikings. The special teams in this game against the Vikings could play a pivotal role as the starting field position for both teams could play a major factor in how both these teams score. With how good the Vikings defense has been the Saints would stand to greatly benefit from good field position. There is an injury question with returner Barion Brown so if he is unable to go the return game could be negatively impacted. Ryan Wright could give the defense a little help by helping pin the Vikings offense deep in their own territory throughout the game. The Saints will need all three phases to do their part against the Vikings in order to turn their season around on Sunday. Let’s see if they can flip the script. Saints Injury Report Julian Blackmon (S) - Questionable Kaden Elliss (LB) - Out Jaylan Ford (LB) - Questionable Christen Miller (DT) - Questionable Anfernee Jennings (Edge) - Out Lorenzo Styles Jr. (S) - Questionable Barion Brown (WR/RS) - Questionable Alvin Kamra (RB) - Questionable Jeremiah Wright (G) - Out Vikings Injury Report Jordan Addison (WR) - Questionable Christian Darrisaw (OT) - Out Charles Demmings (CB) - Out Justin Jefferson (WR) - Questionable Brain O’Neil (OT) - Questionable Micheal Jurgens (OC) - Questionable Ben Yurosek (TE) - Questionable

 Saints did not show up ready to play. I believe we’ve heard that plenty of times in the Kellen Moore era. But here we are, saying it once again after a game that meant a whole lot to this city and a game the Saints needed to win to avoid a 1-3 start to their season. Unfortunately the organization from the top down played a part in this embarrassing showing. The defense, down a couple starters, played like a unit that did not want to be out on the field at times during the game. Injuries alone are not an excuse for a showing like the one the Saints defense just gave. The defense couldn’t do anything right, they couldn’t stop the run or pass all night as the Falcons just had their way all game long. Brandon Staley has been emphasizing a bend don’t break defense with this unit in his tenure but tonight the defense was completely shattered. On offense it was the same old story. Another slow start forcing the team to play from behind yet again and scoring some points late to make it seem more respectable than the game really was. The Saints cannot figure out the run game and continue to put the whole offense on Shough’s shoulders and to his credit is showing he can be a good quarterback in this league. The offensive line is a big issue and with all the investment put into the line, the production has been inexcusable. Shough took some big hits this game and will continue to do so if the Saints don’t get this operation right soon. We’ll see if the coaches can make it happen because thus far they have not been able to. Ultimately when you lose a game the way the Saints did tonight everyone in the organization from the top down played a part in this one. We’re watching a team that does not have the talent or depth to consistently make enough plays to win. Nor have they shown to have a coaching staff to make up for the roster’s shortcomings. A quarter of the way through the season and the Saints are 1-3 and looking like the expectations placed on them this offseason have been too much too soon. They’ve got time to flip the script as there is plenty of season left to be played but they need to do it fast or otherwise suffer the consequences.