NEW ORLEANS — In a game that at times felt like the only thing the New Orleans Saints could block was a Tennessee Titan punt, they somehow found a way to win their season opener 16-15.
The game was a perfect encapsulation of our hopes, dreams, and fears about the 2023 Saints.
The dream of a defense that would find its way out of the great turnover drought of 2022 was realized. The Saints had THREE interceptions of Tennessee quarterback Ryan Tannehill. I wasn’t even sure the United States Constitution allowed the Saints to have three defensive backs have interceptions in the same game. When Marcus Maye is getting an interception off an intentional tip from Isaac Yiadom we know the Saints are living a charmed life.
The Saints defense didn’t allow a touchdown and held the Titans to 285 yards. Yes, Ryan Tannehill was awful and missed about three wide-open throws, which could have been touchdowns, but I’d give the Saints some credit for hitting him repeatedly, so Tannehill never felt comfortable. Quarterbacks who get sacked 3 times and hit 10 more times miss open throws because they are worried about the pass rush.
The Saints held Derrick Henry to 12 yards in the second half. Henry had one nice run and a 46-yard screen pass which was beautifully executed in the first half. The number one objective of “Do not let Derrick Henry beat you” was achieved.
The Saints' secondary looks good and deep and is going to hopefully continue the turnover feast.
The new-look defensive line held up nicely with Carl Granderson getting 1.5 sacks and rookie Bryan Bresee, y’all he just looks different. Defensive tackles aren’t supposed to move like that.
On offense, Derek Carr nailed every big throw that Tannehill missed, and the fact he held steady after getting sacked 4 times in the first half, showed the Saints got EXACTLY what they hoped for. He was calm, commanded the huddle, and when the Saints absolutely had to have their QB make the throw, he made the throw.
The fear all summer is this Saints offensive line isn’t good enough, but they did JUST enough Sunday and thankfully they won’t face many defensive lines as nasty as the Titans. The Saints adjusted in the second half and helped 2nd year left tackle Trevor Penning.
Penning was in a torture chamber in the first half, but the Saints figured out a solution. Penning started and completed his first NFL game yesterday, it’s going to be a tough journey for Penning, but if it’s mostly forward and not backward, it can be ok.
Give some credit to offensive coordinator Pete Carmichael Jr., who designed and called some very clever running plays late which helped run out the clock. The Saints didn’t just run off tackle into a Titans defense that was crushing the Saints run game all day. A couple of end-around runs helped bleed the clock out so Saints fans could go home happy. Those end-around plays can go sideways, so while they might seem conservative plays, they are not.
My son, who I took to the game, had a funny description of the day, “It’s like a car crash but the Saints win!”
Can you win a car crash? Don’t answer that. The Saints are 1-0. It’s easier and more enjoyable to fix your problems while winning. I loved Dennis Allen’s message to his team after the game in the happy Saints locker room.
“There’s a ton of stuff we got to get cleaned up right? Here’s the beautiful thing, we get to clean all the mistakes up, and yet still when I get done, we are cranking that $^&& music up.” Dennis Allen looked like a guy who knew yesterday was a game the 2022 Saints would’ve lost. New year, new Saints.
Ralph Malbrough is a contributing writer and Saints fan living in Houston. Email him at saintshappyhour@gmail.com, find him on Facebook, or follow him on Twitter at @SaintsForecast or download the Saints Happy Hour Podcast.