This football game was a tale of two halves.  The Saints played good on defense in the first half of the game as they were tied 10-10 at halftime but then the roof caved in on them as the Colts got serious in the 2nd half of the game.  The Colts amped up their game on both sides of the football basically kicking the Saints ass really hard.  CB Jason David was the main offender in this football game for the Saints.  In the first half of the game David got burned by Marvin Harrison for a TD but he also stripped Reggie Wayne of the ball and returned it 55 yards for the Saints only TD.  But in the 2nd half of the game Reggie Wayne got his revenge scoring two TDs over David who finished the game with 4 tackles.  David wasn’t the only defender at fault as the Saints allowed the Colts to rush for 164 yards on 29 carries.  The pass defense wasn’t much better as the Colts completed 18 of  30 passes for 288 yards with 3 TD passes.

The Saints offense couldn’t get anything going as they only scored 1 field goal.  QB Drew Brees was very sloppy with the ball as he completed 28 of 41 passes for 192 yards.  He also threw 2 interceptions (one was returned 83 yards for a TD by safety Matt Giordano of the Colts) and lost a fumble.  The Colts defense bottled up the Saints running game all night long.  Reggie Bush just couldn’t get to the corner against the Colts defense as he carried the ball 12 times for 38 yards (3.2 ypc) and he only caught 4 passes for 7 yards (1.8 avg).  Deuce McAllister didn’t do any better as he carried the ball 10 times for 38 yards (3.8 ypc) and he caught 2 passes for only 7 yards (3.5 avg).  The Saints never could get the ball downfield as the secondary of the Colts kept everything in front of them all night long.  TE Eric Johnson led the Saints with 8 grabs for 57 yards (7.1 avg) but he was getting jacked up the whole game.  Marques Colston also had a rough time as he caught 6 passes for 47 yards (7.8 avg).  WR/RB Aaron Stecker showed some life when he entered the game as he carried the ball 2 times for 21 yards (10.5 ypc) and he also caught 2 passes for 20 yards.

I can’t say this enough…..The Colts kicked the Saints ass hard!

http://scores.espn.go.com/nfl/boxscore?gameId=270906011

The Saints have a lot of matchups that look good for them against the Colts.  The best matchup for the Saints defense is DE Will Smith lining up against rookie LT Tony Ugoh on Peyton Manning’s blind side.  If Smith wins this battle in a big way it will cause Manning to be a little jittery in the pocket.  But if Ugoh wins the battle the Saints could be in for a long night.  Corners Mike McKenzie and Jason David will have problems stopping WRs Marvin Harrison, Reggie Wayne and Anthony Gonzalez if Peyton Manning is getting a lot of time to set up in the pocket.  The Saints don’t blitz a lot because the linebackers are not the most athletic bunch.  Still, tackles Kendrick Clancy and Brian Young must keep the linebackers clean to make plays on Joseph Addai in the running game.  Mark Simoneau, Scott Fujita and Scott Shanle might be able to contain Addai as long as the grunts are doing their job in front of them.  Saints safeties Roman Harper and Josh Bullocks will have their hands full with Dallas Clark, Ben Utecht and Bryan Fletcher over the middle.

The Colts defense just doesn’t match up too well with the Saints offense.  DEs Robert Mathis and Dwight Freeney will have their hands full trying to get around tackles John Stinchcomb and Jamaal Brown when the Saints pass the ball.  The thinking here is that the Saints will try to push the Colts soft defense around by attacking it with the running game.  Deuce McAllister will likely be running behind C Jeff Faine and guards Jamar Nesbit and Jahri Evans right up the middle of the Colts defense challenging tackles Raheem Brock, Ed Johnson and middle linebacker Gary Brackett.  After the Saints establish the power game look for Reggie Bush to attack the perimeters of the defense with sweeps and short passes.  OLBs Freddy Keiaho, Rob Morris and strong safety Bob Sanders must contain Bush on those plays.  When the Saints are passing the ball the Colts must be physical in the secondary.  CBs Kelvin Hayden and Marlin Jackson will have to bring the hurt to Marques Colston and Devery Henderson to keep them from flying down the football field.  Safeties Bob Sanders and Antoine Bethea must be aware of TE Eric Johnson’s whereabouts at all times as he will be the Saints’ secret weapon of offense on Thursday Night.

Another pivotal matchup will be the Colts’ punter (Hunter Smith) vs. punt returner Reggie Bush.  This is not a good matchup for the Colts so look for them to try to angle the football out of bounds on punts.  The Colts do have an edge at placekicker as Adam Vinatieri is much more dependable than Olindo Mare.

PREDICTION:  I have a feeling that the Saints are going to win a very close, high scoring and entertaining football game on Thursday Night in Indianapolis.  The matchups dictate that the Saints are going to be the better team this season.

The Saints have signed QB Tyler Palko to the practice squad.  He will serve as the #3 QB on the Saints this season behind Drew Brees and Jamie Martin.  Palko completed 27 of 48 passes (56.3%) for 271 yards with 1 TD pass and 4 INTs (44.7 QB Rating).  Palko also ran the football 9 times for 59 yards (6.6 ypc) during the pre-season.  Hopefully the Saints won’t need a #3 QB and if they do…..they will be in deep, deep trouble.

The Saints have waived Dhani Jones and that is a good thing as it shows the improved depth that the Saints have there.  Jones played in all 16 games last season for the New York Giants and he made 76 tackles, defensed 6 passes and had 1/2 of a sack.  He will likely find work somewhere else in 2007.

The Saints have released running back Antonio Pittman who was a 4th round pick in this year’s draft.  Pittman carried the football 55 times for 173 yards (3.1 ypc) with 1 TD run and he also caught 6 passes for 35 yards (5.8 avg).  Pittman was beaten out for a roster spot by undrafted rookie Pierre Thomas from Illinois.  Thomas was outstanding in the pre-season as he carried the football 33 times for 190 yards (5.8 ypc) with 3 TD runs and he also caught 6 passes for 95 yards (15.8 avg).

The Saints played a great game of defense and they had just enough offense to win last night.  Jamie Martin started the game last night and he completed 11 of 15 passes for 136 yards.  Rookie QB Tyler Palko completed 6 of 11 passes for 27 yards and he tossed an interception.  Undrafted rookie Pierre Thomas carried the football 16 times for 81 yards (5.1 ypc) and he also caught 2 passes for 47 yards (23.5 avg).  Rookie Antonio Pittman also worked hard carrying the football 21 times for 77 yards (3.7 ypc).  The Saints finished up with 167 yards rushing as a team on 44 carries (3.8 ypc) and they also completed 17 of 26 passes for 159 yards.

The defense was outstanding as they held the Dolphins to 62 yards rushing on 24 carries (2.6 ypc) and they only completed 11 of 22 passes for 59 yards.

http://scores.espn.go.com/nfl/boxscore?gameId=270830018