GET READY FOR SOME HOT TAKES!!!

BUST OUT YOUR OVEN MITS LADIES BECAUSE THESE ARE GOING TO BE HOT AS frick!!

1) Pass rush is a bit of a concern, but I'm not going to lose sleep over it. I've been worried about the RDE position (the most important pass rushing position on the defense). Those concerns remain. But I have a lot of faith in the DT's and Cam to get some pressure. Cam was a no show tonight, but he's barely seen the field in the preseason. Do some of y'all really think that one of the best LDEs in the game forgot how to play? Fairley no-showed as well, but he dominated the first two games, and has been a very effective pass rusher the past few years (sacks aren't everything, PRESSURE matters). Onyemata had some nice plays tonight. When Rankins gets back, I think we'll have a strong rotation at 3 of 4 DL positions. Edebali showed a lot against the Pats (owned super-legit Volmer). Been quiet since. If he gets 6-9 sacks and a corresponding number of pressures, our DL will be fine.

2) I still love our CB's. Breaux is undeniably a stud. Our younger (they're all young as frick) guys gave up some plays, but they were all tight on their guys each time. My boy Harris was right on Brown (the best WR in the game) on that long TD, he just lost the ball. Delvin Breaux had a worse moment last season, but was still undeniably very good.


PJ Williams is a bit more concerning. Last week vs Houston, he gave up a TD because he didn't turn his head around. He fixed it after that play and tore shite up (including a red zone INT). This week, he gave up a big play to Wheaton (IIRC) by not turning his head around. A young guy making mistakes is nothing. A young guy repeating the same mistakes is an issue. Still, overall, he's been impressive to me.

And everyone will always go after CB's for not turning their heads. Thing is, they're told NOT to in certain situations (when the WR has them beat). The issue is that PJ was in tight coverage in both the Houston TD and the Wheaton catch tonight. He has a short memory, which is good for maintaining confidence after failures, but not good in terms of learning from them.

Overall, I remained stoked with our DBs.

3) Peat made some good plays in the running game. I've always thought that we should focus on him playing RT, but he may have a future at RG. Armstead went down and we left him at RG, so props to Payton with that.

4) Brees still has it. He's a top 5 QB.

Now, the undeniably bad stuff:

5) The OL was shite. Armstead obviously still isn't back to 100%. Strief used to be underrated as frick, but now he's an outright below average RT. I don't think Unger has ever been a great player for us, but he's still an above average center. The good news is that if TA gets back to form, Unger maintains form, and Strief is just a bit below average, then we really just need one of two guards to show up. Unger being pretty good and Armstead being a hunk can cover up the LG if Peat is good at RG. Peat played well tonight.

6) Payton isn't calling bad games and throwing up because he's stoned. He's calling bad games and throwing up because he isn't stoned.

I've said it before about the Saints (and other teams that do the same thing), but 3rd and 4 or less should not be a shotgun + empty backfield situation. Especially on drives where the running game is working. After by far the best stretch of running plays this preseason, Payton ran 3 straight shotgun plays. It ended up in the Snead TD, but that doesn't mean it was a good decision.

7) A combination of Tommy-Lee Curtis, Spiller, and Lasco will be our returners. Mostly Spiller. Lasco got rocked, but I suspect he'll be back for game 1.

8) Grayson makes some really good throws, and some awful ones. I have no problem with a his performance for a 2nd year player. I see no reason to keep McCown. If Brees misses time, we're fricked. Drop McCown, keep a potentially competent future QB, and use that roster spot in keeping an extra DB/DL/OL.

9) Vaccaro appeared to get owned on a TD, but it's highly unlikely that that guy was his responsibility. Probably a mistake by one of our super young CB's.