GOOD, BAD AND UGLY

Saints vs Redskins: Observations as Brees sets all-time passing yardage mark

Drew Brees is the king of NFL passers. Sean Gardner/Getty Images

Monday Night Football has given us lots of great moments over the years. Tonight’s 43-19 Saints win over the Redskins gave us a moment we may not see for quite a while. The Saints are now 4-1 and in control of the NFC South. Here’s a glimpse of what I saw:

The Good

-Drew Brees broke Peyton Manning’s all time passing yards record in spectacular fashion. Only needing 30-something yards, Brees hit rookie receiver Tre’Quan Smith for a 62 yard touchdown pass and the celebration began.

-Mark Ingram being back for the Saints paid off on their first possession. He caught a 27-yard screen pass, then scored on a two yard run the next play as they took a 7-0 lead. The Saints are glad he’s back. He added a second touchdown with just less than four minutes left before halftime.

-The Saints were up 43-19 with a little more than two minutes left. Ingram ran for a first down and slid to keep the clock running down to the two minute warning. Brees needed one more touchdown pass to reach the 500 mark for his career. Instead, they took him out for a standing ovation and knelt out the clock. Sportsmanship still exists.

The Bad

-Saints’ receiver Cameron Meredith fumbled and the Skins recovered with a minute and a half left before halftime. Sure they were up 26-6 at the time, but giving up the ball at that moment, then a touchdown on the ensuing drive to make it 26-13 going into the half could have been worse had the Saints not gotten the second half kickoff.

-The run game didn’t pan out as expected because this was another game averaging less than four yards per carry. This team is operating on all cylinders when the run game is averaging north of four yards per carry.

The Ugly

-Saints All-Pro corner Marshon Lattimore left the game early on and was placed in concussion protocol and missed the rest of the game. It’s unsure if Lattimore will be cleared to play any time soon. This means more to their defense since the depth at that position is lacking severely.

-Brees was sacked twice in this game. The first drew a roughing the passer penalty on Ryan Kerrigan. It was a routine sack. Nothing looked malicious about it. But the enforcement of the body weight rule called for a flag on the play. Again, this is stupid and needs to be changed.

Those of you that follow my writing of these observation pieces will have noticed I cut one off of each the Bad and the Ugly. Well, when you see a game in which a future Hall of Famer breaks an all time record in prime time and the score wasn’t indicative of how the game turned out, you too wouldn’t have many bad things to say. This game was all about Brees. He torched the Skins defense, which was one of the top units in the league so far this year. Hats off to Brees. Not only what he managed to accomplish on the field, but what he’s meant to the city of New Orleans off the field as well.

 

Most Popular

SportsMap Emails
Are Awesome

Listen Live

ESPN Houston 97.5 FM

After another poor performance from former Houston Texans QB Deshaun Watson, the Cleveland Browns' season is starting to look like an uphill climb. Pro Bowl running back Nick Chubb is out for the year, and Cleveland fans aren't too pleased with the way Watson is playing, especially considering the massive contract extension he signed with the team. And we didn't even get to the off the field drama that comes with Watson.

However, Houston fans are invested in the Browns' season outcome as well, with the Texans holding the Browns' first round pick in 2024, and having sent their own first rounder to the Cardinals in the Will Anderson trade.

So each loss for the Browns, means a better draft pick for the Texans!

For Houston, it looks like they have their QB of the future in CJ Stroud. And he'll be on a less expensive rookie contract for the next several years, giving the Texans more cap space to upgrade the roster.

With all of this in mind, is it fair to question if the Texans dodged a bullet when Watson demanded a trade?

DeMeco Ryans vs. Lovie Smith

Plus, we're only two games into the season, but Lovie Smith's defense was much better (with a similar roster) than what DeMeco Ryans' defense has shown thus far, and DeMeco has the benefit of Will Anderson rushing the QB.

Are the struggles on defense more about the roster GM Nick Caserio has put together, or does this slow start fall on DeMeco?

Don't miss the video above as we break it all down!

If you enjoy the videos, subscribe to our new channel SportsMap Texans on YouTube.

And listen to The Bench with John Granato and Lance Zierlein weekday mornings on ESPN 97.5 and 92.5 FM.

SportsMap Emails
Are Awesome