Snap Judgment: Saints Defeat Vikings 14-9

“I hope the Vikings hit that town like Katrina” or something like that.

I wonder what he’s saying now…

but generally over at DN we recognize the weaknesses shown by the D line. They had breakdowns in several games last year as well (Baltimore particularly where Ray Rice ran crazy in the 4th quarter). Overall, however, I agree with prevailing opinions that our D will be fine, and that our most urgent need is for some semblance of synch between Favre and his current receivers. I do acknowledge the weaknesses you mentioned, but despite spending 22 minutes on the field in the 2nd half, the D managed to get the stops needed to keep the game within reach.

Well honestly, the Saints offense didn’t struggle with the Vikings defense that much. They looked like shit in the first half but that was probably because they made it known they were going to pass every single down. As soon as they balanced things out more the Vikings defense struggled against them. They have to keep in mind, the Saints missed two relatively easy field goals too. As well as having Meacham or Henderson drop that touchdown pass. So yes, their defense will be fine. Probably the exact same as last season. But by no means is it going to be dominant.

It still blows my mind how the Eagles simply gave that one away. To this day, I am convinced the Packers stole it from Philadelphia.

I remember hearing some Packers player make a remark that that particular game felt like a loss, because Green Bay only picked up 10 first downs in the game. Even take away the muffs on punt returns, and it’s still 13-6. Take away the interception by Nick Barnett, and the game is 13-3.

Sometimes, it’s better to be lucky than good.

Favre clearly wasn’t in sync with his guys but I think a lot of that had to with his guys just not getting open. Without Rice, their receiving corps is going to be hurting. Basically all you have to do is shut down Shiancoe and your good.

Or, of course, if they had gotten rid of that moron Childress and had a real coach,

Score another one for Thompson/McCarthy.

Berrian is so overrated. I’ve always said it, and last night’s game just confirmed that for me. They needed him to step up and be the #1 guy and he just couldn’t do it. He got little separation, and dropped that crucial third down pass. It became clear throughout the game that Favre didn’t trust him.

Peterson looked great. He dragged guys two to three yards after contact all the time, and really made something out of nothing as the offensive line really didn’t do a good job of opening things up for him. Because of the offensive line, I don’t think this will be Peterson’s team. They just didn’t get any push for him, and like last season Sullivan, Herrea, and McKinnie consistently struggled.

He was whining about Vilma “mauling” Shiancoe. Shouldn’t that be a fine?

I still don’t recall hearing McCarthy complaining about being shafted in the playoff game last year.

Sent a message to one of his friends (a Viking fan) saying that the Saints would win easily. His friend replied by cutting loose with a profanity-filled tirade.

Another Vikings fan said that the Vikings have the best QB in NFL History (what would Johnny Unitas think of this), the best running back in the game right now (Chris Johnson would disagree) and the best defensive lineman in the NFL (Elvis Dumerville (sp?) would like a word).

I don’t know what it is with that fanbase, but this sadly seems to be representative of them.

I’m sorry the name is juvenile and in the end it makes us all look bad.

I only watched the first half, but I saw a phantom facemask called on the Saints and several missed holding calls on the Vikes’ O-Line. Even my Viking fan-GF was kind of amazed at the crap the Vikes were getting away with.

You can bet our offense will be in full gear again. There was so much pressure riding on that game last night!

The kicker kept it close. Really though Chilly was outcoached and the rust on the offense was very heavy.

cowboys have problems on the OLine. Romo may have weapons, but he has looked out of sorts this entire preseason. It’s only week 1. I’m not going to get too bent out of shape about the rest of the season yet.

Jabari Greer looked like Darrelle Revis last night. Either he’s become that good overnight, or Berrian is clearly not even a #4 on our roster. Who does Favre have to throw to? No guarantees that Rice will return 100% healthy or that his timing with Favre won’t require some work.

Team that scares me out west is the 9ers. They are like the Vikings of three or four years ago. They have a stout defense, great offensive line, solid to great running back, a compliment of receiving options, and all they need is a TE. I would also state that they have a competent to great coaching staff that actually develops talent. Did you see how Singeltary got Davis’ head on straight in just half a season?

Throw that in with the Packers as well. I think they should scare Viking fans right now. Are they overhyped? Yes. No doubt there at all, but they have a TE that will eat the Vikings safeties alive. A running game that has the ability to run through the Williams Wall (a fact reinforced by the performance last night Piere Thomas had), and WR’s that can spread out the generally weak secondary of the Vikings.

Bottom line is that while the NFC is wide open, there are more possible threats to the “top dogs” of last year.

Let’s be honest, the only reason why we are happy about the current situation is because Rodgers has panned out. If he didn’t, or if he wasn’t developing it would of been DD, some old back up we picked up to hang out with Brett, and Woodson down on Farve’s couch this past offseason.

The other thing is that Farve would of had better chemstry with some of our guys since he had been playing with them longer.

The Farve situation is still a sore one, and will be until he’s finally done, the damage has run its course, and he is immortalized in all of the various places Farve will be immortalized (HOF, Packer HOF, Lambeau Field, etc.).

Well said. The lack of chemistry between Favre and the receivers was certainly noticeable. Though I don’t think the receivers got much separation either. I’m not convinced that Harvin should be a starter lined up on the outside. I don’t think he’s necessarily a guy who is going to run crisp routes and beat corners at this point in his career. He’s better off in the slot, where he can run up the seam and catch the ball in space. I think Camarillo lining up outside would be more ideal. He’s a crisp route runner with sure hands.

The offensive line looked good in protection for the most part but not so much in the run game. Peterson didn’t have to many holes to run through, though that doesn’t really matter because of how damn good he is haha.

Yeah, no doubt you guys will end up being one of the better teams in the conference come years end. I think you guys, the Saints, and Pack will battle it out to see who makes it to the SB.

I don’t know exactly what you or others mean by cutback runs… BUt from my experience the D is supposed to make the tackle w/in the first couple yards. If the RB happens to break thru that and into the LB level, tis kinda hard to prevent the RB from cutting back. The D is supposed to prevent that from being able to occur in the 1st place. If the RB gets into the LB level he has already pretty much broken the containment and is now entering the open field. At that point its all instincts by the RB… Is would seem at that level the majority of the lanes are now useless and your hoping someone can just get there to make the tackle and limit the damage.

I don’t know why the fan comments would be of note. The comments at DN are pretty much consistent with Souhan. Hell, he may have read through those posts before penning his column.