What went right and wrong in the Saints' loss to the Titans?

Thursday night saw the preseason finale for both the New Orleans Saints and the Tennessee Titans. It ended with a 27-24 victory for the Titans evening both teams' preseason records at 2-2. With a lot of starters resting on both sides as they prepare for their season openers, a lot of eyes were opened this evening for Saints' fans. They may have gotten a much better idea just who will and won't make the final 53-man roster which must be set come Saturday.

Tennessee outgained the Saints 466 to 292 yards overall. Not really the kind of stat that looks positive for either the offensive or defensive sides of the ball. Looking at the overall stats isn't really pretty and a plenty of excuses could be made such as:

~ The starters weren't in there.
~ New Orleans had a lot of short fields to work with.
~ Special teams made good plays meaning that the offense didn't need to.
~ No-one was playing as hard since it was the final preseason game.

Alright so some of those things may be true, but giving up 466 yards of total offense is not something you want to see your possible back-ups giving up. Sure the starters weren't in there, but a lot weren't for the opposition either. Special teams gave the Saints a lot of short fields to work with, but plenty of points were left on the board in most of those situations. And believe me, 90% of the players in the game tonight were giving it more than their all because they know their jobs are on the line.

My list of who helped their case to make the team and who didn't will be out later today or tomorrow morning before final cuts are made, so it's time to focus on the game at hand. Let's look at what went right and what wrong for the New Orleans Saints on Thursday night.

~ Junior Galette…Junior Galette...JUNIOR Galette. Here is a player that has been talked about the entire preseason and training camp as so many have seen so much potential in him throughout. Tonight the big man proved that he deserves to be on this team without any doubt in mind. Galette ended the night with four tackles, a blocked punt, a quarterback sack, and also was just involved in numerous other big plays. Galette's blocked punt was then scooped up by Harry Coleman and run in for a touchdown. This kid is going to be something special and he's going to bring a lot to the Saints this season, just you watch.

~ Special teams is showing vast improvement in the past two weeks after being horrendous the first two games. Tonight the Saints blocked two punts (Galette, Jimmy Graham) and also did plenty of good tackling to make sure no big returns were surrendered. Well, a 38-yarder was given up, but it was still an improvement. Hard hitting and wrap-up tackling has made the Saints' third leg of the team come about.

Let's not forget that Garrett Hartley was 3-for-3 on field goals this evening with a long of 45-yards. That puts him at 8-for-8 during the preseason and you really can't get any better than that.

~ Chris Ivory going down with an injury of some kind in the first half is not a good sign. Seemingly it isn't serious, but what is the deal with Saints' back-up running backs this season and the injuries? At least it was positive seeing both DeShawn Wynn and Ladell Betts running with a lot of purpose and strength. If the team does keep four running backs for any reason at all, I'd expect it to be Betts.

~ The penalties are just getting ridiculous now. Have you noticed though that they aren't really an issue until the first one happens? At that point, they fly out like mad. On two occasions the Saints were in the red zone and one time they got a field goal and another time they had to punt simply because of penalties. If you're looking for some of the most foolish of the evening then look no further than Chip Vaughn's personal foul for a late hit and Usama Young's pass interference penalty where he arrived far too early. Both could have easily been avoided and were nothing more than mental mistakes. With a lot of competition in the secondary, those are two things you really don't want to end up doing.

Think about it this way. New Orleans has had a ton of penalties in all four preseason games. Two they lost by three each and the other two they won by an average of two touchdowns. How would they fare if the penalties weren't committed and the Saints played a clean game? Would they simply be blowing every single team out of the water? Something to think about.

~ Leigh Torrence is quickly becoming this year's version of late career Fred Thomas, and that is not a good thing for anybody.

~ From what looked to be a scary situation early on in training camp turned into a true battle with a tough decision to be made by the Saints' coaching staff. Both Chase Daniel and Patrick Ramsey impressed against the Titans even though neither looked spectacular. Neither looked awful either, but notice must be taken to the fact that Daniel got the Saints into endzone while Ramsey did not. If they're going to keep three quarterbacks on the roster then it really isn't all that big a deal and I'd say the nod goes to Daniel as Drew Brees' back-up. Keeping only two though could make the staff look more at Ramsey's veteran experience and want that on hand if Brees were to ever go out for any reason. This is the decision I'm looking most forward to by the time the cuts come on Saturday.

~ My pleas go out to the New Orleans Saints and coach Sean Payton, please keep Adrian Arrington on the roster. Yes, the wide receiver corps is deep and there's a chance he won't get out there much with the first team, but there has to be a spot for him. It is almost a given that Arrington will not clear waivers for the Saints to be able to sign him to the practice squad if they cut him. Six receivers on the team would be just fine and Arrington could step in as a special teams player and accomplish something. Well, just don't put him back at punt returner because that's simply not working.

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So much to decide on and so much to look forward to as the regular season now opens in less than a week when the Minnesota Vikings come to town hobbling on an ankle that Brett Favre said is a lot worse off than he expected. It appears to me as if the team is ready for the season opener and that there is also a lot of talent on the second and third strings which says a lot. Depth is necessary in the NFL these days and quality depth means the difference between a season folding at the sight of an injury or carrying on.

Check back soon for my final thoughts on who makes the cut and ends up keeping their playbook by Saturday afternoon.

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