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Week 6 Game Recap: New Orleans Saints 28, Seattle Seahawks 17
What you need to know
| New Orleans Saints |
The previously winless New Orleans Saints used a dynamic first half offensive performance to put away the Seattle Seahawks, 28 to 10. Quarterback Drew Brees showed a great deal of improvement in his performance, as he was more reminiscent of his 2006 season than his previous four games. Brees directed the offense with confidence, throwing for 299 yards and 2 touchdowns with no interceptions. His favorite targets were fourth receiver David Patten and running back Reggie Bush. His two touchdown passes went to tight end Eric Johnson and number one wide receiver Marques Colston.
Running back Reggie Bush had a great game, earning 141 yards from scrimmage. He was particularly effective in the first half, when he ripped off three long runs and set the pace for the three Saints' touchdown scoring drives. He was second on the team in both receptions and receiving yards.
David Patten had a career game, as he and Drew Brees seemed to develop good chemistry in the middle of the game. He finished with eight catches for 113 yards. Eight different Saints caught a pass.
The Saints' defense did a great job containing Shaun Alexander and harassing Matt Hasselbeck. Alexander only had 35 yards on 13 carries, while the pass rush got to Hasselbeck for five sacks, and affected his throw on the late interception that essentially sealed the game.
| Seattle Seahawks |
Seattle got off to a slow start, and were down by three touchdowns before halftime. Their offense was stagnant, particularly the running game, and their defense had no answer for the Saints' dynamic duo of Reggie Bush and Drew Brees. They also seemed to suffer from poor decision making, both from the quarterback position and the head coach. They ran odd plays in various situations that dictated others, while their clock management at the end of the game was horrible.
Matt Hasselbeck was playing blemish free football before he slung a jump ball in the fourth quarter than New Orleans easily intercepted. He missed his top two receivers, Deion Branch and D.J. Hackett, who were both out with injuries. In their absence, he distributed double digit targets to Nate Burleson, Bobby Engram, and Ben Obomanu. His two touchdown passes went to Obomanu and Burleson. Other than his three preferred wide receiver targets, no Seahawks player had more than five balls thrown his way. Engram led all receivers with nine catches and 120 receiving yards.
Shaun Alexander failed to answer recent criticism of his passionless and ineffective running style, as he never got on track and failed to break through the defensive line on most rushes. He finished second on the team in rushing yardage, behind fullback Leonard Weaver, who out rushed Alexander on only three carries. The Seattle crowd was heard frequently booing Alexander's lackluster play.
The Seahawks' defense was quickly pounced on by the Saints offense. To their credit, they rallied at halftime and shut out the Saints in the second half. They gave up 367 total yards, two receiving touchdowns and one rushing score.
What you ought to know
| QB Drew Brees, Pass: 25 - 36 - 246 - 2 TD / 0 INT, Rush: 4 - 0 - 0 |
Brees had a very strong game and he needed one to recover from his poor performance in the Saints first four games of 2007. He hit eight different receivers for catches, but his favorites were wide receiver David Patten and running back Reggie Bush. Brees played flawless football. He didn't turn the ball over and he made good decisions with the ball throughout the game. Brees threw a touchdown pass to both tight end Eric Johnson and wide receiver Marques Colston.
| RB Reggie Bush, Rush: 19 - 97 - 0, Rec: 6 - 44 - 0 (8 targets) |
Bush had a great game, earning 141 total yards from scrimmage. He was the Saints' workhorse, especially in the first half, where he had the three longest rushes of his career. Bush used his exceptional quickness and speed to get around defender, while he attempts to go through them were generally much less effective. He was the second most targeted Saints player.
| RB Aaron Stecker, Rush: 8 - 17 - 0, Rec: 2 - 10 - 0 (3 targets) |
Stecker served as Bush's backup and saw some carries spelling him.
| RB Mike Karney, Rush: 1 - 0 - 0, Rec: 1 - 4 - 0 (1 targets) |
Karney was primarily used as Bush's lead block, although he did get a short yardage carry and saw one look in the passing game.
| WR David Patten, Rec: 8 - 113 - 0 (10 targets) |
Patten had the best game of his journeyman like career, catching eight balls for 113 yards. Brees seemed to have a great deal of trust in him, targeting him on back to back plays and in third down situations.
| WR Lance Moore, Rush: 1 - 7 - 1, Rec: 3 - 35 - 0 (4 targets) |
Moore got the first start of his career with the demotion of Devery Henderson to second string. He caught most of his targets, and scored on a seven yard end around in the second quarter.
| WR Marques Colston, Rec: 1 - 2 - 1 (3 targets) |
Colston wasn't often targeted by Brees, and the two looks he saw that weren't his touchdown were both dropped.
| WR Devery Henderson (2 targets) |
Henderson saw a couple of deep looks. One he dropped, the other was over thrown. Henderson didn't start the game as he was demoted to second string while Lance Moore was moved up to the first team.
| TE Eric Johnson, Rec: 2 - 12 - 1 (3 targets) |
Johnson scored a touchdown in the Saints' three touchdown second quarter.
| TE Billy Miller, Rec: 2 - 26 - 0 (3 targets) |
All of Miller's looks came in the second half.
| PK Olindo Mare 0 - 0 FG, 4 - 4 XP, 4 points |
Mare made all four of his PATs, but didn't attempt a field goal.
| NO Rush Defense |
New Orleans' rush defense played strong against Shaun Alexander, limiting the 2005 NFL MVP to 35 yards on 13 carries. In total, they gave up 92 total rushing yards and no scores.
| NO Pass Defense |
New Orleans' pass defense gave up 362 yards on 26 of 43 passing for an average of 8.42 yards per attempt. They allowed two touchdowns and had one interception. The sacked Seahawks' quarterback Matt Hasselbeck five times, including two from safety Roman Harper.
| QB Matt Hasselbeck, Pass: 26 - 43 - 362 - 2 TD / 1 INT, Rush: 2 - 13 - 0 |
Hasselbeck played very well, and nearly had a flawless game before throwing up a jump ball in the fourth quarter that was intercepted and essentially sealed the game for the Saints. He preferred his three wide receivers in the passing game, throwing double digit targets to Nate Burleson, Bobby Engram, and Ben Obomanu. Hasselbeck threw two scores, one to Obomanu and one to Burleson. His 362 yards was a season high.
| QB Seneca Wallace, Rec: 1 - 29 - 0 (1 targets) |
Wallace got some game action on one play late in the fourth quarter. His natural play making ability was evident, as he beautifully plucked a Hasselbeck pass out of the air for a 30 yard gain, despite good defensive coverage. Announcer John Madden noted that Hasselbeck believes Wallace could be a Pro Bowl player were he to be a full time receiver and not the Seahawks' third string quarterback.
| RB Shaun Alexander, Rush: 14 - 35 - 0 (1 targets) |
Alexander looked sluggish, never peeling off a run of greater than 11 yards. He didn't have very big holes to run through, but frequently went down on first contact and didn't appear to run very hard. Alexander's performance earned him plenty of boos from a home team crowd that appears to think he isn't playing his hardest. He wasn't a significant factor in the game, as he was out gained on the ground by fullback Leonard Weaver on just three carries.
| RB Leonard Weaver, Rush: 3 - 40 - 0, Rec: 4 - 53 - 0 (5 targets) |
Weaver had a great game filling in at fullback for the recently retired stalwart, Mack Strong. He was the team's leading rusher despite only carrying the ball three times, and his 53 yard receiving were the best of any non-wide receiver.
| RB Maurice Morris, Rush: 1 - 4 - 0 |
Morris had one carry early in the game to spell Alexander.
| WR Bobby Engram, Rec: 9 - 120 - 0 (10 targets) |
Engram took advantage of getting the start with Branch and Hackett injured, and led the team in both receptions and receiving yards. He clearly has an affinity with Hasselbeck and showed his sure-handedness by catching 90% of his targets.
| WR Nate Burleson, Rec: 6 - 63 - 1 (15 targets) |
Burleson was Hasselbeck's favorite target, especially on short to medium routes. Many of his looks were off target, but he also had a few drops. Burleson turned a little Hasselbeck shovel flip pass into a nice run for a touchdown in the fourth quarter.
| WR Ben Obomanu, Rec: 4 - 72 - 1 (10 targets) |
Obomanu had a breakout game, earning a first half touchdown and finishing second on the team in receiving yards. Hasselbeck frequently targeted him on deep routes, but many of them were off target although Obomanu had a few drops as well.
| WR Courtney Taylor |
Taylor saw action as the Seahawks' fourth wide receiver, but didn't have any targets.
| WR Deion Branch |
Branch missed the game with an injured foot.
| WR D.J. Hackett |
Hackett missed the game with an injured ankle.
| TE Marcus Pollard, Rec: 2 - 25 - 0 (3 targets) |
Both of Pollard's catches came in the second half.
| PK Josh Brown 1 - 2 FG, 2 - 2 XP, 5 points |
Brown made both his PATs and a nice 52 yard field goal, but also had a 44 yard attempt blocked.
| SEA Rush Defense |
Seattle's rush defense was abused by Reggie Bush on outside runs, particularly in the first half. In total, they yielded 121 rushing yards and one seven yard score to Lance Moore on an end around. They forced no turnovers, although they did force a couple of fumbles.
| SEA Pass Defense |
Seattle's pass defense gave up 246 yards on 25 of 36 passing for 6.83 yards per attempt. They allowed two first half touchdowns to New Orleans' tight end Eric Johnson and Marques Colston. They never sacked Brees and forced no turnovers.
