LSU chugs on as NSU, Saints suffer defeats

New Orleans Saints:

Quarterback: In a dual with Aaron Rodgers, Drew Brees was stellar, leading the Saints down the field time and time again, despite getting little-to-no defensive and special teams support. A masterful performance against a great defense.

Grade: A+

Halfbacks: What’s worse? A halfback corps that a coach doesn’t trust to get a half-yard on fourth and inches, or a corps that’s uninspired enough to use that as fuel and ends up getting stuffed at the goal line on the game’s last play? Mark me down as one who believes Mark Ingram is not nearly as good as the hype he’s unfairly being given. Having 13 carries for just 40 yards sort of proves that to be true.

GRADE: D

Receivers: The entire game changed on Marques Colston’s opening drive fumble, much like the entire season changed when Colston went down later with a broken collarbone. But Devery Henderson, Robert Meachem and the rest of the gang are more than capable of holding down the fort in his absence.

GRADE: B+

Offensive line: Sure, Green Bay is pretty good, heck, they are the Super Bowl champs. But the Saints’ offensive line really failed to impress, as the Packers were able to pound and pummel Brees all game. That goes without mentioning the run blocking, which was nonexistent.

GRADE: D

Defensive line: The Packers moved the football on the ground pretty easily against New Orleans. Will Smith needs to sneak into someone else’s uniform and get back onto the field. The Saints need him dearly.

GRADE: C

Linebackers: The beauty about Green Bay’s offense is they virtually take linebackers out of the game by forcing teams to stack defensive backs onto the field to keep up with their spread attack. For that reason, it’s hard to grade this group who didn’t really do much to impress or negatively stand out amidst the Saints’ struggling defense

GRADE: B-

Defensive backs: Aaron Rodgers passed for 312 yards and three touchdowns, while completing 77 percent of his passes. Sure, Green Bay is good, but what was the excuse when this same thing happened all preseason? Or how about in the playoffs last year against Seattle? The Saints’ defensive backs are pretty bad, let’s face it.

GRADE: F

Special Teams: How do you grade a group so feast or famine that they both scored and allowed a special teams touchdown? I guess I have to go to the grading scale and balance an A with an F for this one.

GRADE: C

Coaching Staff: Offensively, the Saints’ gameplan was fine until the final play of the game when the team decided to run the football. Sure, it’s hindsight, but Drew Brees had just led the team down the field in an instant. Why take the football out of his hands? Defensively, the Saints’ scheme was just silly, utilizing 10-to-12 yard cushions on the Packers receivers, like that’s going to ever work against a guy like Rodgers. It didn’t. The Packers hung 42 points on the board to prove it. A much better scheme needs to be in place to beat Chicago.

GRADE: C-

OVERALL GRADE: We live in such a doom and gloom world that it’d be easy to shout about how the Saints are in awful shape. But instead of focusing on the negative, think positive, the team was a yard away from possibly forcing overtime with the defending world champions on the road. With a little shoeshine on defense, the Saints could still recover, although the Bears are no cakewalk.

TEAM GRADE: C+

LSU Tigers:

Quarterback: Jarrett Lee again protected the ball, while improving his efficiency in his second game, albeit against weaker competition. But the story of this one is Zach Mettenberger. Wow. There’s no quarterback controversy in Tiger Land just yet, but LSU’s backup is surely looking like tomorrow’s star.

GRADE: A

Halfbacks: Spencer Ware didn’t play as well as one would hope, but Michael Ford has sort of emerged to become LSU’s featured back. Either way, both are stout options going forward.

GRADE: B+

Receivers: The LSU receivers were easily the weakness of the team in the opener. Not-so on Saturday. The Tigers’ young, but talented receivers made plays to help both Lee and Mettenberger stretch the chains.

GRADE: B+

Offensive line: It’s hard to grade the Tigers’ line against Northwestern. Sure, they got a push. But they can play poorly and still get a push against such a step down in talent. Oh well, you’ve got to play who’s on the schedule.

GRADE: A-

Defensive line: Northwestern State had negative yards rushing. ‘Nuff said. Easiest grade of the night.

GRADE: A+

Linebackers: With Ryan Baker suspended one game for an undisclosed team violation, LSU’s young linebackers took the lead and carried the defense. Reports out of Baton Rouge say Baker will be back on the field when the Tigers take on Mississippi State on Thursday.

GRADE: B

Defensive backs: Northwestern State quarterbacks really didn’t have much time to throw the football. It’s not like the receivers were open anyway. I expect this to be the case all season.

GRADE: A

Special Teams: The LSU special teams were OK Saturday, didn’t do anything great, didn’t do anything bad. The speed on the coverage teams is amazing. Most of those kids are backups, too.

GRADE: B

Coaching Staff: LSU had two goals Saturday. The first was to win. The second was to leave the game without significant injuries among the team’s starters in advance of Thursday’s showdown with Mississippi State. Mission accomplished on both fronts as the Tigers rout an opponent they, quite frankly, should rout.

GRADE: A

OVERALL GRADE: LSU did only one thing poorly against Oregon, passing efficiency. So with that said, there wasn’t many glaring issues to improve upon in game two of the season. But with the team’s aerial attack improved, LSU rocked ‘n’ rolled to 2-0. If the Tigers play anywhere close to as well as they did against Oregon on Thursday, Mississippi State will have trouble moving the chains and getting into a rhythm.

TEAM GRADE: A

Nicholls St. Colonels:

Quarterbacks: Both LaQuintin Caston and Beaux Hebert struggled in the air against an ambitious Western Michigan defense who also took Caston’s running threat away. The Colonels’ quarterbacks were pretty irrelevant for most of the game.

GRADE: C-

Halfbacks: One bright spot for Nicholls is that Marcus Washington held his own against the Broncos. The problem is the Colonels were always down by so many points that the running game was never an option.

GRADE: B-

Receivers: With Caston and Hebert flushed out of the pocket, running for their lives, the Colonels receivers really struggled to get separation. These guys have got to do more to help their quarterbacks, especially when they don’t have adequate protection.

GRADE: C-

Offensive line: The group is still nowhere near where it needs to be, but marked improvement is clear to the naked eye. Last year, this group would have allowed at least a half-dozen sacks, if not more, against an opponent like Western Michigan. This year, they only allowed three sacks and got a decent push in the running game.

GRADE: C+

Defensive line: The Broncos were able to pick their way for four or five yards on the ground virtually anytime they wanted to on Saturday. The good news is the Colonels will not see a front as talented as Western Michigan’s the remainder of the season.

GRADE: C

Linebackers: The Colonels’ linebacker unit did as best as they could, despite being consistently blocked due to the defensive line’s struggles. This is a hard position to play when you’re being muscled up front. It showed on Saturday.

GRADE: C

Defensive backs: Michigan allowed more passing yards last week when they played Western Michigan than the Colonels did on Saturday. Add a pick-six to the list of accolades and you can easily find the unquestioned bright spot for Nicholls against the Broncos.

GRADE: A-

Special Teams: Against a better opponent, the inferior team always has to worry about special teams. Nicholls really did hold its own against the Broncos in this regard, which allowed the score to not get completely out of control.

GRADE: B

Coaching Staff: Nicholls got beat pretty soundly, but they truly were more competitive on Saturday than they were against similar teams last year. The Charlie Stubbs era will take time to fully blossom, but it’s easy for one to see with each game that Nicholls is getting better. I’d expect to see a better performance Saturday against UL-Lafayette.

GRADE: B-

OVERALL GRADE: When you’re stepping out of your league in these early season games, the most important thing you’re trying to do is be competitive. While the scoreboard got uglier than Stubbs would have liked, Nicholls did put up a fight, forcing four turnovers, while holding the Broncos to fewer than 400 total yards. This was a much better showing that the team’s similar preseason conquests last season. There’s still reason for optimism with Southland play looming.

TEAM GRADE: C+