Saints earn first win of the season in big day

Saints

Quarterbacks – Drew Brees didn’t back into his touchdown record – he earned the mark in style, posting a huge night. After a sluggish start to the season, Brees is in midseason form.

Grade: A+

Halfbacks – The Saints mustered 50 yards rushing against the Chargers – one of the high points of the team’s ground attack for the year. That says a lot about what this team’s offensive specialty is.

Grade: C

Receivers – Marques Colston and Devery Henderson combined for 17 catches and 254 yards with four touchdowns. Yes, the Saints miss Robert Meachem (just look what he did to the Saints’ secondary), but these two guys stepped up huge in a big game.

Grade: A+

Offensive line – The Saints’ offensive line is solid in protection under perfect conditions. But they do not handle blitz assignments very well. That results in two-to-three sacks against Brees pretty regularly.

Grade: C+

Defensive line – For the first time all season, the Saints’ defensive line appeared to have a pulse on Sunday, sacking Philip Rivers five times. Sure, a few of those sacks came when the Chargers’ left tackle was unable to walk – a victory is a victory for this oft-blamed group.

Grade: B+

Linebackers – The Saints’ linebackers did a solid job defending All-Pro tight end Antonio Gates, but they struggled defending the Chargers’ swing passes, yielding big yardage to halfbacks Ryan Mathews and Ronnie Brown. That could become a problem in the future if it doesn’t get corrected.

Grade: C+

Defensive backs – The Saints’ defensive backs were somewhat better on Sunday night. But when “somewhat better” means allowing 354 yards passing and two touchdowns, it shows that you’re not an elite group.

Grade: C

Special teams – The team’s coverage groups were sturdy and no one blatantly messed anything up in the return game or the kicking game. A solid night at the office for the team’s special teams.

Grade: B+

Coaching staff – It’s hard to give credit to the current coaching staff for this win when one considers that 90 percent of the motivation for the stout performance had to do with an NFL record and the fact that the suspended coach was in the building watching over the team. It was still a solid victory, though.

Grade: B

Overall – Now, things are beginning to slowly round into shape. The Saints’ offense is playing well and the defense has a pulse – it’s a faint pulse, but it’s still a pulse nonetheless. If the defensive line continues to generate a push and the offense continues to perform at a high level, the season can get turned around. But with road tilts with the Broncos, Falcons, Giants and Cowboys joining home games with the Falcons, Eagles and 49ers still left on the schedule, it seems too much to ask for the team to win 10 games and punch a playoff ticket. Time will tell.

Grade: A-

LSU:

Quarterbacks – Zach Mettenberger is far from perfect, but he is the least of LSU’s offensive worries. That’s not good news for the team going forward.

Grade: C

Halfbacks – LSU has a very serious problem at halfback without Alfred Blue in that each of the remaining guys specializes in just one thing. Opponents are quickly learning what the tendencies are and are pouncing.

Grade: C-

Receivers – No disrespect to Odell Beckham, who is a good kid from a good family, but he’s not a quality No. 1 receiver at the SEC level. The Tigers miss Rueben Randle – there’s no way around it.

Grade: F

Offensive line – The LSU offensive line cannot run block, nor protect the passer. Sure, injuries have mounted up front. That’s no excuse. These guys need to be better.

Grade: D

Defensive line – For a half, LSU’s defensive line showed why it is arguably the best in the country. In the second half, they eroded and were mauled by Florida’s physical rushing game. They get a pass from me – I was tired just watching them play. I can only imagine how they felt.

Grade: B

Linebackers – Kevin Minter had a whopping 20 tackles for LSU on Saturday. Unfortunately, the team ate a few injuries at this already-thin position. It showed late in the game.

Grade: B

Defensive backs – Yet again, LSU’s defensive backs rose to the occasion and held an opponent to just 60 yards through the air. These guys are easily the highlight of the team’s defense. Who would have predicted that in the preseason?

Grade: A+

Special teams – It’s hard to find fault with anything the Tigers’ did on special teams. If I were Les Miles, I’d try a different punt returner in the future. Nothing against Beckham, but his 3.1-yard per return average just doesn’t spook me.

Grade: B

Coaching staff – LSU players cramped and hobbled off the field all game Saturday. Florida’s players didn’t. The Gators made adjustments at halftime of Saturday’s game. The Tigers didn’t. I don’t buy all of the Les Miles hatred, but there’s no denying the Gators were better coached than LSU in this game.

Grade: D

Overall – For a half, LSU showed flashes of being a dominant football team. But when adjustments were needed and the initial game plan faded away, the Tigers fell flat. That’s not good news heading toward the weekend with South Carolina coming to town. To these eyes, the Gamecocks are arguably the best team in all of college football right now. With a team struggling to find its identity, that could be a major problem.

Grade: C-

Nicholls

Quarterbacks – Against a solid opponent and performing away from home, Landry Klann had a nice day on Saturday, slinging for 269 yards and a touchdown. This was arguably the best performance of his career against a team not named Evangel.

Grade: B+

Halfbacks – Marcus Washington pushed forward for solid yardage when called upon. With a six yard per carry average through 11 carries, one wonders why the rushing game wasn’t more a part of the team’s plans.

Grade: B

Receivers – For the past few seasons, Nicholls’ wide receivers have been unable to find openings in the open field. That wasn’t the case on Saturday, as the team caught for 269 yards through the air in just 12 completions. Kudos to this improving group.

Grade: A-

Offensive line – Everyone who reads these cards weekly knows that the Colonels’ success is strongly dependent on offensive line play. The team played pretty well against Central Arkansas in defeat. It’s no surprise that was largely due to a solid night from the team’s linemen.

Grade: B

Defensive line – Giving up 222 yards rushing and generating little-to-no pass rush is just not good enough to win Southland Conference games on the road. This has to be better going forward.

Grade: D

Linebackers – This is not a type-o. Nicholls linebacker Jordan Piper recorded 23 tackles in Saturday’s loss. If one attends a Nicholls game this season, follow No. 33 – I promise he will always be near the football.

Grade: B+

Defensive backs – The often solid Nicholls’ secondary was gashed pretty heavily on Saturday, yielding 31 completions and 289 passing yards to Central Arkansas. These guys have to fix those errors and tighten up the secondary’s mistakes.

Grade: C-

Special teams – You have to do the little things well to win road conference games. Having a 33 yards per attempt punting average and missing a 22-yard field goal that would have given your team a four-point halftime lead is not a good example of doing little things.

Grade: D

Coaching staff – Despite being a pretty sizable underdog, Nicholls played well for a half against Central Arkansas, taking a 14-13 lead into the lockers. But the team couldn’t sustain its momentum and fell flat in the second half. Playing a full 60 minutes is a must – just ask LSU. They suffered from a similar second half collapse.

Grade: C

Overall – Winning a road game against a very good Central Arkansas team was always going to be very tough for Nicholls. But they did the hard part and overcame nerves and bus-rust – getting off to a solid start. The second-half performance was just shoddy – nowhere near what’s needed to win Southland games. It will be interesting to see how the Colonels rebound the rest of the way.

Grade: C+