Saints Nation: Greatest Moments

With the Saints given the day off today, they are free to take it easy and relax until Monday of next week. With the time off, I figured I'd share this youtube video of the Saints' Greatest Moments to get you fired up about our history and how good this season is going. There's going to be new highlights added to this reel after this season, hopefully.

Saints Nation: At 4-0, Saints can go into Bye Week to Nurse Injuries with No Regrets

It's hard to say you can want anything back from the first 4 games when you've won all of them by a minimum margin of 14 points. The Saints have won all their games convincingly, while staying mostly solid in all phases of the game. While there's always things you can improve upon and correct, the Saints enter their bye week with the ideal scenario. The only possible disappointment you could point to thus far is the loss of Pro Bowl left tackle Jammal Brown for the season due to injury. While that's a key injury to a key player, everything else is falling into place. Believe it or not, the Saints should come out of this bye week better.

Nursing injuries that should be healed in time for a week 6 matchup against the New York Giants are Kendrick Clancy, Mike Bell, Jermon Bushrod, Darnell Dinkins and Malcolm Jenkins. Add Lance Moore to that list, who while active last week hasn't been right all season between his shoulder injury in the offseason and his recent hamstring pull. Consider these benefits:

1. Having Bushrod back will create more depth and competition with Zach Strief, who filled in admirably against the Jets. With Brown out it's a good thing we have to pick between the two as oppose to going with the healthy one.

2. Having Bell back will create more depth at running back and give the Saints a good problem to have in deciding who's more performant between he and Pierre Thomas. Both have run the ball so well it may take reps away from Bush.

3. Having Clancy back is arguably most crucial. Remi Ayodele has filled in well, but Clancy is a performant starter that enhances the Saints' run stopping ability. They'll need him facing a premiere bruising back like Brandon Jacobs.

4. Having Darnell Dinkins will enhance the Saints' run blocking and allow Zach Strief to focus on his position at tackle.

5. Malcolm Jenkins has been the biggest playmaker on special teams. The Saints need him in there, and I think he can make a difference on defense later in the season too.

6. Lance Moore needs to come back healthy. The last two games we've seen Colston struggle, and while Henderson and Meachem are good players - they're field stretchers that are a little one dimensional. Moore is a terrific route runner with terrific hands, and he's deadly against the zone (whereas the other 3 are better man to man receivers). Moore excels at finding the soft spot in a defense, and Brees will only get better with him on the field and healthy.

CHECK OUT SEAN PAYTON'S "AFTER PARTY" INTERVIEW ON FOX FOR THE POST GAME VS. JETS

Saints Nation: Players Grades vs. Jets

See below the grades for the Saints against the Jets. Remember, the GPA you see after the grade is cumulative for the season. Big props to the defense for their performance - and you'll notice the first A+ given out by Saints Nation this season.

OFFENSE:

Drew Brees: B- (3.00)
It wasn't pretty from a statistical standpoint, but Brees did a good job securing the football. He wasn't sacked, and he got the ball out in a quickly manner. The Jets defense had the Saints receivers locked and bottled for a good part of the day and Brees couldn't find open receivers. He was less accurate than usual, but also made a nice 7 yard run for a first down. For the second straight week Brees was held without a touchdown and threw for just 190 yards. The best play he made was drawing Kris Jenkins offsides on the snap count on a crucial 4th and 1 to give the Saints a first down. That won't show up in the stats, but that's one of those little things Brees does that makes him so special.

Reggie Bush: B- (2.17)
Mixed bag once again for Bush. At times running the football he looked explosive and dangerous, at other times he went back to his usual bouncing outside and getting hit for a loss routine. He had a couple nice catches. Finally he ran a nice return on a punt, going for 22 yards and almost breaking it. The lost fumble, however, let the Jets back in the game, and he also let a punt hit that ended up rolling for favorable Jets yardage. We still need to see more consistency out of Bush.

Pierre Thomas: A- (3.84)
He's a joy to watch, he really is. He's such a fighter and the way he finishes off his runs are admirable. Thomas ended with 86 yards rushing and 46 receiving, and probably should have seen the ball more than the did. Thomas also scored the game sealing touchdown late on a powerful 1 yard run. The only negative was he was stood up on a couple short yardage plays, including a 4th and 1. Overall, though, I think Pierre is currently the best player on offense for the Saints (besides maybe Brees)

Heath Evans: B (3.25)
Evans had 3 carries for 12 yards, and one catch for 11 yards. He once again show decent speed and power with the football in his hands, and he's a clear upgrade over a player I loved in Mike Karney. Evans threw some great blocks, but it was disappointing to see him get stacked up on a goal line rushing attempt from the 1. He also had a pass from Brees hit him right in the hands that he dropped.

Marques Colston: C (2.83)
Colston was covered very well by the Jets, and at times it seemed like his route running was poor. He finished with just 2 catches for 33 yards, but his blocking downfield on running plays was good.

Devery Henderson: C+ (3.25)
Henderson finished with just 3 catches for 21 yards, but it seemed like his catches were in traffic and nice/secure catches. He seemed to get targeted the most, but it wasn't an impressive performance by any means.

Robert Meachem: C+ (2.66)
Meachem had a very quiet day and was overall disappointing. His one catch (for 19 yards), though, was a crucial play on a 3rd down conversion. This was the drive the would give the Saints the 24-10 lead, so it kept the game sealing drive alive. He made a beautiful catch with good coverage and turned it into yardage after the catch. Meachem had a shot at a deep ball that could have been a touchdown, but Brees overthrew him.

Jeremy Shockey: B (3.33)
Shockey did a good job catching and blocking. I can't help but think at times that Shockey looks slow, and I wonder if he's lost a step from his heydey. That said, when Brees went his way we saw his usual reliable hands. Shockey had 4 catches for 34 yards.

David Thomas: B- (2.67)
Thomas was used frequently as a blocker, and did well. He sprung one of Thomas' runs with a great job sealing the edge. Thomas was quiet in the passing game but did have a 18 yard reception downfield during an all out blitz. Not a bad backup to have.

Zach Strief: B+ (3.17)
Everyone made a big deal about the Saints being down to their 3rd left tackle, but Strief has filled in this spot before and I still think he's a better option than Bushrod. He played a very solid game. He was actually pretty effective in the running game, and was excellent in pass blocking. He did get Brees hit on one blitz package where he went to help double David Thomas' blocking assignment and left a hole for the blitzer. There's a couple of plays you want back, but the Saints can win with him at left tackle. He's yet to have a bad game when he's filled in and he's shown he's a guy the Saints can trust.

Carl Nicks: B- (3.17)
Nicks was the guy the Saints ran behind on most of the Saints' short yardage situations. Mixed results, but he did get pushed back into Pierre Thomas on the 4th and 1 that came up short. Overall he had a lot of good blocks that set up big runs for the Saints, but he had some miscues as well. A less consistent performance from him than what we saw in the first 3 weeks.

Jonathan Goodwin: B (3.33)
Goodwin had a holding penalty, but was again solid. I love watching him pull and throw lead blocks on the screen passes. He's got good quickness getting off the line and you can tell he's getting more comfortable with a year of starting under his belt.

Jahri Evans: B (3.50)
Evans had a holding penalty that negated a good run, and pinned the Saints back deep in their territory. Other than that, he was solid as usual. He threw tremendous blocks on several of the nice runs, and he was once again impeccable in pass protection. The short yardage plays that worked were usually behind him.

Jon Stinchcomb: B+ (2.75)
This was Stinchcomb's best game so far this season with the Saints. He did a good job sealing his edge in pass protection giving Brees a tremendous amount of time to throw. I felt he was the weak link to this point on the offensive line, but he proved me wrong today.

DEFENSE:

Will Smith: A (2.92)
Awesome performance. With the Saints up 10-0 he forced a Mark Sanchez fumble in the end zone that the Saints recovered for a TD that gave the Saints a 17-0 lead. Momentum was swinging after the Saints had been stopped 4 straight plays from inside the 3, but Will Smith got them the touchdown a few plays later. He finished with 2 sacks, a forced fumble, and 4 tackles. He was solid against the run.

Charles Grant: A (2.42)
It's been a really long time since Grant played this well. This was like watching the Charles Grant pre-contract days for one game. Let's hope he can keep it up. Grant had 5 tackles, 2 sacks, and a deflected pass. He was aggressive all day against the run, sure in his tackling, and disruptive to the Jets passing game.

Bobby McCray: B- (2.34)
McCray combined with Fujita for a huge stop in the backfield on a 3rd and short late in the game. He also had nice pursuit on a play where Sanchez scrambled and he caught him from behind. He was quiet otherwise, and finished with 2 tackles, but I gave him a decent grade because I was happy to see him make a big play against the run. He's been spotty there and that'll hopefully be a confidence booster for him. With the way Grant and Smith are playing though, he may see less time.

Anthony Hargrove: C (2.11)
Quiet day for Hargrove, not much to speak of. No glaring mistakes, no notable plays. He finished with 2 tackles.

Sedrick Ellis: B (3.17)
Ellis somehow finished with 1 tackle, I'm not sure how that's possible. He was on almost every single play against the run, and did a great job of competing. He also was seen chasing Sanchez around often and had an active game. The stats don't always tell it all, because he played well. As evidence by the Jets' lack of success at doing anything, he put the linebackers in position to often make plays.

Remi Ayodele: A- (2.45)
Ayodele was excellent. He scored his first career touchdown on a fumble recover in the end zone, and finished with 2 tackles. He had solid work moving the pile and creating poor running lanes for Thomas Jones et al all day. This was his best game so far, so it's good to see he's getting better.

Scott Fujita: B- (2.75)
Quiet day overall for Fujita, but the run play he combined with McCray on that I mentioned earlier was big. He finished with 4 tackles.

Scott Shanle: B (3.00)
Shanle was steady, and seem to be in the right spot often. He was tough against the run and didn't have to work much in the passing game. He finished with 5 tackles.

Jonathan Vilma: B- (3.00)
Not his best game. On one wildcat formation play, a huge lane was created by Vilma being knocked to the ground. I'm sure Vilma would've preferred a better game against his old team. he did finish with 6 tackles, but half of those were assists where he wasn't the main tackler. Quiet day overall.

Jabari Greer: A- (3.58)
Greer has been a terrific pickup. He had 6 tackles, and he did a fabulous job covering Jerricho Cotchery. He got turned around and gave up one bad passing play, but he deflected many others and was solid in coverage. He's not afraid of sticking his nose in there in run support either.

Tracy Porter: B- (3.00)
Porter had a bonehead personal foul that negated what would have been a 3rd and 9 early in the game and instead gave the Jets an automatic first down. He finished with 5 tackles, but was beat on a couple of passing plays. His tackling was decent. He and Greer make a good, young and aggressive tandem.

Randall Gay: A (3.50)
Gay only had 3 plays that I can remember, but they were all excellent. He broke up two passes, both on 3rd and short, to force the Jets' punting unit on the field. In both cases he showed excellent tight coverage and good ball skills to force incompletions. The 3rd play was his interception late in the game. He's about as good as it gets for a #3 cornerback.

Roman Harper: B+ (3.17)
Harper finshed with 6 tackles and did a great job hitting Jets players hard. He is at his best around the box making people pay when they get near him. The only mistake I can remember was a bootleg by Sanchez on 4th and 1 where Harper had a clear shot at stopping him short of the 1st down, but hesitated and allowed Sanchez to get around him. Otherwise, he was aggressive and instinctive.

Darren Sharper: A+ (3.33)
Sharper was incredible. He's by far the best player on this Saints defense. I love Vilma, and he's a great player, but it's becoming evident that the real playmaker is Sharper. The guy now has 5 interceptions in 4 games, which is just crazy. His anticipation on some of these throws are really impressive. The guy just knows football, and he makes it look very easy. He had 2 interceptions, including one he ran back 99 yards for a touchdown. He ended with a team high 8 tackles, and was also more active against the run that usual. He was up near the line of scrimmage from time to time and had a couple of nasty hits. Sharper gets the first A+ of the season. He did have one personal foul for a helmet to helmet hit, which was the only negative, but the replay showed that was a questionable flag at best. I'm telling you Josh Bullocks would have maybe had 1 of the 5 Int's Sharper has now. If that. He's made that much of a difference.

SPECIAL TEAMS:

John Carney: B+ (3.00)
Easy work for Carney. 3 extra points, and a 34 yard field goal he hit perfectly down the middle. Would have liked to see him maybe kick that 46 yarder on 4th and 1, but he did well in the limited work he had.

Thomas Morstead: A (3.50)
Morstead had at least 3 kickoffs for touchbacks. His leg strength is astonishing. For a guy that never handled kickoffs before he absolutely crushes the ball. He's handled kickoffs so well it makes you wonder what the Saints have in store for Garrett Hartley now that he'll come off the suspended list. He averaged 38 yards on 5 punts, but pinned 2 inside the 20 and didn't have a single punt returned. The Jets' dangerous return men had no chances all day. Great job.

Courtney Roby: B (2.33)
Roby made a decent move on the only kickoff he returned, for 26 yards. He showed good discipline on downing a couple deep kickoffs, and he also had terrific coverage on one kickoff and made a big tackle around the 15.

PLAYERS OF THE GAME:
Offense: Pierre Thomas
Defense: Darren Sharper
Special Teams: Thomas Morstead

Saints Nation: Saints run record to 4-0, beat Jets 24-10

The Saints beat the Jets 24-10 behind a stellar defensive performance that included 2 defensive touchdowns by Darren Sharper and Remi Ayodele (pictured). The offense struggled, but put the game out of reach late with a masterful drive that extended the lead from 17-10 to 24-10. You just get the feeling this could be a very special season with the way this team is winning each week. The Saints are very solid in all phases right now. Check back tomorrow for player grades.

Saints Nation: Injury Report

Going into the game Sunday, there's two injuries that stand to hurt the Jets severely: CB's Lito Sheppard and Donald Strickland. With two corners out expect Brees to exploit favorable matchups all day against inexperienced corners. I think the Saints will come in with a game plan to pass, pass and pass. With Colston, Shockey, Devery, Reggie, Meachem, and Lance Moore he'll have dangerous receivers matched up against backup corners all day. A skeleton crew defensive backfield against the Saints is about the worst thing you could have. That's the one area you cannot afford to have depleted against the Saints, so this is a good sign. Other than that the Jets have numerous players listed as "probable" that are a little banged up, but they come into this game pretty healthy.

On the Saints side, listed as out: Mike Bell, Jermon Bushrod, Kendrick Clancy, Darnell Dinkins. No real surprises there, but I am starting to get worried about Clancy's knee. He hasn't even come close to getting better. I'm hoping the bye week does him some good because we can't really afford to keep playing with Remi Ayodele as our DT starter long term. Malcolm Jenkins is listed as questionable, and if I'm the Saints I'd maybe hold the rookie out with a bye week next week. No sense in aggravating anything. Listed as probable are: Jason Kyle, Rod Harper, Lance Moore and Bobby McCray (pictured above). Keep in mind the Saints only have two healthy tackles in Zach Strief and Jon Stinchcomb this week - so the plan is to move Carl Nicks to tackle should an injury occur, and slide Jamar Nesbit into Nicks' place.

Saints Nation: Catching up with thejetsblog

I caught up with colleague blogger Brian Bassett this week, editor and blogger for The Jets Blog, to get his toughts on the Jets-Saints matchup this week in New Orleans. Thought you guys might be interested in checking out what a knowledgeable Jets fan's opinion is on the game coming into New Orleans. Special thanks to Brian for taking the time, and please check out his blog: HERE for a similar piece I did with him from a Saints' perspective. Check out what he had to say:

SAINTS NATION: How do you feel about the play of Sanchez so far?

THEJETSBLOG: I've been impressed on the whole. He's had some rookie moments, bad handling of the ball (he's got a tendency to fumble) and he's made some ill-advised passes. With all that being said, he's been better than I've expected. For some of the struggles of any rookie quarterback, he's persevered and is a part of why this team is 3-0. Sanchez's footwork and his ability to buy time in the pocket or on the run to hit the open man is quite impressive. His arm strength might not be Joe Flacco quality, but he's throwing the ball well, accurately and with zip ... something we Jets fans haven't been accustomed to seeing much in recent years.

SN: How do you feel about the Saints-Jets matchup?

TJB: Nervous, very nervous. Throwing Power Rankings out of it, I think that the Saints are pound for pound the best team in football. They've proven they have a prolific offense, and now their defense is catching up. This is the most complete team that the Jets have played so far this season. A win here will go a long way for the Jets, but it's going to be a long tough day for the Jets.

SN: What scares you the most about the Saints?

TJB: t's got to be the pass offense. Drew Brees is (as he has for the past few years) been playing out of his mind so far. The Jets have a solid secondary, but starter Lito Sheppard and nickel-dime Donald Strickland hasn't been practicing this week either. That means that the depth charge at corner looks rather thin after Darrelle Revis and Dwight Lowery.

SN: Can you give Saints fans a sense of what to expect from the Jets? Fill us in on maybe something we might not know?

TJB: This team has taken on a defensive life of it's own this year. Although most of the personnel is the same, it's a vastly different, and more cocky defense. On offense, the team has been slammed for not having better receivers, but between Cotchery, Stuckey and Keller, this team is in fine shape.

Get ready to see the blitz. if you're not too familiar with the Ryan style of QB pressure, he loves to bring blitzes from all over the field. Whether is stunting through the A-Gap, standing up his Nose Tackle and walking him backwards as a LB and then bull rushing him, multiple defensive backs from one side of the formation, shifting an ILB outside to get an overload .. it's all that kind of stuff. The Jets might only bring four blitzers, but it's a question of where those four are coming from.

SN: What were your expectations of the Jets going into the season, and what are your expectations now that they're 3-0?

TJB: I honestly expected the Jets to go about 9-7 this year. I think a lot of that had to do with quarterback play, and it's been better than advertised, so that's been a big help to getting this team off to a strong start. Now at this point, I'd like to see them go to the playoffs, but there's a lot of football left to play and the team still plays in the division with the Patriots, who are notorious at turning it on as it gets colder.

SN: Give us a prediction on the score.

TJB: I'm never good at this stuff, but it's clear that the Saints are a team to put up some points. I don't know how well the Jets can keep up: Saints 30 - Jets 24

Thanks Brian!

Saints Nation Fans Have Spoken: Jason Elam represents NFC South at 1st Team Kicker

It was close, but longtime Bronco and current Falcon Jason Elam was elected by Saints Nation fans as the kicker for the All NFC South 1st Team. You'll also remember Elam as the man who tied Tom Dempsey's NFL record made field goal distance of 63 yards. He ended with 38% of the vote while John Carney was a near second with 33%. Thanks for your participation and please vote for your pick as the 1st team punter. That poll is now up and running and you can find it on the right side of the site by scrolling down.