So I was up in the nosebleeds. :lol:

It was like right at the North 40 yard line, and they weren't bad seats, it was just pretty high up. And WTF, they wouldn't let me bring in my 70-300mm lens for my camera because it could extend to be over 6inches long. That's messed up in my opinion. I wasn't even going to take pictures during the game, just warm ups. But whatever. :angry:

Here's the notes I ended up with (pardon me if they seem fragmented, it is pretty much verbatim from what I put in my notebook):



Pregame - t-minus 1:15
- Saints Kicker, Punter, and LS only ones on the field that are discernible. Couple random fins stretching near the north end zone.
- Carney struggles with kicks, barely making a 47 yarder after missing it short.
- Carpenter and Fields appear on the field.
- Carpenter practing FGs in like 5 yd incriments. He hits the left upright when kicking from the right hash from 47 yds off a tee. Makes it on his second try.
- Makes all the same kicks with Fields holding.

T-minus 1:00
- QBs, some WRs, Hilliard, and Cobbs come out.
- Ginn and Bess fielding punts (Hartline too)
- Hartline, Cobbs, and Hilliard working on kick returns

T-minus 50min
- The secondary, London, Turner, and Robinson come out. Robinson looks way bigger than I expected. (Didn't know he was 6'3")
- They break into groups working on catching drills.
- Gibril drops one, but it was a bad throw.
- Ginn is so fast, even jogging. Just a complete other speed from the rest of the WRs.
- Polite drops a 20 yard fade (not entirely surprising)
- Nalbone looks like a smooth runner.
- Gibril drops another. This time it was a good pass.
- Ronnie looks so natural catching passes.
- Robinson drop

T-minus 40 mins
- Big Uglies on the field!!
- Get together for group stretches.
- Sara (my fiance) asks: "Who is that 52 guy with his jersey rolled up? He looks like a flamer." :lol:

T-minus 35 mins
- Individual group drills, more pass catching for most people. That's what I tended to focus on, as the OL and DL played patty cake in the end zone.
- Nalbone drop
- Hartline looks real good

- Break up into like 6v8. 4 WR, QB, and RB vs the 4 LBs and Secondary. Passes going to all the WRs each play.
- Defense looks like they are having a lot of fun together.

T-minus 30mins
- Full offense vs defense drills.
- Some nice running plays, big holes but I am sure there is a reason for that.
- Ronnie looks explosive through the hole.

-Punt drills
- Gunners: Jason Allen and Nate Jones
- Returner: Davone Bess

T-minus 22 mins
- Off the field, almost game time!

T-minus 20 mins
- Mmmm, nachos.

- Offensive starters announced over the loud speaker.
- Greg C. :sad: Meh. I'd prefer Hartline.

- Coin toss time, Captains: Greg C, Bell, Gibril, and Polite.
- Win the toss, defer. We're kicking.

- Kickoff, here we go! *crosses finger* No big returns, no big returns.
- Walden with the tackle! Yes!

1st drive-
1st and 10 - Good coverage all around, but minimal pressure (4yd QB scramble)
2nd and 6 - TE wide open on roll out, did D bite on play fake?
1st and 10 - Nice job by Ayodele in the hole!
2nd and 10 - Wide open hole. :no:
3rd and 3 - Great play by Ayodele shooting the gap.
4th and 2 - JT with the knockdown. FB was W-I-D-E open if he misses that ball though.

Miami ball-
1st and 10 @ 42- 3 wide to start, single back. Jake Long got beat by wide arcing speed rush. Incomplete pass.
2nd and 10 - Great footwork by Cam, 16 yd catch.
1st and 10 - Bad blocking by Grove?
2nd and 10 - Ronnie and Polite both open out of the backfield. Complete to Polite.
3rd and 4 - Nice diving catch by Bess. Ginn was open too behind him.
1st and 10 @ 28 - David Martin wide open, he looked away as Chad was about to throw to him though so Chad pulled back.
2nd and 10 - Terrible block by Ginn, if you can call it that.
3rd and 8 - Top WR was open near the 1st down yardage (was it Ginn?), but Chad was looking the other way.
4th and 5 - Carpenter good!

Kickoff (8:16) - Carpenter saved a TD. Wow. Awful. What is wrong with the coverage team? Holding, that's what's wrong. Penalty brings it back.

1st and 10 @15 - JT unabated to the RB.
2nd and 9 - Gashed up the middle again.
3rd and 3 - Good coverage, just short yardage needed.

(Here Sara started asking if I'd be doing play by play all game. She didn't think I was enjoying it, though I was. She just wanted some attention. :pity: So my notes are harder to follow from here on out for a reader, though I remember.)

- God that screen was wide open. Ayodele hustled his butt off.
- What a pick!! One hand. Sean Smith, wow. That shut the Saints fans up.

Dolphins ball, 1st and 10 @ 20, 4:19.
- (Still thinking about the pick) Smith is so big, it isn't fair.
- Good blocking, two plays in a row.
- 2 TE sets seems to mean Hartline comes in.
- Ginn open after Ricky 1st down, no throw though.
- (different play) Think Penny was going deep there, but sacked.
- Nice throw by Pennington to Bess on 3rd and 8. Ronnie motioned wide, I'd take him on a linebacker all day.
- Aww!! Off Cam's hands. Man, he was open. That's a TD if in stride, IMO.
(My dad notes he thinks they are picking on the rookie, referring to Jenkins)

Start 2nd QTR. 3rd and 8 @ 39.

- Why no FG? WTF? Carpenter can hit it from this distance.
- 17 yd punt. Wow. I could do that.

- All back ups in now on defense except JT, Bell, Gibril, and Sean Smith.
- Screens are a killer.
- Vontae never gets his head around in time. Good coverage, but could've been a better play.

- Hooray, Henne in with the starters.
- Oh god, hope Ronnie is ok after that (got smacked around and up-ended on the play).
- He is. What a stiff arm. Better job blocking by Ginn this time.
- Nice throw by Henne for the 1st,

- Miami players with the ball are really doing a good job of making the 1st guy miss.
- Nice throw on the roll out to Ginn.
- Great blocking and vision by Cobbs! Polit totally cleared the hole.
- Lots of WR rotation throughout each drive. Always Cam, Ginn, Bess, and Hartline though.

- Oh great, kickoff again. Please better coverage. :pray:
- 3 man wedge! Totally illegal. No flag though.
- Vontae, nice break up!
- McDaniels all over the place. He's making more plays than Merling this preseason.

- Cobbs, good effort but a fumble. Why no replay on the screen?
- Yay, challenge.
- Meh, play stands.

1:24 in the half:
- Much better coverage
- Walden with the tackle again. He better make this team.

- McDaniels with a smart time out. Looked like 12 guys on the field.
- Where was VD on that last drive?

- 2nd half Kickoff -
- Nice blocking by Turner on the return.

- Good Nalbone block, too bad Henne got sacked.


- McDaniels looks so good. Solai looks pretty good too.
- Anderson is really hustling today (didn't know the penalty on the KO was on him).

- If Hilliard hurdles that guy on the screen, he's gone.
- Cobbs is the man.


- Walden with an almost sack, but of course McDaniels is there to clean it up.
- JA can tackle, might keep him on the team.


- Henne not getting a lot of time here. Not sure where the breakdown is.
- Gardner looks good run blocking. Had a guy 8 yards downfield at one point.


- Punt Coverage much better tonight.

- Pat White looks very lost in the pocket to me.
(Stadium got loud as hell for the 1st time all game with the 1st punt at the 3)

- Forget what I said about punt coverage. Yikes.

- London is a tenacious blocker.
- And he might know the offense better than White. He' directing Turner where to go, and calling attention to blitzes that White seems to not.

- 3rd TE? I have no clue. Neither has been real impressive, but I'd take Nalbone in a coin toss.

- Game over. How ugly. 4-0 is something though I guess.


Player of the game:
Brian Morestead - P - New Orleans

He kept them in the game with his leg.

Those that impressed:
1. Sean Smith - What else needs to be said?
2. Patrick Cobbs - What can't this guy do?
3. Pennington - Looked ready for the regular season.
4. McDaniels - All over the NO backfield.
5. Ayodele - Keeps getting his head in there on tackles I don't expect him to make.
6. Kershaw - All over the field. I hope he makes the team.
7. Walden - 2 ST tackles and a near sack.
8. Camarillo - He just kept getting open.

Less than impressive:
1. Grove - Maybe it's because I don't know the calls, but he seemed to miss some blocks to me.
2. Pat White - Can you please complete a pass without rolling out or scrambling?
3. Haynos - Just nothing stood out at all.
4. Run D up the middle - Not sure what the issue was, but they really seemed to get their way up the middle.
5. Screen defense - Where is the recognition?
6. Hilliard - He runs hard, but I just don't know if that is enough. He seeks out contact too much for my liking.

Some closing thoughts:
- Vontae looked good before he left the field, if he could just get his head around he could have some picks or at least more deflections.
- We may be too aggressive for our own good on defense some times. if the Saints played their starters early, it's a different game.
- Our offense may be too conservative for our own good some times. Maybe it is just preseason though. I hope that's the case.
- Very concerned with Pat White. I really didn't like the pick at the time. I'm trying to give him a chance, but I have just seen very little to make me think he can contribute a lot this year.
- Starting safeties were relatively invisible outside of run support. Maybe that's a good thing. Clemons and Culver were always around the ball though. Probably good.
- All our top 4 WRs were getting open consistently which was refreshing.
- Surprised TEs were so quiet, not just this game but the whole preseason.
- Polite has looked much better blocking the past two games.
- Jason Allen looks better, but I am not sure how much. Seems to wrap up tackles more than in the past, where he may have went for a bigger hit.
- We have too many LBs that I like. Walden and Kershaw are good enough to make the team, and Rod Wright too. Not sure if the numbers will work out for them though.
- Billingsley, Robinson, and Baker are the easiest cuts.

 

This was my 4th, but was my 1st win.

 

It was meh for me as an away game, and NO fans didn't get into it until the 4th QTR. Plus the stadium was only like 60% full.