It wasn’t as pretty as they may have hoped, but the New Orleans Saints left Week 1 with a win over the visiting Tennessee Titans. Derek Carr and the Saints offense struggled to put points on the board in a too-close 16-15 victory, with his lone touchdown pass traveling 19 yards to reach wide receiver Rashid Shaheed. Protection issues (Carr was sacked 4 times) and a poor running game (as a team, New Orleans ran for just 58 yards on 26 attempts) slowed the Saints offense down all afternoon,
So the defense and special teams units deserve a ton of credit for executing when it counted. Demario Davis, Cameron Jordan, and their teammates kept the Titans offense from ever advancing beyond the New Orleans 9-yard line. They had two different drives stall out at the 11-yard line. Tennessee struggled to sustain drives while going 2-for-12 on third downs. Titans coach Mike Vrabel settled for a surprising 29-yard field goal late in regulation while down four points, and he never got the ball back.
Buy Saints TicketsAs for the Saints’ kicking game: rookie kicker Blake Grupe was perfect from distances of 26, 33, and 52 yards, also making his lone extra-point attempt. His fellow first-year pro Blake Gillikin flipped the field often on the afternoon and did a great job limiting return opportunities. Linebacker Zack Baun blocked a Tennessee punt and defensive back Lonnie Johnson Jr., a special teams coverage ace, closed in on several clutch tackles.
There’s a lot for the Saints to build on here. They know now that they can’t thrust Trevor Penning into one-on-one blocking assignments with experienced edge rushers. James Hurst failed to pick up some stunts after moving back to left guard this offseason. The running game wasn’t a factor in New Orleans’ favor, but it’s worth noting they were without two of their top three running backs with Alvin Kamara suspended and Kendre Miller out with an injury. You have to hope that will improve once all hands are back on deck.
