Chabert comes to aid of fellow workers’ families
November 23, 2010
LPSO deputies remembered via bike tour
November 25, 2010
New Orleans Saints:
Quarterbacks: Outside of an unlikely, but also unimportant turnover in the red zone, Drew Brees was just about perfect against the Seahawks’ beaten up secondary.
GRADE: B+
Halfbacks: Man, is Christopher Ivory tough or what? He provided the Saints the toughness they were lacking, roaring through the Seahawks’ linebackers.
GRADE: A
Wide Receivers: A total of 10 Saints players caught passes from Brees, as Marques Colston and Robert Meachem combined for four touchdowns.
GRADE: A+
Offensive line: Brees was never sacked and the Saints did a good job running the football. But a lot of the credit still goes to Ivory, who was hit at the line of scrimmage often, but still was driving forward for yardage.
GRADE: B
Defensive line: The Seahawks really don’t have much of a running game. The Saints proved that to be true in a good performance up front.
GRADE: B+
Linebackers: Yards were just hard to come by for the Seahawks, thanks in large part to a huge performance from the Black and Gold’s linebackers.
GRADE: A-
Defensive backs: The weak part of the game for New Orleans. Matt Hasselbeck shouldn’t get 366 yards passing without an interception on anyone.
GRADE: D
Special Teams: To win a Super Bowl, the Saints will need to be able to kick a field goal. It’s as simple as that. Not converting on an extra point and missing a 27-yard field goal just doesn’t cut it.
GRADE: D
Coaching Staff: With a short week forthcoming, a coach always wants to have as stress-free a game as possible. The Saints did that Sunday, taking control of the game early en route to the win.
GRADE: B+
OVERALL GRADE: The Saints said they wanted to start to build some steam. They did. If they can be a little healthier and steady their secondary, look out. But the team has little room for error, because if they lose any more games, they will be guaranteed to have to play on the road in the playoffs. That is no easy answer, there.
TEAM GRADE: A-
LSU Tigers:
Quarterbacks: After being beaten to death by know-it-all sportswriters (including this one), Jordan Jefferson has become the Tigers’ clear No. 1 guy. Best performance of his career.
GRADE: A-
Halfbacks: Stevan Ridley rushed for three touchdowns. Freshman Michael Ford added 60 yards and a long receiving touchdown. The LSU backs wore out Ole Miss’ struggling defense.
GRADE: A+
Wide Receivers: The Tigers had seven players catch passes for 15 or more yards. Sure, Ole Miss’ defensive backs are awful, but LSU’s passing game is usually ragged, too. The Tigers utilized their weapons for one of the first times this season.
GRADE: B+
Offensive line: When you have 470 yards of total offense, including 210 on the ground, your offensive line is doing some serious work. The final drive of the game was man-on-man and LSU’s men were better than Ole Miss’s men up front.
GRADE: A
Defensive line: As good as LSU’s offensive line was, the Tigers’ defensive line was worse. LSU has no idea how to stop a true spread offense, because they’re too aggressive and over run the football every, single play.
GRADE: D-
Linebackers: Same as the defensive line. The scheme yields the Tigers in the correct position about 95 percent of the time against the spread. The LSU defenders just continuously over pursue, which sets up big plays.
GRADE: F
Defensive backs: They got lost on a critical pass late in the game, but they were stout the rest of the game. Jeremiah Masoli’s passing certainly was the least of LSU’s concerns.
GRADE: B-
Special Teams: Aside from Josh Jasper field goals, LSU was outmatched in special teams. It is often said that an underdog must win special teams to win the game. Jeff Scott’s returning and Tyler Campbell’s 65+-yard punting average were huge for Ole Miss.
GRADE: C
Coaching Staff: The offensive strategy was good, mixing running with passing. The Tigers finally have a quarterback they trust, which is letting the playbook be slightly more open. The defensive scheme wasn’t bad. The Tigers’ players just didn’t execute it. LSU’s will to never fold in the face of pressure n that has to be some sort of credit to Les Miles and his staff.
GRADE: B
OVERALL GRADE: If someone would have told me a month ago that LSU would allow 36 points in an SEC game, I’d have thought for sure that the Tigers would have lost by 20. But the LSU offense is peaking at the right time, moving the team to 10-1. Don’t give up on the defense. There’s no other opponent on the schedule who plays spread option offense, which is the only style that gives LSU fits.
TEAM GRADE: B
Nicholls Colonels:
Quarterbacks: LaQuintin Caston isn’t one of those guys that looks impressive physically. But three quarters into the game, he’ll have 90 yards passing, 100 yards rushing and three touchdowns. He’s a gritty player who really willed the Colonels to a win.
GRADE: A
Halfbacks: Aside from Caston, Nicholls got good yardage on the ground from Jesse Turner and Marcus Washington, who combined for 80 yards on 17 carries.
GRADE: B+
Wide Receivers: The Colonels really didn’t get much of a passing game going, but that was mostly because they didn’t need to.
GRADE: C+
Offensive line: The Colonels run blocked well, but still struggle to protect Caston. As a whole, it was an OK game for these five guys.
GRADE: B-
Defensive line: The Lions consistently found big seams in the running game out of the shotgun. The young Colonels’ defensive line struggled to fire off the football.
GRADE: C
Linebackers: The group played a solid first half, but struggled in the second half when the Lions began to gain momentum.
GRADE: C+
Defensive backs: The Lions got 321 yards through the air, but their quarterback was just 19-of-43 through the air. With some good, some bad, we’ll give them a good grade, because they held up well.
GRADE: B-
Special Teams: Patrick Dolan flipped field position a few times with his punting and his little brother Andrew hit two huge field goals. Chika Madu also did his thing in the return game to set up some short fields.
GRADE: A-
Coaching Staff: The Colonels won just four games, but they finished the season 3-3 in their final six games. With one of the youngest rosters in the Southland Conference, there’s no reason to think Charlie Stubbs’ second year won’t be pretty special.
GRADE: B+
OVERALL GRADE: Give credit to Nicholls. With a winning record and a Southland title out of reach, the young team played hard and won the final two games of the year. There’s a long history of teams winning their final game, then starting the next season strong. Nicholls has momentum on their side heading into the new year.
TEAM GRADE: A
Members of the Nicholls State football team hoist the River Bell Trophy, the prize awarded annually to the winner of the Colonels’ football matchup with Southeastern Louisiana. With the win, Nicholls rounded out the season with two-straight wins. CASEY GISCLAIR – TRI-PARISHTIMES
