Alright, so I have just watched the all-22 of the Saints game and it is time to hand out game balls. I am going to give out four game balls. On defense a lineman will get one and one will go to the back 7. On offense a lineman will get one and a skill position player will get one. The reason being that these games are won and lost in the trenches and those guys deserve some recognition for their efforts. Offense Jameis Winston After the disappointing week one effort, Jameis bounced back with a solid effort on the road in New Orleans. We all got to see why he was drafted No.1 overall. His pocket presence was very good. He scrambled when he had to and he was accurate hitting 2/3 of his attempts. Most of all, he didnt throw any INTs and he managed the game well enough to bring home the win. One play in particular that I remember was when the play broke down and he scrambled to the right and then he motioned with his fingers for Murphy to break off his route and go deep. He hit Murphy with the bomb to the 6 yard line. He is playing way beyond his years right now. Honorable mention: Doug MartinGosder Cherilus What a difference a week makes. After struggling with assignments and penalties in week one, Cherilus came back strong in week two. He was great in pass protection. Never once did his man get to Winston and it wasn't even close. His pass blocking was top notch and he was holding his blocks extremely well. Against the run he displayed a non-stop motor. One running play in particular that I remember he blocked his guy and then when he saw Doug Martin get stopped he slammed into the pile and moved it forward which got us another couple of yards on the play. For the entire game I only saw him make a couple of mistakes. He was playing at an extremely high level this week. Honorable mention: Ali Marpet.DefenseKwon Alexander Kwon had a very good game for a rookie LB. He seemed to be in good position most of the time and when he wasn't he made up for it with his quickness. He closed in on any short passes in his direction and had a few great stops in the run game. Alexander and Lavonte working in tandem is a pairing that is only going to get better with time.Honorable mention: Chris Conte and Jonathan Banks.Jaques Smith What can you say? He got three sacks, forced two fumbles and was all over the place. He seems to get great leverage working on the left side and also has the speed to close in on the ball like a viper to it's prey. One thing that I noticed is his non-stop motor. Congratulations to Jaq for taking the NFL lead in sacks through two games. You can bet that teams will start to game plan against him which should have wide benefits to the entire defense. Honorable mention: Gerald McCoy.Goof balls Just for fun, one player on each side of the ball that had a bad day. This doesn't mean they suck, just that they had a bad day. DefenseGeorge Johnson George had a tough assignment, as Terron Armstead is one of the best LTs in all of football. George did get a pressure on an inside move where Armstead let him go to the guard, but outside of that one play, he was invisible. I'm not going to bash Johnson for having a poor game, I am going to highlight how dominant Armstead was. Outside of the one inside move I dont think Johnson got within 5 yards of Brees, and he was completely dominated in the run game. But so was Gholston on his snaps and Armstead even made Jaq Smith look like a weakling when he lined up opposite him. Terron Armstead is a beast! Unfortunately for us, there are a lot of really good LTs in this league that we have no answer for.OffenseDonovan Smith Smith is a rookie going up against the other teams best pass rusher. So you have to cut him some slack. But in pass pro he had a hard time with anyone who had a simple rush move and he had trouble with the edge rush. He did not hold his blocks long enough. Against the run he was a mixed bag. He found a few guys off balance and pancaked them but was more likely to completely miss his block. He has a really bad habit of moving too far upfield and missing his block. Those are rookie mistakes and we can work with those. One thing that can not be tolerated is taking plays off. I saw it several times. He doesn't even try to block on some plays and if he gets beat he stands around instead of going to find someone to hit. He is going to need to find some motivation pretty soon. If we had any other viable options I venture to guess he would not be the starter for very long if he keeps up the lackadaisical attitude.Play of the game: McCoy's sack. The Bucs spread out their defensive front and McCoy was rushing from the five technique position. At the snap, he cut inside, split a double team between the LG and OC, sprinted and dove at a scrambling Drew Brees clutching his legs and ending the play with a huge sack. That was the one play that was so good I found myself rewinding it and watching it over and over again.
