While I was on the sideline during the wild St. James/West St. John game last week, I had a chance to talk to former WSJ rusher Kenneth Dabney. After St. James started the second half with a touchdown and two-point conversion to cut West St. John’s lead to 29-8 in a game the Rams had dominated to that point, Kenneth told me, “Their next two drives are going to tell you how this game goes. St. James isn’t going to lay down.” 

It was a curious thing, I thought, for a Rams’ alum to say while his team led by three scores. His words basically proved prophetic, though: the Wildcats scored on their next THREE possessions and led 30-29 before the end of the third quarter. When St. James took the lead, I walked by Kenneth and had to give him his props. “You know your stuff!”

The Rams recovered and won the day, 39-30, after the St. James scare. But sometimes, I indeed get reminded: nobody sees the game quite like those who played it and played it well. 

 

Confession time: I’m kind of an Auburn Tigers fan on the sly this season.

Wait, wait, wait, before you call to cancel your L’OBSERVATEUR subscription … I’ll still be cheering for ‘our’ Tigers, of the LSU variety, when the two teams throw down later this year. But it is exciting to see East St. John’s D’haquille Williams off to such a strong start. His second game was more quiet than his first, but it was also a game Auburn barely had to throw: Williams actually led the Tigers in receiving for the second straight week, posting four catches for 60 yards after posting nine catches for 154 yards and a score in his debut against Arkansas — in fact, the best debut performance for any Auburn receiver ever.

When Williams played each Friday in Reserve, there isn’t enough room in this column to list the superlatives used by myself and others who covered East St. John to describe his ability. Suffice to say, I suspect we’ll only have nine or 10 more chances to see him at the college level before he swaps Saturdays for Sundays.

 

While on the Williams subject, I’ll note that while he had a quite debut with the Miami Dolphins, former Lutcher Bulldog Jarvis Landry got ample playing time, as he appears to be wrestling the slot receiver job away from incumbent Brandon Gibson. He’s also been installed as the team’s primary punt and kickoff returner — not a bad gig for a guy who slipped in the draft due to speed concerns. Landry is a real football player — Tim Detillier always raved more about his toughness than his receiving ability, often pointing out Landry was as proficient at linebacker as a receiver at LHS — and Miami is a perfect fit for his skills. The Dolphins run, run and run some more from those spread sets and as we’ve seen time and time again at Lutcher and LSU, Landry throws some killer blocks. 

 

So while an overtime loss to a talented Atlanta team is no reason to press the panic button for the Saints, the play of the defense is obviously a real concern.

The biggest issue, to me, was less the play of the secondary — which was not good by any measure — and more the complete lack of a pass rush. Time and time again last season we saw the Saints able to rely on tremendous play from its pass rushers and defensive linemen, for long stretches able to get pressure when rushing four — and, sometimes, even three. The shocking thing on Sunday was even after Atlanta lost left tackle Jake Matthews — who, himself was sliding over from right tackle to replace incumbent Sam Baker — the Falcons protected Matt Ryan with ease. The three and four man rushes had no chance, and even when Rob Ryan dialed up a blitz, Atlanta picked it up and Ryan threw a strike. 

There won’t be many teams on the schedule with the receiving talent the Falcons boast, and, again, this was a game the Saints led by 13 at two different points in the first half. But if Brian Hoyer isn’t under siege on Sunday, the concern officially turns into worry. 

Offensively, though, there were many bright spots. Brandin Cooks looks like the real deal. Joe Morgan got free a few times early deep and the Saints took some shots. The run game looked very good, especially in the second half (Mark Ingram appears to be for real). Marques Colston and Jimmy Graham are still productive pieces. 

The Saints will score all the points they need to in order to reach the postseason. But, again, defensive play will determine if this is a team that can contend with the Seattles of the world.