Andy Dalton returned to his hometown by engineering a touchdown drive on the Saints’ first possession in front of family and friends inside NRG Stadium. Dalton’s from Katy, a suburb of Houston that produces great football players in Texas.

“It was good. I got to see family. My family came in from New Orleans,” Dalton said. “And then my parents still live out in Katy. I got a sister and brother-in-law that live out in Katy. And my in-laws came in from Dallas. It was good to get to see a lot of people and a lot of family.”

New Orleans was highly stealthy before signing Dalton as an insurance policy should Jameis Winston become injured as he did in 2021. Since Winston sprained his foot at a 7-on-7 training camp practice, his return has been day-by-day.

Dalton has handled the first-team assignment and performed well in Winston’s absence, precisely what the New Orleans brass envisioned as Jameis’ backup.

“As for me, when you get to free agency, and you get the opportunity to join a team like this, you get excited. Because of not only the type of people they have here, the locker rooms is great, the staff is exactly what you want, and everybody’s on the same page. So I’m looking forward to see what we can do this year,” Dalton remarked.

Andy Dalton ran Pete Carmichael’s offense with precision against the Texans. He was 5-5 passing for 51 yards, one touchdown, and 148.8 quarterback rating on the 10-play, 67-yard drive — he also ran once for six yards.

Dalton noted, “You’re only going to get 10 to 15 snaps. So you want the drive to go. We did some good things, completed some passes, and converted some third downs. We got down there and were able to score, punched it in when we got in the red zone. So I mean, it’s freaking draw it up. That’s exactly how you do it.”

The Saints called it a night for Dalton after the scoring possession.

ROOM TO IMPROVE

The culmination of the New Orleans Saints’ preseason opener was along the lines of what can be expected of a first preseason game: Some good, some bad, some sharp, some sloppy, some head-turners and some head-scratchers.

And a great deal of film to study and improve off for the Saints, who dropped a 17-13 decision to the Texans on Saturday night at NRG Stadium in Houston.

New Orleans had to have been pleased with what it saw from its starting units on offense and defense.

“I was pleased with the way the first units went in there and played,” Coach Dennis Allen said. “We’ll get back and take a look at the tape and have a better evaluation, but there were some good things I saw tonight.”

It couldn’t have been a cleaner open and Dalton, especially, was sharp with completions to four receivers. His touchdown pass to running back Dwayne Washington was a perfectly-executed screen – Washington patiently allowed left guard Andrus Peat and center Erik McCoy to get in position to throw the blocks and cleared his path to the end zone.

A TOUGH DEFENSE

And defensively, the Saints allowed 33 yards and no first downs in the first quarter as it choked off the Texans’ offense. From there, though, New Orleans experienced more uneven play than it hoped, but perhaps along the lines of what could be expected when teams haven’t had tons of live tackling and physical reps throughout training camp.

Three turnovers, including an interception and lost fumble from quarterback Ian Book, helped deliver 10 points to Houston. Rookie running back Abram Smith lost a fumble inside the red zone, which likely kept points off the board. A dropped touchdown pass by Tre’Quan Smith turned a possible seven points into three, and rookie left tackle Trevor Penning and second-year right tackle Landon Young had some protection hiccups that led to a Book taking a couple of sacks that he’ll feel today.

And a couple of defensive lapses helped set up both Houston touchdowns, the final one coming inside the last minute where a pair of busted coverages led to open receivers and the deciding score.

But Book (15 of 22 for 121 yards), who played every offensive series after Dalton started and played the opening drive, steadied himself after the two turnovers and showed flashes even after a couple of rattling sacks. The running game picture may not have cleared much behind Alvin Kamara and Mark Ingram, because each back who played – Washington (nine carries for 19 yards, three catches for 18 and a touchdown), Tony Jones (seven carries for 27 yards), Devine Ozigbo (eight carries for 26) and Smith (seven for 30) – had a moment or two, though Smith’s lost fumble stained his.

And the defense forced three turnovers – all interceptions – as it buckled down until its final drive. Linebacker Chase Hansen, safety Justin Evans and cornerback Brian Allen provided the interceptions.

This week, New Orleans will spend several days in Green Bay for joint practices and battle the Packers at Lambeau Field on Saturday, Aug. 20. Expect Dalton to take most of the practice reps and start the contest should Winston continue to nurse his foot back to health.

THREE OBSERVATIONS

1. Razor sharp Dalton: The first offensive drive for the New OrleansSaints could not have gone any better. A 10-play, 67 yard masterpiece that took 5:22 off the clock giving the Saints an early 7-0 lead. The drive was capped off by quarterback Andy Dalton’s perfectly executed screen pass to running back Dwayne Washington for a 9-yard TD reception.

The last time the Saints scored on their opening possession of preaseaon was in 2012 when Mark Ingram scored from one yard against the Arizona Cardinals. Four rushes by Dwayne Washington ( a run by Dalton) and Dalton going a perfect 5 for 5 on the drive including a 19-yard third down conversion to Marquez Callaway. Dalton showed in one drive what we have been watching the entirety of training camp.

The Saints are in pretty good hands at quarterback in case something unfortunate would happen to Jameis Winston during the regular season. Exactly, as Coach Dennis Allen said a week ago, what they brought him in for. Needless to say, Allen “had seen enough” of the first team offensive line and Dalton, who took the rest of the night off after the touchdown.

2. Hansen makes a case: Linebacker depth has really been the only question mark as far as the defense has been concerned the last couple of weeks during Saints training camp.

The team has brought in several linebackers to try and fill the void due to various injuries and departures to the position in the offseason. One such linebacker that resigned with the Saints on Aug. 8 was a familiar face in Chase Hansen. Undrafted out of Utah in 2019, Hansen has been on the Saints practice squad the last two seasons.

On Saturday night in Houston, Hansen showed the coaching staff why bringing him back was a solid decision. Hansen played 24 snaps defensively including seven on special teams . Hansen recorded six total tackles, including two tackles for loss (TFL) and an interception.

On the pick, (tipped by linebacker Eric Wilson) Hansen said postgame that’s “one of those where I was just itching, ready to go…it was fun.” This week of joint practices against Green Bay will be vital to Hansen, as the Saints continue to try and build depth opposite and behind mainstay Demario Davis. Nights like Saturday will go a long way for Chase’s quest to make the 53-man roster.

3 Plays of the Night: Pretty simple here on Observations, but the Saint defense (which has been most of the story during camp) came up big, forcing three turnovers (all interceptions).

The aforementioned Hansen pick, and subsequent 44-yard return set the Saints up for what would be a game tying field goal going into halftime. Late in the third quarter, Texans quarterback Jeff Driskel tried to test the coverage of Saints defensive back DeMarcus Fields on an out route intended for receiver Chad Beebe.

Fields deflected the ball up in the air and fourth-year defensive back Justin Evans made the pick (down by contact) that again led to an eventual field goal, giving the Saints a 13-10 advantage early in the fourth quarter. With 4:20 left in the game, it appeared the Saints were going to seal it after an interception by defensive back Brian Allen on a deep right sideline route intended for Texans receiver Jalen Camp at the Saints’ 40- yard line. The Saints bench erupted and the defense surrounded the newly signed (Aug. 11) cornerback with congratulatory pats on the back.

If the Saints defense continues to force multiple turnovers as we saw Saturday night, it will continue to put the offense in position to put games away. We’ll see you in Green Bay for our next Observations for the joint practices against the Packers.