Degree of difficulty be damned, the Saints gave up 9 points. I think you can pretty much guarantee the Saints would never lose if the defense could keep opponents out of the end zone for an entire game. Yes the Vikings were missing Adrian Peterson and their starting quaterback was seriously injured early in the game, but the bottom line is they gave up 9 points to an NFL team. They’ll face tougher teams, they’ll need to play better, and it wasn’t perfect… but consider the flipside of having a horrible performance against this Vikings’ offense. At least they were able to outperform a poor offense. Below are the grades with the letter grade representing the player’s performance in the game and the GPA representing the player’s cumulative effort for the season:
Cameron Jordan: B (2.22) He’s not quite up to the form of last season but he seems to be getting better with every game. He had his first sack of the season, two tackles, and gave good pressure to a slippery Teddy Bridgewater. He held his ground well in the run game.
Junior Galette: A- (2.67) A very strong performance by Galette that had one of the more complete games I’ve seen from him. Definitely a statement performance to build on. No it wasn’t a multi sack performance, but he did have one sack, and he did all the little things well. His play against the run was an eye opener. He’s starting to feel like more than just a one trick sack pony, he’s a complete player. He finished with 7 tackles and his involvement was significant.
Akiem Hicks: C (1.89) He had one tackle and a deflected pass. He played the run ok but it was a mediocre game by his standards. Overall it’s been a really disappointing three game stretch for him.
Brodrick Bunkley: B (2.00) Very stout against the run, he did his job and closed space very well up the middle. He had one tackle and set up his teammates to make many tackles around the line of scrimmage by eating up blocks.
Glenn Foster: C (1.84) I could have sworn I saw him tackle Bridgewater in pursuit on a keeper but the stat sheet says he had no tackles. His pass rush created disruption at times, but he’s not getting to the quarterback as much as necessary.
Tyrunn Walker: C+ (2.56) A quiet day but he played the run pretty well and had 1 tackle.
Brandon Deaderick: C- (1.45) He’s getting plenty of snaps but still not accomplishing much. I’ve yet to see what the Saints see in him, but hopefully soon.
Kasim Edebali: C- (1.84) He’s also getting a lot of snaps as a pass rusher and I’m frankly not sure why he’s getting more reps than Foster. He’s not creating the kind of pressure necessary to help the team.
Curtis Lofton: A (3.11) He actually covered pretty well which is usually his issue, but Lofton came to play in this game. He ran sideline to sideline, tackled soundly with reckless abandon, and constantly found the ball. He led the team with 8 tackles, 2 for a loss, and played with the kind of physicality this defense needs to turn the corner. A very impressive game.
Ramon Humber: C (1.56) He had 3 tackles and a defended pass. He didn’t impress too much as a starter filling in for Hawthorne, though. I expected him to be a good fill in this year but he’s yet to really hit his stride.
Parys Haralson: B (2.44) He was physical against the run and helped the team limit the Vikings’ gains on the ground. He was also solid covering backs out of the backfield, in particular once closing well on a back and making a clean tackle. He had two tackles.
Keenan Lewis: B- (2.45) Pretty solid day overall in coverage. He did have a defensive holding penalty on a 3rd and 9 that was brutal as the Saints had otherwise stopped the play short of a first down, but going back and watching that play that seemed like a really weak call. He also had a big pass breakup on a 3rd and 5 in the game. He finished with 2 tackles.
Corey White: B (2.22) As the starter he stepped in and performed well. For now he clearly deserves to be the #2 over P-Rob. He finished with 3 tackles. He played a very solid and clean game.
Brian Dixon: C+ (2.33) A quiet and pretty good day in coverage on the handful of snaps he saw. He’s a welcomed addition to the cover team. Hopefully he’ll see more action and continue to improve. Seemed to get injured at one point but returned.
Jairus Byrd: C (2.22) Where were all the turnovers we were promised with his signing? Through three games, the Saints have one takeaway, and so the woes continue. To his credit Byrd was responsible for that one takeaway (forced fumble), but it’s unnerving that this defense has now gone three games without an interception. Meanwhile, Roman Harper and Malcolm Jenkins had three interceptions combined. Byrd did have 6 tackles and he is good in pursuit to the sideline, but his plays in the middle of the field are not as good yet. I’m yet to be impressed with his ballhawking skills thus far. Still waiting on a breakout game from him.
Kenny Vaccaro: C (2.00) He had 4 tackles and a defended pass. He also gave up a 3rd down conversion on a passing play and had a defensive holding penalty that gave the Vikings an automatic first. He played the run pretty well but had a quiet day.
Rafael Bush: B- (2.33) He had 4 tackles and a defended pass. When he’s close to the ball carrier there’s always a sense of relief because he’s such a good tackler you know it’s going to stop there. His tackling was impeccable in this game and it’s nice to have a guy like that on the squad you can rely on at the second level. He was beaten on a couple of passes but overall he was solid.
Shayne Graham: D- (2.56) He had three extra points and one was blocked. While the laces were in (shame on you Marino, I mean McCown) the kick trajectory was way too low and that’s the reason it was deflected. Another PAT came close to being blocked as it was low as well. He never attempted a field goal. Missing extra points is unacceptable.
Thomas Morstead: B (3.44) Another solid day with a 46.8 yard average on 4 punts, one inside the 20, and a 44 yard per punt net which is extremely solid. The only negative is that all four of his kickoffs were returned by Cordarrelle Patterson, though two were taken out from 8 yards deep. Not much you can do there, but kicking them out of the end zone came at a premium against that guy. He was also fortunate that one huge punt return was called back for a block in the back.
Patrick Robinson: B- (1.22) Give P-Rob credit, despite his demotion from defense and not getting any coverage duty, he came in on special teams and made a nice tackle. It’s nice to see him finding ways to contribute and still help the team. He had one tackle.
Josh Hill: A- (2.78) I already mentioned him on offense and yes, that’s right, Hill is both my offensive and special teams player of the game. He had two terrific tackles on special teams, one on a punt return for a huge loss inside the 5, and once tripping up Patterson, one of the more dangerous return men out there. If he doesn’t make that tackle it could have gone for a score.
Defensive Player of the Game: Curtis Lofton
Special Teams Player of the Game: Josh Hill
Add The Sports Daily to your Google News Feed!
