Yes, Cam Newton was awful throwing the football and yes, the Panthers were missing three of their five starting offensive linemen. Still, the Saints held the Panthers scoreless in the first half and allowed only 10 points by game’s end. That kind of performance will win games for the offense every time, so the grades rightfully reflect that. The Panthers finished with just 231 yards of total offense and only 122 yards passing. The Panthers at one point had a 1st and goal at the 6 and the Saints would hold that possession to a field goal. Dominant effort in what so far was the biggest game of the season. It’s great to see this unit improving each week.
Cam Jordan: B+ (2.38) He starting to play better and he had another solid game. He finished with 4 tackles, a sack, and he played the run well overall. Things are looking up!
Junior Galette: A- (2.50) The only real gripe with Galette is that he broke containment on a number of plays that allowed the running game for the Panthers to make plays, both on handoffs and with Cam Newton scrambling. That said, I’m not going to fault his aggressiveness because it pays off more times than not. He had 4 tackles, 2 sacks, and a forced fumble inside the 5 that would lead to a Saints touchdown. Containment be damned, he produced in a real way and helped the team win the game.
Akiem Hicks: A- (2.54) He also had 4 tackles and a sack. He was a menace on the interior and consistently pushed the pocket up the middle. His pressure was excellent and he was a beast against the run. It was a clear he was going up against a backup and he let us all know it. The Saints used a heavy rotation on the d-line, probably because of the short week, and that’s too bad because Hicks could’ve piled up a lot more sacks. Nice to see him finally get a sack.
Brodrick Bunkley: C- (2.17) A quiet day for Bunkley and the run defense wasn’t particularly good.
John Jenkins: C+ (2.33) When he was in he seemed to play the run pretty well and eat space, though he didn’t get a ton of snaps. In pass rushing situations he did a real good job of pushing the pocket forward and forcing Newton to throw.
Brandon Deaderick: C- (1.56) Came close to recovering the fumble but couldn’t come up with the ball. Otherwise another quiet game with not much contribution despite a significant amount of reps.
Kasim Edebali: C+ (2.33) He finished with two tackles and one was a really nice play where he strung the run outside and then finished with a tackle around the line of scrimmage. He did get turned around and pushed away from an outside run later in the game, though. His pass rush was decent. He seems to be a pretty good developing player.
Tyrunn Walker: C (2.29) No tackles but he got decent pressure and activity up the middle when he played.
Ramon Humber: C (2.05) The couple times he’s filled in for Hawthorne, the veteran has been missed. He hasn’t impressed much in a starting role this year. He finished with 3 tackles but his run defense and play recognition remains spotty.
Parys Haralson: C (2.42) He finished with one tackle but it was a big one. One first and goal from the 6, he hit Newton for a huge loss back to the 12/13 and the Panthers would ultimately settle for 3. Otherwise he didn’t get much pressure in pass rushing situations, he lost contain on a running play which created a cutback lane, and he was flagged once for a penalty.
Curtis Lofton: B (2.83) His biggest play was of course the fumble recovery, which was huge. He finished second on the team with 7 tackles, though his pursuit sideline to sideline seemed a little slower than usual. Having a speedy running QB had something to do with that.
Keenan Lewis: A (2.71) Not much he can do on the third and long he gave up to Kelvin Benjamin for a first down near the sideline, Benjamin was too tall and the ball was thrown perfectly. The coverage on that play was good. Otherwise, Lewis was in man to man situations in single coverage on Benjamin throughout. Newton went to him medium, deep and short. He tried everything. The result was 10 targets yielding 2 catches for just 18 yards. Lewis completely shut him down on the heels of shutting down Jordy Nelson. He finished with 3 tackles and 3 defended passes and played a monster game. He also came off his man on a deep ball to blow up Jerricho Cotchery and break up what would have been a huge gain deep into Saints territory. He may not come up with high interception totals but I’d be hard pressed to think of a Saints corner in recent memory who played at this level. On the deep balls especially he could not have played them more perfectly.
Corey White: B+ (2.12) For back to back weeks he’s come up with an interception, which is a great sign. I will say his coverage on the pick was actually poor and he got beaten pretty routinely, but he was fortunate the ball was dropped and fell into his hands. That’s not to say his coverage wasn’t good by and large in this game. And sometimes good fortunate comes to those that create it. He finished with 3 tackles and 2 defended passes. A solid performance, though a more accurate quarterback could have given him more trouble.
Patrick Robinson: B+ (2.28) On special teams and defense alike, he was an asset. He finished with 2 tackles and 2 defended passes, including a tip where he came very close to intercepting the ball. Give him credit, he played a very solid game and has been good lately.
Marcus Ball: D (1.56) He didn’t have a good game the times he was in the slot. He didn’t play the run well and he gave up a huge gain to Cotchery for 47 yards getting roasted. He seems uncomfortable playing the slot in coverage and I’m not sure he’s best suited for that. He had one tackle.
Vinnie Sunseri: C+ (2.42) He finished with 1 tackle and played a little bit on defense. Seemed to be in the right places and I’d like to see more of him out there.
Rafael Bush: B- (2.42) He led the team with 8 tackles and had a pass interference penalty. I think sometimes he does make a little too much unnecessary contact with receivers. His angles on some running plays was average, but he tackled well. He did close well on the ball on a handful of plays, too.
Kenny Vaccaro: B- (2.08) My favorite play of his was an option sweep where he annihilated Cam Newton around the line of scrimmage. When a quarterback is going to run like that, you have to make him pay. Vaccaro is still struggling with missed tackles, though, and there seemed to be a couple against the run in this game too. He finished with 3 tackles and overall did a very good job on Greg Olsen the times he was in coverage on him.
Shayne Graham: B- (2.84) Made all four extra points and never attempted a field goal. One of his extra points was barely inside the upright and almost missed.
Thomas Morstead: B+ (3.04) Only one of five kickoffs was a touchback, which is a little surprising. On punts he was outstanding with two punts inside the 20 and not one return. He averaged 46.8 per punt (both gross and net) which is solid.
Brian Dixon: D- (1.60) He was credited with one special teams tackle so I won’t fail him, but two penalties in the kicking game is inexcusable. Not that it mattered because the Saints scored anyway, but he brought a drive that was supposed to start at the 36 with under 2 minutes left in the first half back to the 15. Those are the kind of mistakes that kill a football team.
Todd Davis: A (4.00) For a practice squader that’s had a hard time even staying on that he deserves a lot of credit. He was called up just before kickoff and he rewarded the team with outstanding special teams play. He had two nice tackles and he downed a punt inside the 10. If this is the only grade he gets all season it will be one to remember.
Kyle Knox: C+ (2.33) Give him credit he’s banged up and the Saints needed him with David Hawthorne out as a backup. You could tell something was bothering him towards the end of the game but he did register a special teams tackle.
My Defensive Player of the Game: Keenan Lewis
My Special Teams Player of the Game: Todd Davis
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