Who is this defense and what have you done with our dumpster fire? To be fair I think the effort on the Bears’ offense part was very lackluster. As Keenan Lewis said there was a number of guys who looked like they didn’t really want to play or be out there. Give the Saints credit for capitalizing. Most significant, I thought, the Saints ran a lot of 3-4 with Galette off the field which meant defensive front Chicago hasn’t seen on tape from the Saints. Add that to a quarterback notorious for not making the right line checks and you’ll hit on a lot of blitzes. Nice job by Sean Payton of mixing it up, getting guys to play with emotion, and Rob Ryan designing a new scheme for this one. The Saints put Galette and Vaccaro in situations where they can play to their strengths and took them out when there were plays they could be a liability. Top to bottom this was an excellent performance, but we’ll see if they can duplicate it against a much more potent and performing Falcons offense. Below are the grades:
Cameron Jordan: C (2.45) A quiet game from Jordan. He held his blocks well and stayed steady throughout. He didn’t get the pass rush I would hope to see, though, and he finished with no tackles.
Junior Galette: A- (2.31) Limping at times, his knee is clearly not 100%. That didn’t stop his motor, though. In limited snaps he was on the field almost exclusively to do what he does best. It was nice to not see an offense target him on running downs. His pass rush was fierce throughout and he was constantly in Cutler’s face. He finished with 2 sacks.
Akiem Hicks: B (2.29) Where has that effort and pocket push been all season? His bull rush sack on Cutler was a vintage 2013 Hicks play. Nice to see it back.
John Jenkins: A+ (2.52) Pushed the pocket well, moved well side to side, hustled, and made plays. Give Jenkins a lot of credit, he made a difference in this one. He finished with a team high 7 tackles and 1 sack. He was everywhere and this was without question the best game of his young career.
Kasim Edebali: B- (2.00) The only gripe here is he had a hold of Cutler and should have come up with a sack. He finished with 2 tackles, rushed the passer well and hustled. You’re always going to get effort with Edebali, that is clear on tape.
Tyrunn Walker: B+ (2.33) Fantastic job on the first Galette sack to recognize the screen developing, find the back, and stay in front of him to take away the pass option and buy Galette time to get the sack. He finished with 3 tackles, one of which was at the second level tracking down Forte showing tremendous hustle.
Brandon Deaderick: C+ (1.83) No tackles in rotation play but he was physical up front.
David Hawthorne: A+ (2.53) The Saints blitzed him often with a 3 man front and 4 linebacker set, and he did a great job of timing his blitzes, finding the seam, and putting a big hit on Cutler. He seemed more comfortable in this alignment and he made a nice play in the backfield on Forte at one point. He did a good job closing in coverage too. He finished with 5 tackles and 3 sacks. Fantastic performance by a player that was slumping prior to this game.
Ramon Humber: B (2.33) Finished second on the team with 6 tackles. Showed nice ability to shed blocks and find the ball in run support. He finished his tackles well on throws underneath as well, though his has some limitations in coverage.
Curtis Lofton: C (2.64) Finished with just 3 tackles and didn’t play as well as I’m used to seeing lately. Took a few bad angles in pursuit. Not his best game but he did make one nice tackle on a short yardage running play holding Forte short of the sticks.
Parys Haralson: C- (2.33) No tackles and he didn’t make his usual impact against the run. When he blitzed the edge he was neutralized.
Keenan Lewis: B (2.55) Lewis came up with a couple huge 3rd down break ups against Alshon Jeffery in tight coverage to get the defense off the field. He also had a nice breakup on a fade in the end zone. He finished with 2 tackles and came up a bit against the run too. He did give up some plays late but a notable contribution overall.
Terrence Frederick: B+ (3.33) Who is this guy? He was on the practice squad a week ago and now he’s the starter opposite Lewis. We’ll see if he can confirm this performance against what will be a much tougher test next week, but his play was outstanding. He came up and played the run well, his tackling was good, and his coverage was decent. He came very close to coming up with an interception on a ball that hit the ground. He finished with 4 tackles, including one for a loss.
Patrick Robinson: B (2.39) Made an incredible interception with his fingertips diving off a deflected pass on the Bears’ opening drive. Deserves a huge amount of credit for making a spectacular play. On special teams he had an opportunity to down a punt at the 1 and completely muffed the ball.
Kenny Vaccaro: B- (2.05) Overall he was back in a role that fits him better and I thought his coverage was outstanding. He finished with 4 tackles and didn’t over pursue like he has so often this season. The lone gripe is another late 4th quarter personal foul that’s completely unnecessary as the defense is trying to finish the game. Good bounce back though.
Jamarca Sanford: B- (2.67) Played the run pretty well. A quiet game for Sanford who played in base on running downs. He finished with 3 tackles.
Pierre Warren: A+ (2.58) Played the run well and came up to the play and made a couple physical tackles. Finished with 2 tackles and showed some fantastic ball skills coming up with two interceptions over the top on deep balls. He also had nice run backs on both with 53 yards worth of returns. He’s showing nice playmaking ability, the kind the Saints were expecting from Jairus Byrd.
Marcus Ball: B+ (1.93) A very good showing by Ball who covered well, tackled well and was physical. He did some nice things on specials teams too. He came up with an important tackle before halftime on a big run by Forte where if he misses it it might be a touchdown. He finished with 3 tackles.
Shayne Graham: C (2.74) Was perfect on 4 extra points and made a 25 yarder. Was wide right on a 51 yarder that he probably never should have attempted.
Thomas Morstead: C- (2.98) Probably his worst game of the season, though he didn’t get much help from his gunners pinning punts inside the 10. His net was only 35.4 on 5 punts due to two touchbacks, and his gross was 43.4. He didn’t get the distance on kickoffs either due to the conditions which led to a couple good returns by Marc Mariani, including a 40 yarder. He did get a tackle.
Jalen Saunders: B- (2.59) Did a good job catching the ball cleanly and keeping the football secure. Didn’t get much of a return opportunity with 3 returns for 21 yards but he did a decent job.
Brian Dixon: C- (2.03) Didn’t look great on special teams and got beat for a touchdown late.
My Defensive Player of the Game: Pierre Warren
My Special Teams Player of the Game: Josh Hill
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