The offense scored 28 points and put the team in a position to win with a 46 yard field goal with about a minute left. You could say they did their job but that would be ignoring the grossly disappointing performance by the offensive line. Despite a true commitment to running and sticking with Mark Ingram, the Saints only finished with 61 yards on 27 carries. As if that wasn’t pathetic enough, Brees was hurried, beat up and sacked four times. The front five deserves a much blame for this loss as anyone on the team. They were pretty much manhandled by the Titans front and it got worse and worse as the game wore on. Only Drew Brees’s crazy form allowed the Saints to make plays at times. Below are the grades:
Drew Brees: A- (3.08)
Annihilated on a couple hits, include some roughing calls, sacked 4 times and pressured throughout, Brees found a way to mostly keep his surgical form. Especially in the first half until the offensive line start to cave more and more. Brees did the most with what he has to work with and it was almost enough for a win despite this trash defense and kicking game. Brees has zero help. He’s holding this team together in a lot of ways by himself. He has average receivers, no defense, a poor kicking game, no running game… it’s incredible the Saints are 4-5 and in most of their games. His interception in the end zone, though, was terrible, and unfortunately it takes points off the board. I’ve said this before – this team has no margin for error. It’s unfair to Brees, but that mistake is costly. He finished 28 for 39 for 387 yards, 3 touchdowns and 1 interception. He also rushed for a touchdown. It really was vintage Brees and a fantastic display of toughness, save one horrible play. Without the pick he played A+ quality.
Mark Ingram: C- (2.71)
He didn’t have much room to work with on the ground but he doesn’t have explosiveness hitting the hole. I liked his tackle breaking ability more on the pass catches he had in the open field but on the ground he didn’t seem to break much. He had just 54 yards on 22 carries. Payton tried hard to get him going and it just never happened. He had 4 catches for 42 yards. Good ball security.
C. J. Spiller: C- (2.38)
Either he’s hurt, he’s in the doghouse, or Payton just wanted to try sticking with Ingram for a game. They certainly could’ve used more of his involvement. What I didn’t understand is that Khiry Robinson goes down for the year and the Saints give him even less reps. Ingram really was leaned on hard. Why pay all this money to Spiller to not use him? He had 2 carries for 8 yards and 1 catch for 2 yards. That’s it, 3 touches. He did a bad job on the pass to outrace Brian Orakpo for a first down at the marker, instead trying to cut upfield which led to him getting stuffed short. But this is a guy that once rushed for 1,200 in a season. The guy can run the football. I just don’t understand why he didn’t get an increased workload when Ingram was getting stuffed. Spiller has run so little that when he’s in the game it feels like a pass tell… so why not run with him a little?
Ben Watson: B+ (2.96)
Continues his steady and solid play. He has sure hands, good routes and continues to impress as the clear cut starter. 5 catches for 60 yards. Some big 3rd down conversions to keep the chains moving.
Josh Hill: B- (2.07)
Finished with 2 catches for 21 yards and a touchdown a play action bootleg roll out. Same play for both grabs, and he showed good athleticism after the catch. Was flagged for a blocking too early on a 9 yard pass to Spiller, though, and his blocking was mediocre. He’s not producing at anywhere near the level we hoped or expected but he’s steadily gotten a little better.
Michael Hoomanawanui: C+ (2.13)
Finished with 1 catches for 1 yard, doing a good job getting in the end zone there. Had a drop on one target. Blocked poorly at times and really didn’t help in the running game. I wonder if the Saints feel like they miss Austin Johnson after waiving him (he’s still on the practice squad).
Marques Colston: B- (2.13)
He wasn’t heavily involved with the big commitment to the run but gave the team a nice boost. Most importantly he caught the ball well and handled it securely. You could tell defenders were aware of his issues because they went after the ball often to no avail. He had 3 catches for 37 yards on 3 targets. Got big 3rd down conversions. He’s playing better of late.
Brandin Cooks: B (2.70)
Was blowing by people early. Smoked his defender on a 38 yard touchdown pass and seem to get open with ease early. The Titans took notice and did a good job on him as the game progressed. Finished with 4 catches for 71 yards and a touchdown. A solid contribution but he isn’t able to take over the game. Was flagged for a blatant holding penalty on the edge. His chemistry with Brees appears to be improving which is encouraging.
Willie Snead: B+ (2.96)
Continues to pace the Saints passing attack. Sadly Brees missed him wide open on a crucial drive. He led the Saints with 6 catches for 95 yards. He’s a workhorse for the team and runs very reliable routes to go with his reliable hands.
Brandon Coleman: B (2.11)
Two big catches for 58 yards downfield. He was targeted on another deep throw that was a very tough catch by the sideline but make-able. He catches that and he probably gets an A.
Terron Armstead: C- (3.05)
This might be his worst game of the season. At one point he rotated right and left Orakpo to go unabated at Brees and just blast him untouched. He was flagged twice, once for a false start and once for a phantom holding call. I can’t even dock his grade for the hold the call is so ridiculous. His pass blocking was very spotty, though, and his run blocking was non existent. Not a great game and he seems banged up to me. Brees narrowly passes Armstead as the highest graded player on offense for the season, by the way.
Tim Lelito: C- (2.08)
Such a hard game to grade. At times he was clearly one of the best guys on the line and at others he was a complete disaster. He was clearly responsible for one sack and possible responsible for another. His run blocking was really up and down. Continues to be extremely inconsistent in his play.
Max Unger: C (2.89)
The poorest game he’s played too. He collapsed the pocket in pass pro a couple times by getting run over. I saw some decent things but I wonder if he was hurt too. He wasn’t his usual and recent self in this game. I did like his help rotating over to Evans.
Jahri Evans: C- (2.78)
Clearly not the player he used to be. Nothing doing on running plays. Pass protection was good at times but he needed Unger to bail him out at other times.
Zach Strief: B- (2.00)
Pretty good pass protection overall. Kept Brees’s front side edge pressure wide enough to allow him to step up most times. Like the rest of the line, nothing was going on run blocking.
Senio Kelemete: C+ (2.00)
Filled in for Unger on a snap and I was shocked to see the Saints force him to snap out of the shotgun. Luckily that went smooth enough. He was the edge blocker with little to no success on jumbo plays in the red zone.
My offensive player of the game: Drew Brees
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