On the surface you may look at 24 points and think “oh it wasn’t that bad!” but it was. The defense was as bad as ever. Brian Hoyer did whatever he wanted for the most part. Late in the game the run defense improved and the Saints sent 5/6 guys on every third and long which helped them get off the field. The pass rush with 4 guys was absolutely non existent. This defense is lost and they clearly have no idea what they are doing. The front is struggling, the linebackers are confused and slow, and the back end grabs on for dear life on almost every play. It’s a miracle when they don’t get caught. You get the idea… Here are the grades:
Cam Jordan: B (2.70)
He finished with 4 tackles and a sack. By no means was this his best game, or even a good one, but he’s one of the few guys on the field you have to account for. The effort was there as always and he played the run pretty well. Besides the sack he struggled to generate much of a pass rush.
Bobby Richardson: C- (2.43)
He batted a pass that would fall harmlessly into the waiting arms of a receiver. How typical is that of this season? He finished with 3 tackles and really didn’t produce much. He wasn’t good against the run and he was completely neutralized on passing downs. This guy is a nice complement rotational guy who should be playing some but I’m just not seeing an NFL starter out there. At least not on a consistent level.
John Jenkins: C+ (2.54)
He had 6 tackles and another highly involved game against the run. He does move pretty well and show effort. It’s mixed with mistakes, though, and he did not push the pocket at all on passing downs.
Kevin Williams: C- (2.30)
His pass rush was ok as he hit Hoyer twice but he just looked slow. His run defense was poor and he finished with 1 tackle. He also jumped offsides on 3rd and 1 which is criminal. He seems to be making less of an impact in these games lately. I’m wondering if the wear of a season and the high number of snaps is affecting him.
Tyeler Davison: B- (2.21)
I actually very much liked his run support when he came in. He finished with 3 tackles around the line of scrimmage. He’s a decent sub.
Kasim Edebali: C- (2.06)
Neutralized completely once again. What’s happened to him? He had 1 tackle.
Tavaris Barnes: C (1.92)
He had 2 tackles. Continues to be average at best rushing the passer.
Hau’oli Kikaha: D- (2.33)
He still looks hurt. He looked slow in pursuit and was a disaster in coverage. He had 3 tackles. It’s hard to evaluate him honestly with the bad wheel but his development of late has been discouraging.
Stephone Anthony: B- (2.58)
A decent bounce back game after that disaster against the Redskins. He was second on the team with 10 tackles including 1 for a loss. He had a big hit on Hoyer on a blitz. I wish the Saints would blitz him more. He was spotty in coverage again.
Ramon Humber: B- (2.70)
Had a clear shot at Hoyer on a blitz where he completely whiffed. Showed his usual grit on special teams where he’s been excellent this season. He finished with 9 tackles and got to play a good amount. Got victimized in coverage but played hard.
Michael Mauti: C+ (2.52)
The effort was there and he’s a good tackle but he just doesn’t have the athletic skill or speed to make a true impact on this defense. Finished with 7 tackles including one for a loss.
Delvin Breaux: B- (2.61)
Played well in coverage but those two penalties on the opening drive of the second half were a death blow to the Saints’ chances. He finished with 4 tackles including one for a loss. Give him credit for helping the Saints really limit DeAndre Hopkins’s impact.
Brandon Browner: C+ (1.79)
Early in the game Hoyer victimized him on a couple 3rd down passes. And, of course, he couldn’t help himself from getting flagged on Jairus Byrd’s interception return. No way he can allow a positive play like that to go untarnished. I was ready to fail him at that point but then he finished the game very well. He was actually lined up on Hopkins more than Breaux and really limited his impact. He had a good coverage on a couple 3rd down throws and broke up a fade to the end zone intended for Hopkins nicely. He also did a good job against the run. He finished with 4 tackles.
Kyle Wilson: B- (2.11) Did a good job in coverage on a deep ball. He finished with 2 tackles and had decent coverage.
Jairus Byrd: A- (2.46)
A pretty active game from Byrd. He came very close to recovering a fumble, he had his first interception as a Saint on a beautiful diving catch and returned it 24 yards. For a second there I thought my prediction that he’d get his first INT and run it back for the Saints’ first defensive score since 2012 almost came true. He also helped produce Cam Jordan’s sack with a timely safety blitz on the edge. He played ok on the back end. Finished with 7 tackles and as miserable as this game was from start to finish, I have to admit it was nice to see.
Kenny Vaccaro: B+ (2.76)
Don’t look now but Vaccaro has taken over as the defender with the best GPA and he may beat out Cam Jordan for my defensive player of the year award. That will be a fun battle to watch up until the end. He was beaten for a touchdown in coverage on Ryan Griffin but that is mostly on the pass rush for allowing way too much time for Hoyer to throw. Otherwise he was one of the few defenders really giving it his all. He was all over the field and hustling as much as he could. He led the team with 13 tackles. His coverage wasn’t always great but he was a physical, sure tackler and he forced a fumble.
Kai Forbath: A+ (2.73)
You know, I’m not even going to complain about his kickoffs because he hit a 57 yard kick. I still can’t believe he nailed that perfectly. That’s the 3rd longest field goal in Saints history behind Tom Dempsey (63) and Morten Andersen (60). Another rare bright spot in this game. He also hit from 30. I think he’s on solid ground in terms of his roster spot at the moment.
Thomas Morstead: B- (2.82)
A busy day with 6 punts for a 46.8 average. While he did set up opportunities for return, his gunners did a good job on the whole. His net was 41.7, which is good, and two punts were inside the 20 with no touchbacks. I was surprised to see 4 of his 6 punts returned, though. After that bad game by Brees he now has the highest GPA on the team.
Marcus Murphy: B+ (2.36)
His lone return went 12 yards, so a good job there. He also did an excellent job inside the 10 faking the gunners by mimicking that he was fielding the punt to slow them down. Three times he suckered them into touchbacks that way.
T. J. Graham: D (2.11)
He did have one reception on offense for -1 yards on a screen. He had a 15 yard penalty as a gunner for running out of bounds and not coming back in. A rough day in limited action. He finished with 2 tackles.
Brian Dixon: B (2.71)
As a gunner he had a fantastic tackle on Mumphery the returner to limit him to no gain. He’s had a very solid year on special teams and he’s not that far behind Morstead for the best GPA on the unit.
Jamarca Sanford: B+ (2.46)
Appeared to cause a fumble on one kick return and fought hard to recover the ball. He finished with 2 tackles.
My Defensive Player of the Game: Jairus Byrd
My Special Teams Player of the Game: Kai Forbath
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