It’s amazing to consider that the Saints faced the #1 defense in the NFL (now 4th), gave up 41 points, and won. The turnovers were huge and there were moments here and there – but the absence of Delvin Breaux and Kenny Vacarro finally caught up with them. This was a pretty abysmal showing defensively. Dennis Allen will expect better from his troops the rest of the season. Below are the grades:
Cameron Jordan: B- (2.86) Not his best game and a generous stat line. He had 3 tackles, 2 for a loss, and a sack that was mostly created by the pressure Fairley generated. One of his quieter performances but he flashed. Also seemed to slighty tip a pass in the flat.
Nick Fairley: B (2.76) Finished with 2 tackles was active and one of the more disruptive forces in the game. Combined with Vonn Bell to force a fumble late with great hustle which basically won the game. The Saints have to re-sign him.
Tyeler Davison: C- (2.51) A really quiet day with not much contribution.
Paul Kruger: C+ (2.13) He had 2 tackles and did an ok job against the run, though he spinned upfield to create a running lane on one of the David Johnson running score. Per usual his pass rush was a non factor. His big play was a forced fumble caused stripping Larry Fitzgerald with a head’s up play.
Sheldon Rankins: B- (2.95) Finished with two tackles and a hit on the QB. Not his best day but a decent showing. Made a nice tackle hustling downfield on a screen.
Darryl Tapp: C- (2.33) He had one tackle. A poor showing overall when he was in there.
Kasim Edebali: C- (2.00) I thought he did well in coverage on special teams. I have no idea why he was on the field in goal line run defense situations.
David Onyemata: C- (2.10) Did he even play? I barely noticed. Too often he’s just been a body this season.
Craig Robertson: C+ (2.77) He was clearly injured and it showed in his play. The Saints are just really thin at linebacker – so give him credit for gutting it out and fighting out there. He had 3 tackles and a big time fumble recovery which helped boost his grade.
Dannell Ellerbe: D+ (2.62) Got to Palmer on a blitz once but failed to wrap up and get him down for the sack, instead causing a thrown away. Despite playing a lot he had no tackles. Poor against the run and he really struggled in coverage against Johnson.
Nate Stupar: C+ (2.36) Had some moments before leaving with an apparent knee injury. He had 3 tackles.
Sterling Moore: C+ (2.54) Had a couple nice breakups and did his thing tackling and helping in run support. He had 6 tackles. Was flagged for pass interference at the 2 which I didn’t agree with. He gave up a fair number of completions, too, but competed.
B. W. Webb: C- (2.33) Too many times he allowed J. J. Nelson to blow past him expecting safety help – especially late. That may not be on him in either case, but way too nanchalant there. The touchdown he gave up late was horrible. Like Moore he competed and had moments. He had 4 tackles and a breakup. Started better than he finished. Gave up too much.
Ken Crawley: B+ (2.33) My defensive player of the game. This may surprise some but he was tough in coverage throughout, played the run well, and come up with a huge fumble recovery in a contested pile. I’m a believer in him and I’d like to see him start.
Vonn Bell: C (2.54) He did lead the team with 9 tackles, so that’s something, but he was bad in coverage and overall just poor getting to the football. A game to forget overall. Was roasted for a touchdown by John Brown. Better than most on this unit, though.
Jairus Byrd: C+ (2.33) A decent game, he tackled well for the most part apart from one miss. Gave poor safety help to Webb on a deep ball to Nelson late and was saved by a terrible drop. He had 5 tackles.
Roman Harper: B- (2.11) Good against the run, ok in coverage, and he had a good blitz and a nice shot on Palmer being disruptive up the middle. He had 3 tackles.
Wil Lutz: A (2.67) He’s been playing really well since the addition of Kevin O’Dea. He went 2 for 2 on field goals (long of 39) and 6 for 6 on extra points. He did a good job on kickoffs too for the most part. He’s 21 for 21 on all attempted kicks (FGs and PATs) since the addition of O’Dea. All his kicks had good lift and trajectory. I’ve been encouraged lately.
Thomas Morstead: D+ (2.98) He only had one punt and it was terrible. A 30 yard that went out of bounds way early. The small sample size hurts his grade here. I gave him a plus because the kicking game drew two offside calls and he may have be responsible for the snap count sell.
Tommylee Lewis: B (2.34) Two kickoff returns for an average of 20 yards per return. Sadly that’s enormous for the Saints and better than what we usually see. He was very disruptive clogging on return lanes in coverage and had a tackle.
Shiloh Keo: C+ (3.00) Not tackles but like Lewis I thought he was disruptive congesting lanes.
Chris Banjo: A (2.67) Two tackles on special teams in coverage.
De’Vante Harris: B- (1.81) Had a tackle in coverage and was active.
My defensive player of the game: Ken Crawley
My special teams player of the game: Wil Lutz
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