The Saints put up 32 points, put up 473 yards of offense, only turned the ball over once, and yet this was a game with a lot of garbage time stat padding and left us feeling like the offense could have done more. The blocking wasn’t great early and unfortunately the only way the Saints could stay in this game was for it to be a track meet with both teams exchanging scores. The Falcons defense did enough to slow down the offense in the first half to build an insurmountable lead. Still, we saw a some positive things from the offense and they certainly can’t be blamed for this loss. They were offered zero complimentary football by the defense whatsoever until it was way too late. Below are the final game grades for the season for the offense:
Drew Brees: B- (2.94) It was a generous stat line but I think he took a lot of risks and was fortunate to have three clear chances at interceptions dropped. He was 29 of 50 for 350 yards, 2 touchdowns and 1 interception (though he was robbed of one touchdown on a “no catch” by Fleener”). A quarterback rating of just 84.6 for the game. The Falcons did a pretty good job getting pressure on him.
Mark Ingram: A (2.86) He finished with 103 yards rushing on 20 carries to put him over 1,000 for the year for the first time in his career. This capped off a tremendous season that saw him average over 5 yards per carry. He’s had a great season and deserves a lot of credit for it. He added 6 catches for 29 yards. He was a little slow to get started and stuffed near the line of scrimmage at times early, but he had plenty of explosive runs. His 38 yard scamper late on a shotgun draw against a quarters defense inflates his stats but he deserves a good grade based on the season he had. Showed toughness getting in the end zone on his score.
Tim Hightower: B+ (2.58) Didn’t see the ball much but played well. He had 3 carries for 29 yards and score, putting him over 500 yards rushing for the year. 25 came on one run. He also drew a personal foul after his long run – but I’m not sure how he escaped getting flagged himself.
Travaris Cadet: B- (2.31) He had 3 catches for 18 yards and a touchdown. Showed his usual shiftiness and good hands but had trouble shaking Deion Jones in coverage who ran well with him.
John Kuhn: C+ (2.81) Did an ok job blocking when he was in but didn’t play much or make an impact.
Brandin Cooks: C- (2.79) Bottled up well by Falcon coverage. Just 3 catches for 19 yards on 6 targets. A couple targets that were tough catches he couldn’t come up with – arguably drops. Left the game with a concussion. Just couldn’t really make his mark in this game.
Michael Thomas: A (3.04) I’d give him an A+ but he had a drop and was targeted on a jumpball pass in the end zone that was intercepted. The location on the ball was poor but he was unable to break it up. He had 10 catches for 156 yards and 1 touchdown on 14 targets. Brees had a lot of success going his way and he showed his usual tremendous toughness after the catch. It amazes me how Thomas always seems to get up fine from huge hits. He’s been bent some weird ways this year and it’s been nice to see him get up every time. His best play of the game, arguably, was incredible head’s up and hustle diving on a Snead fumble.
Willie Snead, IV: B (2.80) Finished with 3 receptions for 82 yards on 4 targets. Really made the most of his catches and was tremendous after the catch. Took a huge hit and left with a concussion. He fumbled on that play and was fortunate Thomas was able to recover.
Brandon Coleman: C- (2.41) Added 1 catch for 8 yards on 3 targets. Not much to get excited about.
Coby Fleener: C- (2.21) Once again, too inconsistent. Hard to blame him on the “drop”/no score – the rule is stupid. That was clearly a touchdown catch to anyone evaluating football from a common sense standpoint. He had 3 catches for 38 yards on 8 targets. Came up with a beautiful tough grab on 4th and 1 for a conversion. His grade is much better if he scores. I thought this offense was set up to give him career numbers but instead he delivered stats similar to what he did every year in Indy.
John Phillips: D (1.96) Was penalized once. Was also targeted once on a pass that should have been intercepted. A negative contribution with very little to get excited about.
Andrus Peat: A- (2.78) He was the best Saints player up front in this game. I’m really encouraged by what I saw from him this year, especially when I consider how much he was shuffled around the o-line. He was excellent throughout in pass protection. His run blocking was good overall but the big negative was a sweep on 3rd and short where he missed a block that allowed Ingram to get stuffed. This was a good season he can build off.
Senio Kelemete: B- (2.49) The big question for me – can he be a starter next year? Kelemete is a good player. No question he’s a fantastic backup that can play at multiple spots, but he has gotten better every year. He missed a couple blocks that allowed runs and sketchy pass rush situations but overall I thought he was good.
Max Unger: C (2.69) It’s been a tough end of the season for Unger. He allowed pressures and I thought his pass blocking wasn’t as good as usual. Ever since the injury that’s left him limited at a lot of practices, he hasn’t been the same player. He still held up ok, but not dominant like usual.
Jahri Evans: C (2.65) Like Unger this wasn’t his best game of the season. Too much pressure allowed.
Zach Strief: B- (2.98) Gave up some pressures late and a sack but otherwise was solid for most of the game and was the best run blocker on the line. Most of the big runs were behind him.
Tim Lelito: B- (2.52) Was a nice presence off the edge the little he played.
My offensive player of the game: Michael Thomas
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