Statement game by both the defense and special teams who carried the team to a win. And despite the offense continually stalling and giving Andrew Luck countless chances to come back, the defense held up. They deserve huge credit. It’s too bad Delvin Breaux fell down twice and allowed deep completions to T. Y. Hilton but more on that later. Below are the grades.
Cameron Jordan: A (2.90)
He now has 5 sacks in two games. Once again he was a menace rushing the passer. He’s starting to live up to that contract he was given. This form alone is turning this unit respectable. What a difference a pass rush makes. Give Rob Ryan credit for moving him around which created more confusion and mismatches. He had 2 sacks, 2 tipped balls and hit Luck 4 times. He put him under constant pressure.
Bobby Richardson: C (2.61)
Was flagged once for offsides and once for a hit on Gore after the whistle. Both hustle plays but he needs to be smarter. He had two tackles, good activity, and a half sack that was set up by Jordan.
John Jenkins: B+ (2.43)
Good effort and pursuit and he did a good job collapsing the pocket. He had 2 tackles and shared a sack with Richardson.
Kevin Williams: B- (2.24)
He finished with 2 tackles and a batted pass. Good contribution and effort. He comes out on clear pass rushing situations but his value when he’s in has helped this defense. He clearly has some football left to give.
Tyeler Davison: B- (2.29)
He did very well pass rushing, collapsing the pocket and getting good push up the middle. He had two hits on Luck.
Kasim Edebali: C- (2.19)
Quiet day will little contribution. He could’ve used more snaps, but his pass rushing is normally more disruptive.
Hau’oli Kikaha: B (2.81)
This guy is a keeper. I remember this comment he made after having a bad practice that he wasn’t really good at combine or practice stuff but when the games come on he plays football. I remember thinking that was a bad sign as a quote at the time, but now I understand what he meant. He just finds the ball and makes plays. He had two tackles on special teams, one which was a forced fumble and one where he went for a strip and came close to forcing out another. The guy just has that “it” nose for the football factor. He finished with 3 tackles and a defended pass. He didn’t do much rushing the passer but per usual he made a meaningful impact. Can’t wait to watch him for years to come in a Saints uniform. He’s quickly becoming one of my favorites. He’s the biggest playmaker on defense and possibly the team.
Dannell Ellerbe: B+ (3.08)
I’ve been real impressed with Ellerbe the last two weeks. This defense needs him and it can’t afford to have him injured. Hopefully whatever issue he left the game for is minor, but he’s been constantly injured since coming to New Orleans. When on the field he was fast to the ball, pretty good in coverage and sure tackling. He finished tied for a team high 7 tackles.
Stephone Anthony: A- (2.52)
What a play by the rookie linebacker! His read and tip drill interception on Luck was a big time moment in the game. He shot the wrong gaps on run support at times but we’ll live with that if he’s getting turnovers, something Curtis Lofton never did. He also had 7 tackles and was active.
Ramon Humber: C+ (2.71)
Filled in for Ellerbe when he went down. He had 1 tackle on special teams and did an ok job in coverage.
Delvin Breaux: B- (2.81)
He was on Hilton pretty much the entire game. This is a really tough one to grade because he gave up touchdowns of 87 and 46 yards. On both deep balls he slipped and fell down. Blame the shoes, bad luck or whatever… but the Colts almost came back from a 27-0 deficit thanks to those plays. That said, Breaux’s performance is A+ outside of those two plays. Hilton finished with 4 catches for 150 yards and 2 scores on 15 targets. That’s a completion percentage of under 27. It’s a shame the plays he did give up were huge ones, but the Saints left him on an island and he handled his business. He finished with 2 tackles, one big one short of a first down forcing a punt, and 3 defended passes with a near interception.
Brandon Browner: B- (1.95)
He got the Saints off the field twice, once on a nice breakup pass to Fleener on 3rd down and once on a monstrous hit on Phillip Dorsett which sadly fractured the receiver’s ankle. He did get a flag on one 3rd down for holding, because of course, and he was beaten once by Fleener downfield in very tight coverage. A pretty decent game overall and he’s starting to find his place in this defense, not exposed in areas where he’s set up to fail. He had 1 tackle.
Kyle Wilson: A+ (2.47)
The game of his life. He took away points with an interception before halftime and he set up a touchdown with a fumble recovery on special teams. His coverage was excellent throughout as the nickel man. He had 2 tackles and 2 defended passes. Glad the Saints kept him on the 53 man roster over Stanley Jean-Baptiste!
Brian Dixon: C (2.59)
His coverage was pretty good, his tackling was excellent and he is always the first guy down as a gunner. And while his special teams is usually solid, he was flagged twice for interfering with the returner’s opportunity to make a catch. What a horrible way to tax your team 30 yards. That has to be better. He finished with 4 tackles.
Jairus Byrd: C (2.00)
He was turned around and made look pretty stupid on the 87 yard play to Hilton. He was a sure tackle when he came up to make stops. Otherwise it was a quiet afternoon. I’m still waiting for a play on the ball. He had 3 tackles.
Kenny Vaccaro: B+ (2.90)
Another very solid game. He’s playing like he did as a rookie, if not better. He’s active, physical, around the ball and smart. He finished with 5 tackles, a sack and a beautiful outstretched defended pass where he read Luck’s eyes perfectly in zone. He also came close to an interception near the sideline on a deflection.
Kai Forbath: D (1.00)
He did a nice job selling the fake field goal. His kickoffs were short, though, and he was flagged once for delay of game on a kickoff which should be a capital offense. I kid… He went 3/4 on extra point attempts and while the miss wasn’t hit fault, can we go a game without missing an easy kick? That’s three missed PAT kicks this year for the Saints if I’m not mistake. One on the kicker, one on the holder and now one on the snapper.
Thomas Morstead: B+ (2.73)
Man, was he missed. He had a very busy day and he reminded us exactly why he’s so valuable and deserves all the money he makes. He averaged a booming 48.7 yards per punt on 10 punts. Half of those were pinned inside the 20. The Colts did get some returns, though, and there was a touchback. He didn’t kick off due to him coming back from injury but hopefully he’ll do that again real soon. His net was a very solid 42.9.
Marcus Murphy: B- (2.19)
He did a good job returning for the most part. McAfee is one of the best punters in the game so he didn’t set him up for great opportunity and some of his best returns were negated by penalty. He averaged 5.5 yards per return on 8 returns. He wasn’t afraid to take a chance and avoid the fair catch. The way he catches punts makes me nervous sometimes, though, but he is explosive. His biggest play was a recovered onsides kick in heavy traffic which helped ice the game.
Justin Drescher: D+ (2.22)
The missed extra point was looming large for a while there. No other way to put it, the timing was disrupted by a high and right snap that forced Forbath to improvise and hook it horrible left. As a tackler downfield he had 1 tackle but whiffed on another.
Luke McCown: A (3.55)
On the missed PAT, give him credit for finding a way to catch the ball jumping up, then bringing it back down to at least give the kick a chance. On the fake field goal he rolled out of the pocket, under pressure, and threw a beautiful touch pass right on the money to Watson despite being on the run and off balance.
Akeem Davis: A (4.00)
Excellent day on special teams for Davis which might earn him a stay on the roster next week? He was credited with 2 tackles, a forced fumble, and he fell on another fumble that was negated by a penalty. Very active game.
Michael Mauti: C- (2.89)
Negated a 19 yard return with an illegal block. Not quite what he did on special teams last week. He did have a tackle on a kickoff, though.
David Hawthorne: B (2.06)
Despite getting bumped from the defense he made his mark on special teams with 2 tackles. He was credited with the fumble on the Kikaha force for knocking the ball slightly loose. He left with an injury, which could be an issue because he wasn’t available to replace Ellerbe when he went out.
Jamarca Sanford: C- (2.25)
He also negated a nice punt return of 12 yards with a block in the back.
My Defensive Player of the Game: Kyle Wilson
My Special Teams Player of the Game: Luke McCown
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