The Saints gave up 291 yards and 17 points. I never thought I’d be able to type something like that ever again. Maybe Dennis Allen is starting to make a difference? If nothing else, this game gives him hope for landing the defensive coordinator job full time in 2016. The success this unit and the team has with Dannell Ellerbe is on the field is curious, as well. He’s a good player and all but it’s not like he’s a Pro Bowler either. The Saints defense wasn’t always great and the penalties in the secondary continue to be a major issue but this is as good as it gets for the team right now. Below are the grades:
Cameron Jordan: C+ (2.74)
He had one tackle which was near the line of scrimmage on a running play thanks to good backside pursuit. He also drilled Jameis Winston once outside of the pocket and tipped a pass. He was the most consistent pass rusher but this wasn’t his best game.
Bobby Richardson: B- (2.42)
His run defense was excellent, especially early, and he finished with 2 tackles. His pass rush continues to be neutralized but he showed good effort.
Kevin Williams: C- (2.33)
He received a game ball for his 200th career game appearance but he didn’t offer much on the field. A very quiet day, just one tackle.
Tyeler Davison: C- (2.18)
After an impressive game last week he was quieter this week. One of Doug Martin’s big runs was due to a huge hole opened up as he got swallowed at the point of attack. Too often he offered cutback lanes. He did make two tackles around the line of scrimmage, though.
Tavaris Barnes: C+ (1.93)
He had a couple of quarterback pressures and a hit on Winston. From a pass rush perspective this was probably the game where he was most noticeably causing disruption. Progress.
Obum Gwacham: B (2.20)
He’s showing some flash and he can thank Kikaha for forcing Winston into his sack. He had 3 tackles, the sack, and an important special teams tackle on Bobby Rainey to prevent a nice return from going any further. A solid day.
Kasim Edebali: D+ (2.00)
He had one tackle and the pass rushing specialist seems to have disappeared. He’s really struggling to make an impact lately.
Hau’oli Kikaha: C (2.33)
He helped the sack happen and had decent pressure a couple of other times – which struggling to get a pass rush going at other times. He didn’t contribute much statistically and had 1 tackle.
Stephone Anthony: B- (2.69)
A quietly solid game by the Saints rookie. He had 3 tackles but ran well sideline to sideline and did a good job in coverage.
James Anderson: C+ (2.17)
Spotty in coverage and better against the run. He had 4 tackles.
Dannell Ellerbe: B- (3.00)
Led the team with 6 tackles. Also had a nice timed blitz to force an incompletion on 3rd down. Was physical against the run and did a solid job there. Was slow in coverage and beat a couple times and his blitzes later in the game weren’t impactful. Was roasted by Sims down the sideline on a deep ball but thankfully Winston overthrew it. I don’t know what it is about his presence but the Saints are 4-1 when he plays and the defense does better. He did look a little slow and left the game briefly with yet another issue. He really struggles to stay healthy.
Delvin Breaux: A (2.82)
Jameis Winston didn’t even bother looking his way. Until the Bucs got Browner on Mike Evans, he never saw the football for the second consecutive time playing the Saints. Breaux also helped in run support with physical hits. He had 2 tackles and provided blanket coverage all game. He’s now the highest graded defender and looks to win DPOY over Jordan (Ellerbe hasn’t played enough games to qualify).
Brandon Browner: C+ (1.69)
Not that bad of a game. Was called for defensive holding on Austin Sefarian-Jenkins but I thought that was a soft call. Once again he’s punished by reputation. He had good coverage on a deep ball that he should have intercepted but dropped it going to the ground. Was beaten on a couple passes by Evans but he did a good job of getting in his head and drawing a personal foul penalty. He had 3 tackles.
Kyle Wilson: D- (1.97)
He was the “Browner” defender with two idiotic personal foul penalties and a holding call for 3 penalties. He also had some terrible second level tackling. Too bad, because he had gotten off to a good start in coverage with a 3rd down breakup. He had 1 tackle.
Damian Swann: B- (2.53)
Made a fantastic tackle short of the sticks by a yard on a 3rd down play. Did a good job in coverage and finished with 4 tackles. Was beaten once. Sadly he was concussed yet again and we have to assume his season is over. That’s his 3rd concussion this season and one would have to think his career is in question. Hopefully he’s ok. What horrible luck because he was such a promising cover guy as a rookie.
Brian Dixon: C- (2.60)
Was beaten by Donteea Dye late but was fortunate to see a horrible drop. Once the ball was bobbled give Dixon credit for finishing the play. The Bucs would never see the ball again so that drop was huge and won the game – but Dixon needed better coverage. Failed as a gunner to track a couple punts by Morstead before they could bounce for touchbacks.
Jairus Byrd: B+ (2.37)
His last line of defense tackling was excellent, particularly on a couple long runs by Doug Martin. He finished with 5 tackles. He was good in coverage and showed better awareness and speed to the ball than usual. He had one pass breakup on a 3rd down throw where he came out of nowhere to close on a ball and make a fantastic play. Fielded a couple punts safely going to the ground.
Kenny Vaccaro: B- (2.72)
Had a roughing the passer penalty that was unfortunate. Was pretty good in coverage and physical. Drew an offensive pass interference. He finished with 2 tackles and a defended pass. Also had a hit on Winston on another blitz. Decent showing but quiet.
Kai Forbath: A- (2.67)
Was 3 or 3 on PATs and hit a 23 yard field goal. Also did an excellent job on kickoffs with only one not going for a touchback.
Thomas Morstead: C- (2.67)
Had four punts for an average of 43.8. Two of those punts were inside the 20 and two were touchbacks, with no returns. Unfortunately the two touchbacks give him a net of just 33.75 which for him is poor. Typically he’s excellent at having backspin on the ball to bounce it back away from the end zone but that didn’t happen here. He didn’t get much help from his gunners, though.
Marcus Murphy: C (2.31)
He had one punt return for 6 yards and also saw a carry on offense for 0 yards. He then left with an injury.
Jamarca Sanford: C- (2.37)
Normally a valuable gunner, he failed to make an impact and struggled to pin Morstead’s punts by not tracking the ball.
My Defensive Player of the Game: Delvin Breaux
My Special Teams Player of the Game: Kai Forbath
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