I have to say I’m surprised the Saints held the Ravens to 34 points (7 of those weren’t even the defense’s fault) given how bad they played. This defensive performance could’ve easily resulted in a 50 point yielding. It was that bad. The team’s ability to stop the run has gone from marginal to incapable. After what Jeremy Hill (27 carries for 152 yards) and Justin Forsett (22 carries, 182 yards, 2 touchdowns) just did to the Saints, the idea of facing Le’Veon Bell (who just rushed for 204 yards against the Titans!) and the Steelers next week is beyond terrifying. Could he rush for 250 in one game against us? The Saints can’t do much of anything right at this point defensively. It’s clear they miss Rafael Bush, it’s clear the loss of Brodrick Bunkley made things worse, and it’s clear they just don’t have the linebackers to make a difference. Couple all that with major regressions from Cam Jordan, Akiem Hicks, John Jenkins and Kenny Vaccaro… and well, it makes for bad defense. Real bad. Here are some horrific but deserved grades to chew on…
Cam Jordan: C (2.39) He had 4 tackles, including one for a loss. He was one of the very few players that held his ground well against the run. What I don’t understand is what has happened to him as a pass rusher? He was so good last year and now he can’t seem to get pressure. He’s just not the same player we saw last year. In his defense he was much better than most.
Junior Galette: B+ (2.39) He’s one of maybe two players on this unit that I can say showed up in this game. His pursuit rushing the passer was consistent and relentless. His run defense was exposed more than once but his hustle was important. He finished with 4 tackles, a sack, and he should have caused an interception hitting Joe Flacco as he threw if David Hawthorne could corral the easiest of floaters.
Brodrick Bunkley: C+ (2.24) He was injured and it looks like it will cost him the season. Another starter on defense done for the year due to injury. The Saints missed him very obviously in the trenches. He had 1 tackle and played decent run defense before leaving.
Akiem Hicks: C- (2.33) So up and down. His whole season has been a mix of decent, pretty good, awful, mediocre, you name it. He’s just all over the place right now and his effort isn’t consistent. There are times where he gets completely mauled and it makes for big lanes. Other times he gets mad, focused, and makes the play in the backfield. The Saints are really missing consistency with him. He was flagged for a facemask and 3 tackles (1 for a loss).
John Jenkins: C- (2.21) The Ravens pushed him around. With significant playing time filling in for Bunkley he looked out of shape and poor in technique. He finished with 3 tackles, including one for a loss, but in general his push up the middle wasn’t effective and the Ravens did a good job moving him.
Tyrunn Walker: C- (2.24) Came in most on passing downs and had no impact whatsoever. Didn’t impress against the run, either.
Kasim Edebali: C+ (2.04) Mostly played on special teams but played defensively late. Both of his tackles were downfield in pursuit. He did nothing of note but I give him credit for at least hustling. It’s more than I can say than most guys.
David Hawthorne: D (2.43) He finished with 6 tackles and a defended pass. The “defended pass”, by the way, was a dropped interception gimme pick six. That ball could hit him in the hands 100 times and he’d catch 99 of them. He also had an easy shot at Forsett one on one in the backfield on a dump off and blatantly missed the open field tackle. His run defense was very poor and he looked slow sideline to sideline. He’s looked poor since returning from injury.
Curtis Lofton: B- (2.76) Tied for the team lead with 7 tackles, including one for a loss. At times he over pursued the play which led to big lanes, but he was physical and engaged. I’d put him up there with Galette as the guys that “showed up”.
Parys Haralson: C- (2.46) He had 4 tackles and a nice pressure on Flacco blitzing. Like Hicks he was very up and down against the run. At times he looked solid and other times he struggled with missed tackles. His coverage was poor.
Ronald Powell: C (2.50) Someone screwed up and cost the Saints a timeout by not being on the field, and Powell ran out to get his first snap with the defense. Nice to see the draft pick finally getting some non special teams action. Hopefully he sees the field more soon. Nothing of note in this one.
Keenan Lewis: D+ (2.54) Clearly he’s not right physically because this was his worst game of the season. He was beaten on crossing routes, slow closing in on the football and he was beaten by Torrey Smith with regularity. I guess it’s a good sign he played a lot more than last week, hopefully that means he’ll continue to get better. He finished with 3 tackles. He was also flagged for defensive pass interference against Steve Smith when their feet got tangled up. How that’s pass interference, I will never understand. That might have been the biggest mistake by the refs in a horribly officiated game both ways.
Patrick Robinson: C- (2.30) Early on his coverage was decent as Flacco went more towards White, Dixon and Lewis. Late in the game, though, Robinson started to revert back to his early season woes with poor coverage, big cushion, and horrific tackling. He finished with 5 tackles and a defended pass. By the end of the game we were reminded why he’s not fit to be a starter, although he likely presents a better option than anyone else at this point.
Brian Dixon: C (1.79) He was beaten on a touchdown pass to Smith where he has perfect coverage and Smith comes up with a circus catch. I still contend he didn’t fully secure possession of the football until his back was out of bounds, but alas. Otherwise Dixon did ok. He had 1 tackle and downed a punt inside the 20.
Corey White: C- (1.94) He played sparingly and the only coverage of note was a deep ball to Smith where he was beat. Hard to blame him too much on that, though. The coverage was good, he was right there, he turned his head to the ball and Smith just made a tough contested catch in traffic. I’ve seen White look a lot more foolish. That was his lone tackle.
Pierre Warren: C- (1.67) This one is tough to grade because from top to bottom he really was horrible. He looked like the undrafted rookie that he is. He led the team with 3 missed tackles, took horrible angles, and anytime Forsett reached the second level Warren would blow the play wide open. Hard to expect much more from him in his first start when he’s been away from the team for ten weeks. The Saints really missed Rafael Bush in this game because he would have cleaned up a lot of those second level runs for the unit. Warren was tied for the team lead in 7 tackles by virtue of running after people as the last line of defense. So his first start deserves a D- but he does come up with a huge hit, forced fumble and recovery at the one to save a certain score and keep his team in the game. Say what you will about playing badly, if you’re creating turnovers that’s more than anyone else on this unit is doing. Because of that alone I’m giving his grade a boost. But make no mistake, other than that play, Pierre Warren was a complete disaster. On a day where everyone struggled, he struggled the most.
Kenny Vaccaro: D+ (1.85) I don’t know what to say about this guy anymore. I wish he’d go back to playing the slot because strong safety doesn’t suit him. Steve Smith owned him on second level blocking, there were more missed tackles, bad angles and little benefit. He finished with 4 tackles. Another really disappointing performance from the 1st round pick. He was also flagged for a personal foul on Steve Smith which was crazy. Either they both get flags, neither do, or Smith is more deserving. How Vaccaro walks about with the penalty at that point is pure insanity and unforgivable from a referee decision standpoint. His coverage was pretty good.
Marcus Ball: B- (1.78) Played sparingly on obvious run downs to try and help support and it worked a little bit. I wish the Saints would have had him in the mix a little earlier in the game on obvious running downs. He’s not great in coverage but he’s physical. He had one tackle for a loss.
Shayne Graham: B+ (2.94) Another perfect day on kicks, 3 for 3 on extra points and he hit field goals of 20 and 34 yards. He’s 17 of 18 on the year and has been one of the very few pleasant surprises this season. I’d say he’s earned his spot back for next year. His onsides kick attempt was well hit, too, the Ravens player just went up and made a good play on the ball but the Saints had a decent shot at recovering it the way it was hit. Despite an easy degree of difficulty, good execution all around.
Thomas Morstead: A (2.97) Did a fantastic job of taking Jacoby Jones out of the game. He finished with a 48.7 yard gross and net average on 3 punts, with one downed inside the 20. Jones had no yardage (in part thanks to a penalty). On his kickoffs Jones took a couple out that were 9 yards deep, so Morstead started kicking them out of the end zone to put that to an end. Lost in this horrible game is how well Morstead played. He’s closing in on Mark Ingram for the best GPA on the team.
Jalen Saunders: C+ (2.33) He had one punt return for 7 yards. Based on what we’re used to that probably deserves an A. He did struggle with Sam Koch’s weird knuckle ball punting style and allowed one punt to go past him and roll for 73 yards. I’m glad he’s the return guy, though, and I’m anxious to see if he can make an impact in the return game in these games coming up. I’d like to see him on kickoffs too.
Jamarca Sanford: B- (2.67) Played a little big on defense and didn’t look too good but made a beautiful tackle on Jacoby Jones at the 15 on a kickoff he brought out. Really nice special teams play there.
Moise Fokou: B (3.00) Hit Jones for a loss on a punt return with a nice special teams tackle in his first game as a Saint.
My Defensive Player of the Game: Junior Galette
My Special Teams Player of the Game: Thomas Morstead
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