A win is a win. The Saints scored 31 points in regulation and drove 80 yards for a winning score in overtime to find a way to steal this game. Based on that the offense deserves a lot of credit. The offense rushed for 140 yards (4.8 per carry) and added 371 through the air. While that kind of production is every bit of what they needed to pull this game off, this game would have come to them so much easier without the mistakes. Drew Brees’s three interceptions were all horrible in their own right and the Saints have to do a much better job taking care of the football. It’s extremely rare to lose the turnover battle by two and still find a way to win a game. Unfortunately the Saints are making a habit out of losing the turnover battle in each and every game. It starts with Brees either accepting a sack, throwing the ball away (like out of bounds, I mean, not shoveling ducks) or trying to run. Despite the injuries to Jimmy Graham and Jonathan Goodwin, give the unit tons of credit for getting the points in the 4th quarter (and overtime) to help get this one. Hopefully everyone gets healthy after the bye week and the Saints are in a good position to build off this win. Below are the grades with the letter grade representing the player’s performance in the game and the GPA representing the cumulative season performance to this point.
Drew Brees: C (2.53) This is really hard to grade. On one hand I’m tempted to fail him for the mistakes. I feel like he’s gotten away from the shovel/flip as he’s getting tackled a couple times over the last few seasons and now he’s trying to do it every time he’s getting sacked. That needs to stop. I have to concede that those clamoring about the lack of arm strength might be on to something, too. He just doesn’t have the zip on his throws downfield that he used to. Is it the oblique injury perhaps? With the Saints up 13-0, it felt like they were going to cost to victory. Then Brees throws a horrific interception floating a ball to the sidelines up 13-3 just before halftime as he’s getting sacked. That made it 13-10. He followed that with a pick six on a similar situation that put the Saints immediately down 13-24. Give him credit, he rallied and the offense never quit. But again the deep ball failed him at the end of regulation with an open Meachem who had a step. A grossly underthrown ball for his third pick. Then he drove the Saints down the field 80 yards for the winning touchdown in overtime. He finished 35 for 57 for 371 yards, 2 touchdowns and 3 interceptions. He needs to play better but he gets a C because the offense scored 37, they won and made plays when it mattered most.
Khiry Robinson: A- (3.00) He started well, had a large period in the middle of the game where he was completely neutralized, and he ended with a bang. He had 21 carries for 89 yards and the game winning touchdown in overtime on an 18 yard score where he broke a few tackles. He ran hard in this game and had great ball security throughout. He also caught a screen pass for 8 yards and I think the Saints should utilize him more in the passing game because the opposition doesn’t expect it. I gave his grade a big boost for the winning score in overtime because that was an incredible run and making the big play at the right time trumps anything else.
Pierre Thomas: A+ (3.00) There reached a point in this game where every Saints fan felt like he needed to see every touch for the remainder of the contest. Literally just go wildcat, let him take it out of the shotgun, and run. This was a vintage PT performance, one of the best of his career. When the game looked over and the season up in flames, he threw the team on his back and salvaged this game. He had 4 carries for 35 yards and a touchdown and 8 catches for 77 yards and another score. Let this be a lesson to both Sean Payton to always include him in the gameplan (that phase out in Dallas was ridiculous!) and let this be a lesson to Mickey Loomis to retain him. If Thomas doesn’t accept that pay cut, the Saints are 1-4. As simple as that. 12 touches simply wasn’t enough. His screen ability continues to be an art form, his ability to break tackles is up there with any back in the league and his x factor “little things” ability helps win games. Just awesome.
Travaris Cadet: B- (2.13) He had just 3 catches for 19 yards but they all felt very useful. The biggest was of course the touchdown where it capped a drive that brought the Saints back within 24-20. That sent the message that they weren’t going away or quitting, and it was a big 3rd and goal reception there. His return game continues to be poor, though. Despite a 15 yard penalty before one kickoff return, he still only got to the 25. I did see him take one return out of the end zone and end up at the 21. For him that was exciting. He had 3 returns for 76 yards at an average of 25.3. The touchdown helps his grade a bit.
Austin Johnson: B- (2.47) We’re going to have to start calling him Mr. Automatic on those short yardage carries. His lone rush for 2 yards moved the chains again. I think he’s 6 for 6 on the season now. Otherwise his lead blocking was spotty. Sometimes positive other times not as much. I can’t believe Erik Lorig remains out with no practice time whatsoever on a “sprained ankle”. And yet he still holds a roster spot. Johnson isn’t all world but he’s filled in nicely. His seal block on the game winning run sprung the play and was great.
Marques Colston: C (1.93) His first catch was pretty remarkable. He got behind the defense on a ball slightly overthrown and outstretched his hands to make a spectacular grab and run. He finished with 3 catches for 63 yards. He had a big reception early in the overtime period to get the drive going. That’s what he did well. At the end of regulation he seemed to catch a ball that likely would have set up a game winning field goal attempt, but the ball was knocked loose as he was tackled. Shades of the Falcon game, and he was really fortunate that wasn’t ruled a fumble. He was also targeted in very tight coverage in the end zone and he almost makes a circus catch but couldn’t come down with the football. Every game it seems like he’s mixing in mistakes with the plays he makes. Like Brees he just can’t seem to play a clean game start to finish. His blocking was good.
Kenny Stills: D+ (2.00) He had 1 catch for 16 yards on the opening drive of the game beating Alterraun Verner. He couldn’t have gotten off to a better start, then he completely disappeared. His two other targets were an overthrown uncatchable high ball and a drop where on a route over the middle he lost concentration bracing for a hit. That’s a catch he just has to make. When the offense drops back to pass 57 times and Stills is only targeted 3 times, it’s clear he’s not getting open. There’s not a whole lot of chemistry between he and Brees right now.
Brandin Cooks: B- (2.67) The Saints are trying to get the ball in his hands as much as possible but the results are mediocre right now. He seems much better to me as a classic receiver down the field where he runs pretty good routes and has good hands. The bubble screens, punt returns and gimmick stuff just doesn’t suit him right now. I will say he looked good on a couple of end around runs with 2 carries for 15 yards. He had 9 catches for only 56 yards and a post safety punt return of 12 yards. To his credit he seemed comfortable making secure fair catches this week. To me he’s been by far the best receiver on the team through five games (not including Graham who is of course a tight end as rules just this offseason) and that’s not saying much.
Robert Meachem: D (1.73) Four targets, no catches. All were on deep balls where Brees just couldn’t put it in the right spot. On a couple of occasions he had a step on his man. But it’s not all on Brees, because Meachem has speed but not much else (and even that is fleeting). His catching is limited to trapping the ball against his body and he’s just not a guy that can go find the ball in traffic and make a play. One pass early was well thrown and Meachem had a step but Verner came back to make a great breakup at the last second. At what point do the Saints try someone else? They’ve kept 6 receivers on the 53 man roster and refuse to give Joe Morgan or Nick Toon a chance. Meachem hasn’t been much of an asset this year. To his credit he did get the Saints a big 3rd down conversion thanks to an illegal hands to the face penalty from his defender. Meachem was also flagged himself for an illegal block. He also registered a tackle on the last interception to make sure Verner went nowhere.
Jimmy Graham: C- (2.93) He had 2 catches for 36 yards on 5 targets. Two in particular were very catchable balls in traffic where he doesn’t make the contested play. He left the game with an injured shoulder and would not return. Fortunately the offense didn’t need him to win this game, but Brees struggled without him.
Ben Watson: B+ (2.33) He did drop one ball down the sideline that was catchable, but overall a very valuable contribution. He also threw a fantastic block downfield on a couple touchdown runs, most notably on the game winner. He finished with 5 catches for 43 yards, none bigger than an 11 yard reception on a 3rd and 9 play in overtime. Without that catch the Saints probably don’t win. He stepped up big with Graham out.
Josh Hill: A- (2.94) He continues to make the most of the time he gets on the field. He too had some valuable blocking, 3 catches for 53 yards and yet another tackle on special teams. He’s a very valuable part of the team and ended up being a terrific find by the Saints’ scouting department.
Terron Armstead: A- (3.00) Showed no signs of the concussion issue that prevented him from playing in most of the Dallas game. He looked so fast moving his feet around the edge and despite not much help he held up incredibly well in pass protection. He didn’t have the physical push in the run game you’d like to see, but his ability to seal the edge is impressive. The guy is already a solid left tackle in the league. What a terrific 3rd round draft pick he’s turning out to be.
Ben Grubbs: B (3.07) Was terrific pulling on the screen plays, laying some devastating lead blocks. He even took out his own teammate Goody on the PT screen score. His pass protection was largely clean, but he did allow Brees to get pressured at times which caused one of the interceptions.
Jonathan Goodwin: B (2.93) I thought he played very well before going down with a leg issue. He pulled well on the screens and was solid in both pass protection and physically on the interior. Before the injury his ankle seemed much better than last week. Unfortunately he’s had a rough go getting banged up. The bye week should do him a world of good.
Jahri Evans: C- (2.80) Gerald McCoy often gave him everything he could handle. Evans struggled to get much push and I’ve frankly never seen a defensive tackle successfully bull rush Evans like McCoy did on a passing play. McCoy was very disruptive on the interior. He had 2 tackles for losses and 4 QB knockdowns, one which resulted in an interception as a direct result of his hit. I’d grade him worse, but his blocking on the Pierre Thomas run was as good as it gets. Do yourself a favor and watch that.
Zach Strief: B- (2.67) Seemed to get injured at some point and was replaced for a couple plays by Bryce Harris but he returned quickly. Strief’s toughness can never be questioned. A balanced performance in most phases, though a few runs to his side were pushed into the backfield. He gave up some pressure but Brees avoided it well. A decent performance overall.
Tim Lelito: B+ (2.17) I thought his fill in for Goodwin was excellent. He was physical, on point and reliable. If anything happens long term he feels like an experienced and capable backup to the three interior positions right now.
Offensive Player of the Game: Pierre Thomas
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