What a difference a fortnight makes. This time two weeks ago, the 2015 Saints season sat on a knife edge with the Black & Gold languishing at 1-4. The red-hot Atlanta and Indianapolis offenses were on deck, salivating at the prospect of picking apart Rob Ryan’s porous D. Fast-forward two weeks, though, and the Saints have brushed aside both the Falcons and Colts. New Orleans now sit one game from .500, and just one win out of the #6 NFC wildcard spot.

It’s a spectacular turnaround, and any suggestion that the Thursday Night victory over Atlanta was a fluke were emphatically answered in Indianapolis on Sunday afternoon. For 3 quarters, the Saints absolutely dominated the Colts in every phase, opening up a 27-0 lead before the belated Indy fightback in the final period. It was too little too late from Andrew Luck & Co, though, as the Black & Gold recorded a statement road victory. Read on below for our analysis, individual snap counts, and player grades from the Saints first road victory of 2015.

For those of you viewing our Player Grades for the first time, our Player Performance Grading System uses a 9-point color-coded “temperature based” scale to produce an easy to understand visual indicator of the performance of each player on rushing plays, passing plays and in the game overall. You can find a more thorough explanation of our grading system, along with diagrams of what exactly everything means, by clicking here.

And as always, for ease of reference, our 9-point color-coded grading scale is pictured below:

OFFENSE

Editor’s Note: Click on each individual table below to open a full-sized version in a new window/tab (it makes them much easier to read).

Trickery, finesse, power – the Saints offense showed off a little of all three in Indianapolis on Sunday as they simply outmaneuvered the Colts defense. In the early going, Payton effectively let Brees off the leash, allowing #9 to air it out much more so than in recent weeks. The results were mixed as far as completion percentage was concerned (Brees was 5-15 on passes 10+ yards downfield), but what it did do was make an undermanned Colts secondary fearful of the deep ball, and in turn stop them aggressively playing the run.



Initially the ground game had consisted of a number of outside running plays, swing passes and even a double reverse. CJ Spiller and Khiry Robinson were taking the lead. With 11:56 to go in the second quarter though, and with the Colts suitably panicked by the prospect of the Saints deep attack, enter a fresh Mark Ingram, who had just two touches to his name the entire first quarter. The result of that carry with 11:56 left on the clock – a 20-yard gain. The domination had begun.

Throw an offensive into the mix that was back at full strength for the first time since Week 2, and you had a recipe to totally over-power Indianapolis – which is exactly what happened during the middle passage of this game. On the O-Line, Max Unger in particular was pleasingly unrelenting in his victimizing of rookie nose tackle David Parry, while Lelito and Armstead made seamless returns from their respective injuries. The most encouraging thing though; there was no obvious weak link. The Saints were controlling the line of scrimmage. It’s fair to say the O-Line did noticeably tire down the stretch – but by that point – the damage had been done.

With the Saints opting for a number of 2TE/1FB (or 3TE) looks, it meant an extended 52 snap outing for Hoomanawanui – who impressed us with both his lead blocking out the I-Form and conventional tight end play. After a slow start in the Black & Gold, it looks like the Saints may have found a useful hybrid option that can be used at both TE/FB, freeing up another active roster spot on gameday elsewhere when the matchup dictates.

Out at wide receiver, Cooks garnered his most targets in a single game this season (13), and although he turned less than half into receptions (6), this time it wasn’t all his fault. Cooks was getting open – Brees just wasn’t quite finding him. The overthrows were close though, some just mere fingertips away – so it was certainly encouraging to see. In contrast, Willie Snead had his first real “down week” of the year in Indianapolis. What did impress though was the deceptive strength he continues to show as a run blocker – which will likely help ensure he retains a high snap count heading back into the Dome this weekend. Colston made an inauspicious return from the separated shoulder that sidelined him against Atlanta, while Coleman, despite his disappointing lack of production, is at least now holding onto the football on those rare occasions the ball heads his way. With TJ Graham recently re-signed to the roster, it’ll be interesting to see if he can mount any kind of potential challenge to Coleman’s spot on the depth chart.



DEFENSE

Editor’s Note: Click on each individual table below to open a full-sized version in a new window/tab (it makes them much easier to read).

If the 2nd half of the Atlanta game in week 6 offered a fleeting “promising glimpse” of what the 2015 Saints defense is capable of, Sunday’s game in Indianapolis was a full length extended teaser trailer. The New Orleans D flat out owned Indy for nearly 45 minutes, before Andrew Luck staged a mini “too little, too late” comeback in Q4. The Black & Gold picked Luck off twice, sacked him 4 times, and held the Colts’ running backs to just 48 yards rushing on route to their impressive road victory. For the second week in a row, it was the Saints’ pass rush that stood out the most. Cam Jordan was exceptional again, terrorising the Colts’ offensive tackles on route to 2 sacks, (at least) 7 QB hurries and 2 batted passes. #94 was ably supported by Hau’oli Kikaha, Tyeler Davison and Kasim Edebali on the day. With the Saints rushing out into an early lead, the Colts offense quickly became predictable and Andrew Luck found himself under duress on almost 50% of his dropbacks. Rather than relying on the 3 or 4-man base rush, Rob Ryan blitzed early and often in Indy. The gameplan seemed to take the Colts by surprise, and to his credit Ryan simply continued “dialling it up” all day, with Indy never really having an answer to the constant overload blitzes. Anthony, Ellerbe, Vaccaro, Browner and Wilson were all sent by Ryan on the day, with great success. With the Colts’ playcalling quickly becoming one-dimensional, and the Saints blitz-happy pass rush generating consistent pressure, the linebackers still had to hold up their side of the bargain and patrol the middle of the field. Dannell Ellerbe was the most impressive of the group, showing good coverage ability and strong tackling to contest catches and prevent YAC. Now at full health, Ellerbe is unquestionably the “every down” WLB – indeed, David Hawthorne didn’t play a single defensive snap on Sunday (and Ramon Humber only spelled in for 6). Stephone Anthony also continued his steady recent form. Anthony’s interception was an exceptional individual play. Although #50 still looks vulnerable in coverage at times, he is clearly becoming increasingly comfortable with the speed of the game and has almost completely left behind his “hesitant” early-season style of play. The Saints secondary also played a strong part in shutting down the Colts for 3 quarters on Sunday. Indeed, thanks in no small part to their tight coverage, Andrew Luck did not even complete a pass until the 9:08 mark of Q2. Browner was solid at CB, and aside from 2 costly slips Delvin Breaux also showed excellent coverage skills (again). Safety Kenny Vaccaro shone against the pass-heavy Colts offense, but it was CB Kyle Wilson who was the secondary MVP. The Former-Jet hauled in an impressive redzone INT to end the Colts final drive of Q2, and showed consistently strong coverage ability for his other 44 passing downs. With the ever-reliable Brian Dixon also performing well as the CB6 on the depth chart, the Saints cornerback group might just be one of the deepest in the league. Indeed, the only real negative for the Saints was the run defense. Although the Black & Gold held the Colts running backs to just 48 yards on the ground, the Colts RB’s still ran at an impressive 4.8 YPC. Both John Jenkins and Kevin Williams struggled against the run on the interior, but fortunately the Saints early lead was so large that the Colts were forced to effectively abandon the run in the first half. Nonetheless, the rushing yards against will remain a concern for the Black & Gold, especially with the New York Giants’ diverse stable of backs on deck.

—————————–

Missed our Player Grades, Snap Counts and Analysis from the first six weeks of the Season? You can check them out by clicking the links below:

Week 1: Saints @ Cardinals – Player Grades, Snap Counts and Analysis

Week 2: Saints vs Bucs – Player Grades, Snap Counts and Analysis

Week 3: Saints @ Panthers – Player Grades, Snap Counts and Analysis

Week 4: Saints vs Cowboys – Player Grades, Snap Counts and Analysis

Week 5: Saints @ Eagles – Player Grades, Snap Counts and Analysis

Week 6: Saints vs Falcons – Player Grades, Snap Counts and Analysis

And finally… be sure to give us a shout out on Twitter if you want to keep up to date with what’s going on with The BoiLa. You can hit us up on: @CrAwFiShBoiLa.