With the destiny of the Saints 2015 season all but confirmed as not including any post-season excitement, it was almost ironically inevitable that the team would go on and put in one of their most committed and complete performances this season when the pressure was effectively off in Tampa Bay. Payton & Co should be commended for ensuring the Saints played as hard as they did with little on the line – although in a similar vein it also raises questions as to why the Saints couldn’t reach similar heights in previous weeks when a trip to the playoffs was still being dangled as a tempting and achievable carrot.

Anyway, for this write-up we’ll be focusing on each player’s performance during Sunday’s trip to Tampa. Read on to see our individual player grades and snap counts for every Saint who took the field, as well as The BoiLa’s take on what led to the Black & Gold finally picking up win No. 5 of the 2015 season.

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

Despite the Saints 2015 season being pretty much dead in the water, the memo didn’t seem to make it through to the offense on Sunday. Brees and Co put in a ruthlessly efficient and tenacious performance that kept Tampa’s defense guessing all afternoon on their way to a 24-17 victory. With the pressure effectively off regarding the importance of Sunday’s result, the offense certainly looked as if a burden had been lifted – avoiding many of the mistakes and miscues that had plagued their 2015 campaign. It was actually New Orleans’ first turnover-free performance since Atlanta in Week 6, and only the third such time this feat had been achieved this year.

Brees himself was on point. Errant throws were few and far between, as #9 completed 76% of his passes for 312 yards and 2 TDs. The offensive line also deserves credit for Brees strong display, with all bar Zach Strief grading positively in pass protection. Lelito especially looked in fine form going up against a somewhat hobbled Gerald McCoy, and Andrus Peat continued his development in promising fashion. We may have criticized Payton’s decision to throw Peat into the starting lineup ahead of Lelito for a pivotal game against Texans (and there’s no denying it didn’t work out on that day), but since that game there has been a visible improvement from Peat week-on-week, which can certainly only be a positive sign for the future (even if Peat switches back to Tackle as expected at some stage).

At running back, Tim Hightower deserves high-praise, too. Getting his first regular season NFL start since 2011, the veteran showed little sign of rust – racking up 85 yards and a TD during a punishing 28 carry run out. After Hightower was deemed surplus to requirements at New Orleans early on in the 2015 season, many (and us included) thought that may have been the end of the road as far as the running back’s NFL career was concerned. However, with Robinson and now Ingram done for the season, the door has opened again and Hightower has confidently strode through. On Sunday’s showing, there may well be a chapter or two left in Hightower’s NFL story.

Mixed in with Hightower’s success on Sunday, CJ Spiller’s absence was contrastingly conspicuous. Another nondescript display from Spiller, with the running back showing little spark on his 6 touches. 14 weeks into Spiller’s debut season in New Orleans, it’s hard to put any other spin on it that he hasn’t been worth the $2,000,000 cap hit in 2015. With that figure rising to $4,500,000 in 2016, some tough decisions may need to be made regarding the Saints backfield going forwards.

Receiving-wise, Willie Snead returned to the field on Sunday and had no problem picking-up where he’d left off. With 798 yards on the season, Snead still has an outside shot of hitting 1000 yards on the year (despite missing last week’s game). That’s not a bad effort considering Snead didn’t even have an NFL regular season catch to his name going into Week 1. Everything we’ve seen from Snead this year, from his route-running to his run blocking, have pointed towards #83 having all the tools to have a long and successful career as a possession receiver in the NFL. One player at the other end of his NFL journey is likely Marques Colston – who put in one of his best performances of the season on Sunday. Colston ran the tough crossers/stick/hook routes in the middle of the field, earning every single one of his 36 yards. Seeing Colston pick-up 2 TDs on “goal-to-go” downs was also pleasing, although at the same time made us wonder why we had to wait until Week 14 for Colston to finally find the endzone in a redzone situation. With Snead, Colston (and also Ben Watson) dominating the Saints aerial attack (27 targets/20 catches/228 yards/2 TDs combined), Brandin Cooks’ day was spent with him mostly annexed outside the numbers. #10 totaled just 3 catches for 29 yards on the day (5 targets) as part of a quiet showing.

DEFENSE

Statistically, Sunday’s performance in Tampa was the best of the season for the Saints defense. Allen’s unit held the Bucs to just 291 yards of offense and 17 points, on route to their second road victory of 2015. After giving up 500 yards and 41 points to the Panthers just a week ago, it was a welcome (and long overdue) step in the right direction. Individually, aside from the ever-consistent Delvin Breaux and Cam Jordan, there was no real “standout” for the Saints defense in Florida. It was very much a rugged, collective team effort that defeated the Bucs. Along the defensive line, Tyeler Davison reprised his role at NT again with John Jenkins still ruled out through injury. The rookie put in another good performance, in particular as a run defender. Although the box score shows Tampa rushing for 115 yards on 19 carries, 24 of these came on Winston scrambles, and bar a few breakdowns and missed tackles the Saints did a strong job in run defense anchored by their line. With John Jenkins questionable this week, it will be interesting to see how the NT snaps are apportioned once #92 returns. Our sense is that Davison has done enough to earn more extended playing time alongside Kevin Williams to close out the season. On the edges, Bobby Richardson had one of his better “all round” games of the year and Cam Jordan had a typically effective performance on route to 7 QB hurries. Lean pass rushing specialist Obum Gwacham added a sack to complete a solid day for the Saints D-Line. Dennis Allen’s preference is clearly to keep a base defensive line of Jordan-Williams-Jenkins-Richardson, with Gwacham-Jordan-Edebali-Kikaha used on obvious passing downs. The added stability this brings seemed to help the defensive line on Sunday. The linebacking group was dealt a huge boost this week with the return of Dannell Ellerbe. Despite only getting a modest “fairly good” grade for his own performance, Ellerbe’s presence seemed to give the entire defense a boost. He was used sparingly – solely in nickel and dime situations – but on these downs the Saints had good success. Ellerbe unquestionably helped improve the Saints coverage over the “short middle” area of the field. The Saints have continued using predominantly zone defense to cover the middle under Dennis Allen, but have lacked the personnel to protect against quick short passes. This week the Ellerbe/Anthony combination held Winston to 3-7 passing for 31 yards on short passes (10 yards or less) over the middle of the field. A highly impressive effort. James Anderson continued his role as WLB in the base defense after an encouraging start against the Panthers, with Hau’oli Kikaha playing a “dual role” as SLB in the base defense and DE in the dime package. Kikaha assisted on Gwacham’s early sack, but overall will probably be slightly disappointed that he was unable to repeat his more dominant week 2 showing against the same Tampa offensive tackles. In the secondary, the Saints welcomed back Delvin Breaux after he missed most of the Panther game with a hamstring injury. His importance cannot be understated – this week he was as “shut down” as he has been at any point this year. Jameis Winston rarely even looked (let alone threw) in Breaux’s direction. In fact, #40 was only really targeted once (in Q4, on an incomplete pass that looped off the fingertips of Mike Evans with Breaux in close proximity). Winston clearly struggled having his preferred target effectively “unavailable” when lined up opposite #40. Rookie Damian Swann also made a welcome comeback in the secondary – beginning the game as the dime back on a limited snap count. By the time Swann had got fully into his stride in the second half, Dennis Allen was happy for him to play a series as the base defense CB2 alongside Breaux late in Q3. Unfortunately this was Swann’s last full series, as he suffered a concussion and left the game. It was unclear why Swann came into the game at CB2 for that series – although a starting duo of Breaux-Swann seems preferable to the other alternatives available at present. Both Brandon Browner and Kyle Wilson graded negatively on the day, with both picking up key (drive-extending) penalties on the first Buccaneer TD drive. Aside from a few lapses from #39, the coverage from Browner and Wilson was largely sound on the day though – with Allen seeming to use a heavier dose of zone coverage in his playcalling in Tampa. At safety Jairus Byrd put in an improved performance at FS after a disappointingly anonymous game in the Superdome against Carolina, whilst Kenny Vaccaro was slightly subdued (but did little wrong).

——————————-

Missed any of our other Saints Player Grades, Snap Counts and Analysis articles from the 2015 season? You can check out each week by clicking on 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 Analysiser

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

Week 7: Saints @ Colts – Player Grades, Snap Counts and Analysis

Week 8: Saints vs Giants – Player Grades, Snap Counts and Analysis

Week 9: Saints vs Titans – Player Grades, Snap Counts and Analysis

Week 10: Saints @ Redskins – Player Grades, Snap Counts and Analysis

Week 12: Saints @ Texans – Player Grades, Snap Counts and Analysis

Week 13: Saints vs Panthers – Player Grades, Snap Counts and Analysis

To receive an instant e-mail notification every time we post up our weekly Saints grades and snap counts then be sure to subscribe to The BoiLa using the box in the sidebar or at the bottom of the page.

And finally… if you want to keep up to date with what’s going on with The BoiLa on Twitter you can hit us up on: @CrAwFiShBoiLa.