Finally, a “W” for the 2016 Saints.

There was more than a hint of good fortune about it (thank you, Travis Benjamin), but at 0-3 it was sorely needed. Both the defense and offense played their part – with the D holding the Chargers to just 1.8 YPC and generating 3 turnovers, and the offense making it count when needed, converting on over 60% of 3rd downs and going a perfect 5-5 in the redzone. Crucially, the defense held firm down the stretch, as the Saints clung on to a big 35-34 road victory in San Diego.

As usual, we’ve spent the week analysing the all-22 game tape, tallying up snap counts, and working out individual grades for every Saint that took the field in Southern California on Sunday.



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 easier to read).

If someone asked you last week which team would win on the road this weekend with a 49/51% run pass split, a QB throwing for just 207 yards at 63% completion (including two picks) and a fullback who would be their top points scorer on offense, I’m willing to wager none of you would have suggested our Saints. Fast forward a few days, and the above is exactly what did transpire as the Saints offense just about managed to end up on the winning side against San Diego in what was an uncharacteristically balanced and conservative display.

Drew Brees’ return to San Diego certainly ate up most of the column inches heading into Sunday’s game, but despite making his way out of “SoCal” with the W, Brees didn’t quite have the fairytale return to Qualcomm Stadium that many presumed would be written in the stars. Whether handcuffed by an atypically run-heavy Payton/Carmichael gameplan, wary of John Pagano’s creative and blitz-happy defense or limited by injury (or potentially due to a mixture of all three), #9 struggled to find his rhythm this week.

Now, Sean Payton has always been a strong advocate of a short-passing “West Coast” philosophy on offense, but the main boon of such a scheme is that it can be interspersed with a dose of “shot” or deeper plays that are designed to catch the defense off guard. The Saints are usually particularly devastating on these deeper passes, but the offense we saw on Sunday was bereft of this “shot” play element, with Brees attempting just 3 (extremely unconvincing) passes of more than 20 yards all game. Even with the Saints down by 13 fro a large portion of the second half, Payton/Carmichael instead chose to lean heavily on the run game, with Brees dealing almost exclusively in short slant, shallow crossing and out routes. It seemed perplexing at the time – and watching it back, the most logical conclusion has to be that Brees picked up some kind of hidden “ailment” that handicapped him (and thus the Saints gameplan) during the second half. The win is no doubt the most important thing here – but without two guilt-edged San Diego fumbles – it was looking rather doubtful that the Saints offense had the second-half impetus to be able to get it done alone.

Moving on to other position groups, and with Brees (literally) not firing, the Saints wide receivers had a quiet time of it, combining for just 125 yards between the 5 of them. In contrast, the surprising way in which the Saints instead leant on the power running game allowed us the rare opportunity to witness Mark Ingram acting as more of a “workhorse” back. And on Sunday’s showing – the evidence was positive – with #22 making good use of his 24 touches to contribute 105 total yards and at TD. Sticking with running backs, what also caught our eye is that on the rare occasions the Saints did elect to use a change of pace/3rd down back, Daniel Lasco’s number was called more times than the somewhat-maligned Travaris Cadet’s. With the rookie Lasco presumably becoming more comfortable with the Saints playbook week-on-week, it will be interesting to see if this trend continues after the bye-week. If it it does, it could well be an ominous sign for Cadet’s continued prospects in Black & Gold. Fullback John Kuhn certainly deserves a mention in this paragraph as well following his standout 18-point performance. The Ex-Packer looks to be an astute addition, and is no doubt a contributing factor to a Saints offense that ranks third in the NFL in red zone TD scoring percentage through four games (81% – for comparison the Saints finished the 2015 season averaging 60%).

Blocking wise, the offensive line were serviceable in pass protection when faced with some fairly creative San Diego blitz packages, although admittedly they were rarely overtly tested due to the quick release nature of the Saints passing attack. We did get a few more stand out performances when run blocking though, with Zach Strief and Andrus Peat in particular both flexing their muscles as the bookends of the offensive line. At tight end, Chris Manhertz and Landon Turner also received some extended playing time as additional run blockers and made a string of encouraging contributions between them for relatively inexperienced campaigners.

DEFENSE

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

After last week’s ugly viewing in primetime against Atlanta, it was perhaps not surprising that Dennis Allen opted to change things up on defense in San Diego. High-priced safety Jairus Byrd was unceremoniously benched, and Allen opted for the untested duo of Craig Robertson (MLB) and Nate Stupar (WLB) as his linebackers. The results were mixed. The Saints still surrendered 34 points and 321 passing yards to Philip Rivers and the Chargers (albeit with 57 of these coming on a blown play by Ken Crawley and Vonn Bell that gifted Dontrelle Inman a TD). However, the new-look D did have a few more positive flashes. They held the Chargers to just 38 yards rushing (on 21 attempts, no less). And back-up BW Webb hauled in the first Black & Gold interception of the year, to complement 2 earlier fumble recoveries by fellow back-ups Darryl Tapp and Nate Stupar. Most importantly, the Saints D held firm down the stretch, to earn a “W” for the first time in 2016.

Most of the Saints success on defense stemmed from some very good play along the defensive line. The unit unquestionably benefited from the return of NT Tyeler Davison, who missed the disastrous MNF blowout against Atlanta. It was positive grades across the board up front this week, as the Saints line won (and at times dominated) the Chargers banged-up O-Line in the trenches. The Saints D-Line had 3 sacks, 4 TFLs and numerous (on our count 15) hurries and hits on Philip Rivers. The presence of a pass rush was a welcome change from previous weeks. Cam Jordan and Nick Fairley continued their consistent campaigns, each enjoying solo sacks, with Fairley splitting another (with Paul Kruger). Allen used a far heavier rotation than in previous weeks – with Onyemata, Edebali and Tapp all seeing their highest snap counts of the year. This was partly forced by a Paul Kruger back injury, but nonetheless seemed to pay dividends for the performance of the unit as a whole. We’d expect to see more of the same style rotation after the bye-week.

At linebacker, struggling MLB James Laurinaitis was sidelined which left Dennis Allen with a tricky dilemma. Conventional wisdom would suggest Stephone Anthony – who played his entire rookie season starting at MLB – would be the obvious replacement. However Allen opted instead to shift Craig Robertson into the MLB role, and start Nate Stupar at WLB. It got worse for Anthony, as he was also benched from his starting SLB role, with Allen preferring special teams captain Michael Mauti again. Quite where Anthony fits into this defense, and this team, is an increasingly looming question. At this point it looks highly unlikely that the 2015 first round pick will be anything more than a spectator in Allen’s defense. With Anthony firmly on the sideline (alongside Laurinaitis and perma-hurt Dannell Ellerbe), the linebacking group put in a (now familiarly) mixed display. Both Robertson and Stupar were excellent against the run, combining for multiple stops and helping to hold the Chargers to just 1.8 YPC. In coverage, the duo were far less stellar, with Rivers completing 11 of his 13 passes “between the tackles” down the middle for 114 yards. Those easy yards at the heart of the defense were very much due to sub-par coverage play from Robertson and Stupar – a problem that has haunted the linebacking group all year. Ellerbe’s return may assist slightly in that regard, but it looks set to be a weakness that opponents will continue to exploit.

It was all change at safety this week as well, as starting duo against Atlanta (Harper and Byrd) were both benched in favour of the returning Kenny Vaccaro and rookie Vonn Bell. Vaccaro hardly missed a beat on his return, as he continues his strong start to the season. It was the change at the FS position that was far more contentious. There had been murmurings all week that Byrd was set to be dropped, and it proved the case, as the highly-paid FS played just 15 situational snaps. To his credit, Byrd nearly added a spectacular INT (outleaping 6’5 TE Hunter Henry in the endzone), but the play was brought back for a Fairley offside. But the shift to “situational relief” (mostly in the redzone) is a staggering fall from grace for the once-prized Byrd. The Saints are stuck with his contract, but credit should go to Dennis Allen for being bold enough to make the change. His replacement Vonn Bell had a rather “rollercoaster” debut in the starting lineup, costing the Saints 6 points with a glaring missed tackle on Dontrelle Inman in the first half, but also contributing several key run stops in the box. Bell is a more dynamic and active defender than Byrd, who prefers to play away from the ball and “hawk” (although we have seen scant evidence of such ability since his arrival in New Orleans). Once Bell becomes more settled in coverage, he will be an exciting player to watch. Byrd can hopefully still contribute as a “ballhawk” in the redzone.

The cornerback group saw another steady display from Sterling Moore, who looks a free-agent steal at CB. Ken Crawley had an altogether tougher afternoon, but it was only a few (key) plays that hurt his grade, and the rookie’s coverage was otherwise sound. De’Vante Harris wasn’t used on defense, as Allen went exclusively with 3 CBs on the day, using BW Webb in obvious passing situations. Webb added the Saints first INT of the year – albeit an easy play – but a fitting way to seal the “W”.

Want to check back on Saints grades and snap counts from previous weeks? We’ve listed links to each game in 2016 so far below:

Week 1: Saints vs Raiders – Player Grades, Snap Counts and Analysis

Week 2: Saints @ Giants – Player Grades, Snap Counts and Analysis

Week 3: Saints vs Falcons – Player Grades, Snap Counts and Analysis

With the Saints bye week coming up this weekend we’ll be taking a break on the BoiLa – but never fear – we’ll be back the following week to give our full breakdown and analysis for Week 6’s divisional clash with Carolina. If you don’t want to have to check back on the website then to see when our grades and snap counts get posted, you can sign up to our free e-mail notification service which means you’ll be sent an e-mail each week as soon as our posts go live. To do so, just click on the “Click to follow The BoiLa” box in the sidebar or at the bottom of this page.

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