Rejoice, Who Dat Nation, for the Black & Gold are finally in the win column. After 3 painful weeks, the Saints got their first victory of 2015 on Sunday night against the Cowboys. It was hardly the type of “prime time” domination that we’ve grown accustomed to since 2006, but with 0-4 staring the Saints in the face it was nonetheless a crucial victory. After missing a 30 yard chip shot to end the game in regulation, the Saints had to rely on an 80 yard C.J. Spiller overtime walkoff to finally put away the resilient Cowboys. Why was it such hard work to see off an injury-ravaged Dallas team? Read on below for our full written analysis, player grades and individual snap counts from the week 4 tussle with the Cowboys.

For those of you viewing our Player Grades for the first time, our Player Performance Grading System uses a 9-point color-coded 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)

For the offense on Sunday, it was again a rather disjointed affair. Drew Brees returned under center, but was evidently still troubled by the rotator cuff strain that kept him out of the Carolina clash. In saying that, he still got the job done. A mid-game lull that dragged on to encompass much of the 2nd and 3rd quarters threatened to de-rail Brees’ comeback game. Brees looked lethargic, missing a fair number of throws while checking down on all the others. Thankfully though, Brees rode it through, and came out all the better for it for the final 20 or so minutes of the game. Most impressive was the 8-play, 69-yard drive at the end of regulation that took just 99 seconds. If it wasn’t for Zach Hocker’s brutal missed field goal, it would have been a game winner. Brees didn’t let that disturb his thought process though – immediately picking up on a mismatched Damien Wilson and hitting Spiller for the 80-yard score. If Brees comes out against Philly like he finished on Sunday, the Saints should be in a good place.

On the flip side though, if the O-Line come out against Philly like they started against Dallas, the outlook won’t be so rosy. Senio Kelemete had a particularly rough outing at the hands of Tyrone Crawford on Sunday night. Max Unger failed to build on the promise he showed against Carolina, while Zach Strief had a couple of “down plays” where he was beaten on the outside in a fashion all too familiar to what we saw on numerous occasions against Tampa. Of the other starters, Lelito, and especially Armstead, can at least escape with some credit. Lelito showed character to bounce back after a bad showing last week against the Panthers, while Armstead was quite obviously hindered by a leg injury sustained at the end of the second quarter, and still didn’t give up a sack in 68 snaps. Incredible.

Of the backfield stable, Mark Ingram was the work horse – leading the Saints running backs in snaps (41), carries (17), targets (7) and catches (6). Ingram did a great job as he churned up the field at an impressive 4.5 YPC. There were some “unlikely” contributors involved in Ingram’s ground success as well – none more so than Andrus Peat who came in and tore up the second level out of the Jumbo (3 OT/2 TE) set when called up in the 4th quarter. Josh Hill also did some damage out of the same formation, while Marques Colston and Willie Snead also graded out positively in run blocking on the day. Khiry Robinson had a bit of a down day, receiving his lowest number of snaps and touches on the season. As for CJ Spiller… welcome to New Orleans.

For the wide receivers, it was another largely unspectacular showing. Brandin Cooks was effectively taken out of the game by Morris Claiborne – picking up his worst grade of the season. Colston at least put in an error-free performance, which was certainly preferable to the drops and miscues that have plagued him in earlier weeks, while Brandon Coleman fell further back in the pecking order, gaining just 19 snaps, 2 targets and 1 catch on the day. The main beneficiary of Coleman’s (and Colston’s… and Cooks’) struggles has certainly been Willie Snead – whose snaps rose this week to a season high 48. Snead again looked the part on Sunday, leading the Saints receivers with 89 yards. There can be little doubt now that Snead is the undisputed WR3 on the depth chart, whilst making yet another case for even more playing time going forwards.

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)

With Akiem Hicks surprisingly traded to New England earlier in the week, Sunday gave us our first look at the Saints new base defense. Along the defensive line, fast-improving rookie Bobby Richardson got his first start, and continued his strong start to the year. Richardson is a highly-talented run defender, and put in yet another highly disruptive performance against one of the strongest offensive lines in the league. Kevin Williams was also effective against the run. The key disappointment was John Jenkins, who looked outmatched by Cowboys Center Travis Frederick, but overall it was an impressive showing up front against the run. After giving up 59 rushing yards on the first two plays from scrimmage, the Saints D-Line held the Cowboys to just 56 yards on 26 carries the rest of the way. In terms of pass rush, only Cam Jordan had any kind of success, as the Saints struggled to win with a 4 man rush against the Cowboys talented line. Blitzes were more effective, with LB Stephone Anthony and DE/OLB Hau’oli Kikaha picking up sacks, but the base pass rush still looks dangerously limited for the Saints.

Anthony and Kikaha’s success wasn’t just limited to those 2 sacks, either. Both rookies had strong “all round” performances in the Dome on Sunday night. Anthony is continuing to improve and clearly learning with every game. His decision-making on Sunday was excellent, and he did a far better job of evading blockers and shooting gaps in the running game. Hau’oli Kikaha could enter the “defensive rookie of the year” discussion before long if he keeps up his current level of play – he was highly impressive again against Dallas. Outside of the rookies, LB Dannell Ellerbe made a welcome return (albeit on a limited snap count). Conventional wisdom would suggest Ellerbe eventually replaces the ineffective David Hawthorne in the base defense. However, Rob Ryan seems to see the upside in having the veteran Hawthorne (who is highly familiar with Ryan’s scheme) alongside Stephone Anthony in the base defense. Our sense is that we will continue to see Hawthorne lining up as the base WLB for at least a few more weeks.

Perhaps the most intriguing part of Sunday’s game was seeing how Rob Ryan used his talented stable of CBs with Keenan Lewis returning to action. In the base defense, Ryan had Breaux as CB1, on an island with Cowboys #1 WR (Terrance Williams) for much of the day. Breaux stepped up admirably, although needs to learn to turn his head to avoid unnecessary flags (particularly in the redzone). Browner was relegated to a CB2/specialist role. His coverage shortcomings were yet again displayed, when #39 was left in “one-on-one” coverage with Brice Butler and duly torched for 67 yards. Rob Ryan simply cannot allow Browner to be put in those situations any longer – it is abundantly clear that he cannot be trusted in single coverage outside. Browner was far more effective, though, when he was shifted inside to blanket TE Jason Witten on 3rd downs. Rookie Damian Swann continued to play nickel back, but had a poor game against the nifty Cole Beasley. Meanwhile, Keenan Lewis was his usual solid self, with Brandon Weeden hardly even bothering to look #21’s way. How Ryan uses the 4 CBs when Lewis is fully healthy – which could be as soon as next week – remains largely uncertain. Based on Sunday, though, we would tentatively suggest that Breaux has usurped Browner as a starter in the base defense.

Also in the secondary, the Saints welcomed back safety Jairus Byrd on a limited snap count against Dallas. He provides a clear upgrade at safety. The reports of Kenny Phillips release on Tuesday would suggest that Byrd will almost certainly be “full go” in Philly next week. It’s a tough break for Phillips, but with the Saints in the unusual situation of having to find an emergency punter, something (or someone) had to give.

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If you missed our Grades, Snap Counts and Analysis from the first two weeks 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

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