What does this Dodo bird and the Saints' defense have in common? Hint: it has nothing to do with feathers.
Sunday night’s 34-14 shellacking courtesy of the Denver Broncos represents one of the worst losses for the Saints organization since the beginning of the Brees/Payton era. Usually following a loss, some positives can be pointed to. After this week’s dismantling, those positives are extremely scarce. The entire team – offense, defense, coaching – was manhandled by the Broncos, who have suddenly become a dangerous threat in the AFC.
PASS OFFENSE: F
For the first time all season, the Saints’ passing game looked below average and ill-equipped for the task at hand. Drew Brees was surprisingly ineffective for the entirety of the game. He connected on 22 of 42 passing for only 213 yards. Two touchdowns were thrown by Brees – a second quarter score to Sproles to tie the score at seven, and a garbage time pass to Jimmy Graham in the waning minutes of the fourth quarter.
The Saints‘ wide receiving corps didn’t make things any better for Brees and the offense. Drops continue to plague the unit, leading to the abrupt end of drives and keeping a tiring, ineffective defense off of the sidelines and on the field. Third down conversions, which are usually a strength of the Saints, were few and far between; the offense only converted once on third down out of twelve chances.
The Denver pass rush, a major concern for the Saints heading into Sunday night’s contest, wasn’t as large of a factor as expected (Brees was only sacked once). Rather, the Bronco secondary provided the physical play that knocked off New Orleans’ routinely potent passing offense. CBs Champ Bailey and Chris Harris played exceptionally well, taking away the deep play off of the table from the game’s onset. Brees was forced to constantly check down to shorter routes, away from primary options.
Overall, the Saints’ passing game was extremely disappointing, to say the least. Brees failed to make much of an impact, and the Broncos showed the league a nice blueprint for shutting down the New Orleans offense.
RUN OFFENSE: INCOMPLETE
The Saints played from behind for most of the game, thus disallowing any resemblance of a running game to exist. Pierre Thomas actually had a decent game, gaining 43 yards on 8 carries. He continues to be the team’s best runner out of the backfield. Mark Ingram continues to disappoint, only gaining 7 yards on 3 carries. Darren Sproles’ production as a runner was even more puzzling; he actually lost yardage on the night, finishing the evening with -1 yards on 4 carries.
It’s difficult to accurately grade the running game when it wasn’t even given the chance to truly be a part of the game-plan, so the running game gets an “incomplete” this week. As long as the defense continues to be pathetic, the Saints’ running game belongs on an endangered species list or on the back of a milk carton. Speaking of things that have been missing…
PASS DEFENSE: F-
F- isn’t even a real grade. I don’t care. If there was ever a time for something to warrant an F-, this is it. The Saints’ pass defense has been absolutely putrid this season. The weekly ineptitude of this unit is absolutely stunning. A non-existent pass rush? Poor tackling? Blown assignments? Check, check, and check.
The progress shown over the past three weeks now seems in the distant past after Sunday’s game. Peyton Manning absolutely torched the Saints, amassing 305 yards and 3 touchdowns on 22 of 30 passing. The Broncos’ signal caller had virtually no pressure on him at all for the entire evening, allowing gobs of time to find the open receiver. Demaryius Thomas took advantage of the overwhelmed New Orleans secondary, having a career night with 137 yards on 7 catches and a touchdown score.
Unless there are drastic, wholesale changes for the Saints’ pass defense, this team will be on the losing end for the majority of the remaining games on the schedule. With the current defensive structure in place, Brees and the offense have to execute perfectly. They didn’t against Denver, and the 34-14 end result shows.
RUN DEFENSE: F
Willis McGahee had his way with the Saints’ run defense, totaling 122 yards on 23 attempts and a touchdown. That impressive 5.3 yard per attempt mark by McGahee allowed for the Bronco offense to basically dictate the pace, flow, and structure of the game. Denver won the time of possession battle by nearly eleven minutes, mostly in part due to the dominant running performance.
Ronnie Hillman provided a nice change of pace, speed element to compliment the forceful, physically domineering style provided by the aforementioned McGahee. Hillman’s production (86 yards on 14 carries) resembled something expected from a starting running back, not a backup option.
The Broncos ran the ball for a total 41 times on the evening. The Saints had no way of stopping the assault. The defensive front was pushed around constantly by the Denver offensive line, allowing large gaps to emerge for Bronco ball-carriers. Missed tackles added to the misery. When the Saints tried to send run blitzes, Manning was able to audible to the appropriate run protection. Overall, it was a truly dismal performance for New Orleans.
SPECIAL TEAMS: C
The only bright spot for the Saints in this game was the play of Thomas Morstead. He averaged 46.3 yards per punt Sunday night, his longest being a 63 yard boot. Morstead might be the defense’s most valuable tool, as he creates difficult field position for opposing offenses.
The return game for New Orleans hasn’t been nearly the threat that is was a year ago, and that trend continued against Denver. No kickoffs were returned by the Saints, and the lone punt that was returned actually netted negative yardage. Darren Sproles isn’t getting the separation that he was last season, leading to longer drives for the offense.
COACHING: D-
The return of Joe Vitt to the New Orleans sideline proved to be inconsequential for the Saints in this one. Offensively, the team looked unprepared and lost. Once the deep pass was taken away from the offense, the team never really adjusted. Defensively, the ineptitude continues. Manning carved up a clueless Saints’ defense, and Steve Spagnuolo was unable to adjust. The only reason that coaching gets anything higher than an F this week? Penalties were minuscule – only three for fifteen yards. That remains the only silver lining to an otherwise embarrassing showing from the Saints’ coaching staff.
