William Moore’s strip of Marques Colston on the second play of overtime was the dagger in a rough day for the Saints.
With our first weekly grading session, I can imagine the scrutiny that the New Orleans Saints players endured at film study on Monday was much worse than what I have. Honestly, although the offense made a few costly mistakes, they played very well throughout the game. As for the defense, that certainly wasn’t the case. We can all collectively hope that Sunday was the worst performance on the defensive side of the ball that we’ll see all year, because it was flat out bad. With that being said, let’s dive in.
Offense
Passing: A-
Drew Brees made just one mistake all day. Unfortunately, it costed the Saints at least three points which almost definitely could have affected the outcome of the game. On a third and goal, he threw a pass too far behind Brandin Cooks, allowing Robert McClain’s outstretched hands to grab the ball. It wasn’t the smartest pass, but we’ve seen Brees complete that throw many times before. He even said himself that if he leads Cooks, it was a touchdown. Another factor that kept this from being an even better day is the drops. Marques Colston had both of those, with each being crucial. We’ll talk about that more in a little bit. With the bad out of the way, let’s discuss the good. Aside from Brees’ one mistake, he had a very good game. He completed 69% of his passes for 333 yards and a touchdown with the one interception. The only reason he had only one touchdown pass was in large part due to the Saints running the ball inside of the Atlanta Falcons 5 yard line. On the other end of Brees’ passes were multiple solid contributors. Colston led the way with 5 receptions for 110 yard and Jimmy Graham had 8 receptions for 82 yards. Possibly the biggest sign of hope of the day was rookie Brandin Cooks getting very involved right off the bat, hauling in 7 receptions for 77 yards and a touchdown. The only target that he did not catch was the poorly thrown ball that was intercepted. Pierre Thomas was active in the passing game, as expected, with 6 receptions for 58 yards.
Rushing
Along with Brandin Cooks’ impressive debut, another silver lining from this loss was the success of the running game. Saints running backs ran for 119 yards and averaged 4.6 yards per carry, while converting three touchdowns inside of the Falcons 5 yard line. Mark Ingram picked up where he left off in the preseason, rushing for 60 yards on 13 carries and getting two of the rushing touchdowns. Ingram averaged an impressive 4.6 yards per carry. Pierre Thomas received the second most carries with, rushing for 31 yards on 7 touches on the ground and a 4.4 yards per carry average. Khiry Robinson pitched in for 28 yards on 6 carries, one being a touchdown from three yards out. Robinson also boasted an impressive yards per carry average at 4.7. Speaking of Cooks, the Saints ran one jet sweep with him and he picked up 18 yards. Look for more of that in the future.
Saints
Mark Ingram
Ingram continues to make me look good for keeping faith in him after his slow start in the NFL. He even had a slow start on Sunday, then was seen showing a good bit of frustration and emotion on the sideline. Thankfully, he got back in the game and took his frustration out on the Falcon defense. Ingram showed good vision, made great cuts, and fought for extra yardage, especially on his second touchdown run. I’m ecstatic to see what this guy does this year.
Brandin Cooks
I probably gave it away already that he’d likely land in this spot, but oh well. Cooks was beyond impressive in his NFL debut. He looked far from a rookie, instead playing with the skill and confidence of a veteran in his prime. What spoke volumes to me was the amount of trust that not only Coach Sean Payton showed in him, but how comfortable Drew Brees was targeting him early and often. Cooks should be in for a big year.
Sinners
Marques Colston
It’s a shame that Colston finds himself here, because he still had a very productive game despite his miscues. Unfortunately, most people remember the bad over the good, especially when it costs the team the game. Early in the second half, Colston tripped over Paul Worrilow’s foot, causing an incompletion on what likely would’ve been a first down. Not long later, he dropped a wide open pass on 3rd down, which definitely would’ve been a conversion. In overtime, Colston’s nightmare got even worse with a very bad sequence. On first and 10, he dropped another pass that would’ve set the Saints up with about a manageable 2nd and 5. Then on the next play, he caught a perfect strike from Brees on a quick slant, good enough for a first down, but had the ball stripped by William Moore, allowing the Falcons to recover in Saints territory and eventually kick the game winning field goal a few plays later. It was a tough day for Colston, but I have no doubt that he’ll be able to shake it off and move on to help the team come Sunday.
Defense
Passing: F
Yep, it could not have gotten any worse. New Orleans allowed Matt Ryan to throw for 448 yards, complete 72% of his passes, did not make an interception, and sacked him only once. On top of all of that, they allowed the “annoying scrambler” as Rob Ryan refers to him, to scramble for 15 yards, including a few first downs. Considering the lack of pressure on Ryan, it wasn’t surprising to see him throw for 448 yards. Cam Jordan and Junior Galette were ghosts, recording zero sacks and just one QB hit between the two. The team only touched Ryan a total of three times, including the lone sack of the day from Tyrunn Walker. The only real highlight for the defense came when Jairus Byrd stripped Julio Jones as he made a catch and got inside of the Saints 5 yard line, causing a huge turnover and helping New Orleans extend their lead in the first half. Other than that, it was a just a bad day, plain and simple.
Rushing: D
The run defense wasn’t a whole lot better. They allowed the Falcons running backs to run for 108 yards, while averaging a whopping 4.9 yards per pop. Veteran Stevan Jackson led the way, with 52 yards on 12 carries, averaging 4.3 yards per touch. Jacquizz Rodgers added in 34 yards on just 6 carries, which was good for 5.7 yards per carry. That included a dazzling 17 yard touchdown run that briefly gave Atlanta the lead late in the fourth quarter. The most alarming stat of the day was the 16 missed tackles from the New Orleans defense. Three or four of them came on Antone Smith’s 54 yard catch and run out of the backfield for a touchdown. Kenny Vaccaro, who’s known as one of the best tacklers on the team, missed six tackles alone. It’s a safe bet to assume that this issue will be stressed in practice this week.
Saints
Jairus Byrd
Byrd played pretty well in his Saints debut. Although he was one of the defenders who missed Antone Smith on his touchdown catch, he saved New Orleans likely seven points on his strip of Julio Jones.
Sinners
The entire defensive line + Junior Galette
You just simply cannot allow an NFL quarterback, much less one of Matt Ryan’s caliber, to sit back in the pocket with all day to throw. Most passers in the league will torch you if you allow that. Especially a zone defense, which the Saints mostly played, fearing the deep threats of Julio Jones and Devin Hester. That’s precisely what the pass rusher did and to no surprise, Ryan tore them up.
Kenny Vaccaro
As I mentioned earlier, Vaccaro missed six tackles. In all of 2013, his rookie season, he missed only three. As strong safety who excels in run support, that’s not acceptable.
I probably could add even more players to the “Sinners” list, but I believe it’s pretty apparent that they all played bad, so we’ll leave it with the few that struggled the most. With that being said, the end of this article is the last I’ll look back at this heart-breaking loss, so let’s look ahead starting now.
Week 2
The 0-1 Saints will travel to face the 0-1 Cleveland Browns. For those who don’t know, Johnny Manziel is not yet their starter, but it’s always possible that he could see the field. The last time the Saints played in Cleveland, Coach Payton earned his first win as a head coach in the 2006 season opener.
As always, Who Dat?!
Follow David Billiot Jr on Twitter @DCBilliotJr6
