Grading the Saints and Sinners: Week 4 vs. Dallas

“I just don’t get it.”

That was my reaction on Sunday night and that’s still how I feel. I just simply do not understand why this team is performing like this. Yes, I know the reasons that they are getting beat, but why are those things happening? How can Junior Galette and Cameron Jordan seemingly forget how to get to the quarterback? How can Akiem Hicks turn in to a ghost after improving on a weekly basis? How can Kenny Vaccaro forget how to tackle when he missed just three tackles though his entire rookie season? How can Marques Colston go from the most reliable pass catcher since 2006 to someone who can’t hold on to the ball? The questions go on and on. Thankfully, the New Orleans Saints’ next two weeks consist of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers at home, then their bye week. Also, if you’re looking for any positive out of this 1-3 start, it’s the fact that the NFC South looks very weak. The Saints are still only a game out of first place in the division and everyone else seems to be reeling, as well. We’ll get to that a little more later on, but for now, let’s go ahead and get to the debacle on Sunday night.

Really quick, due to time, I’m going to skip the post-game article, because after not being able to put it together after traveling home from Dallas on Monday, who even really wants a recap of that sad excuse of a game, right? We all on the same page? Good. Let’s move on and dig deeper in to what went wrong. 

Offense

Passing: C+

If you simply look at the stat line, it appears as if Drew Brees had a really good game, aside from the one interception. He did complete 75% of his passes and made a few really nice throws, but the passing attack still wasn’t where it should be. Brees threw for 340 yards on 32/44 passes, while having 2 touchdowns along with the interception. He had a quarterback rating of 100.6, as well. The problem? His interception, must like each of the ones he through against Atlanta and Cleveland, was very costly. It came in New Orleans territory, right after Dallas had taken a 10-0 lead. It was already apparent that the Cowboys came to play and that interception gave them a short field, in which they capitalized on, going 39 yards in just two plays to extend their lead to 17-0 on the first of DeMarco Murray’s two touchdown runs on the night. Brees through two other balls to Marques Colston that were nearly intercepted, as well. Another problem? Drops. Both Colston and Jimmy Graham had two drops on very catchable balls that without a doubt should have been brought down. Graham also fumbled at the Dallas 16 yard line when New Orleans was driving to try and begin what would have been an epic comeback, down 31-3. He did still find a way to haul in 8 receptions for 86 yards and a touchdown, leading the Saints in all receiving categories.

Rushing: C

It’s hard to give this aspect of the offense a fair grade, considering fell well behind in the first half and had to pretty much abandon the run. Khiry Robinson’s stat line looks really good, as he had 8 carries for 87 yards. 62 of those yards came on one run, when the Saints were down 28 in the 4th quarter and the Cowboys were playing prevent defense against the pass. I don’t mean to discount what was a very pretty run from Robinson, but odds are he doesn’t go 62 yards on that play if Dallas was playing a normal defense. He did, though, so let’s still give him credit. As for Pierre Thomas, his night in ground game consisted of 2 carries for 8 yards. Hey, that’s 4.0 yards per carry, which is the benchmark for a solid performance!

Saints

Travaris Cadet

It may seem like I’m just reaching for someone to put here and maybe a small part of this is the case, but Cadet stepped in and did well with his opportunities on Sunday night. He caught all six of his targets in the passing game and gained 59 yards. He saw most of his time in the second half when New Orleans was down big, but it was still encouraging to see him contribute when given the chance. He did fumble with about two minutes left in the game, but we’ll let that slide for now.

Bryce Harris

Harris was forced to step in for Terron Armstead, who suffered a concussion on the last play of the first Saints drive. Harris allowed little pressure and zero sacks on Brees, holding up very well against a Cowboys defense who knew exactly what to expect for most of the game. It didn’t take long for everyone in the stadium to realize that New Orleans was going to have to pass the ball a lot, allowing Dallas to pin their ears back and get after Brees, but Harris did a nice job of keeping his defender away.

Sinners

Marques Colston/Jimmy Graham

I’ll just save time and put them together, because they’re both here for just about the same reason. Drops. They are supposed to be two of the three most reliable targets in this passing attack, along with Pierre Thomas, therefore they cannot be dropping catchable balls like they did Sunday. Add in a costly fumble from Graham and this was a game to forget for these two guys who warrant high expectations considering their status as leaders on this team.

Defense

Passing: D

Just like in their other two losses to Atlanta and Cleveland, the story of the game for the pass defense was lack of pressure and open receivers. The two make for a deadly combination and the Saints continue to provide great opportunities to opposing offenses. Starting up front, Cameron Jordan and Junior Galette were, again, no where to be found. It’s becoming more and more frustrating, considering the fact that improvement is expected from players of their status. While Galette is under-performing for his new multi-year contract, Jordan may be costing himself significant money from companies as Credit Loan to cover this credits and partnering with https://www.libertylending.com/ personal loan. If he doesn’t pick his play up, the Saints will certainly not pay him the bigger contract that everyone is anticipating to be higher than Galette’s. As for the coverage, it was just awful, once again. The #2 cornerback position continues to be a mess, with both Corey White and Brian Dixon giving up a touchdown to Terrance Williams. Kenny Vaccaro was matched up on tight end Jason Witten throughout the night and was routinely beat for big plays. He not only allowed Witten to catch a few 3rd down conversions, but he wasn’t even close. If you’re looking for a bright spot, it could be the fact that Keenan Lewis actually did a really nice job covering Dez Bryant throughout the night. He had safety on a few plays, but he was on an island for the most part. He had held Bryant to just two receptions for 26 yards, until giving up an 18 yard touchdown reception following the fake punt disaster that sealed the Saints’ fate. Lewis allowed just one reception for 44 yards to Bryant when the two teams played last year, as well.

Rushing: F

Just. Plain. Awful. That’s the easiest way to sum this performance up. I discussed the battle between DeMarco Murray and the Saints run defense as being the key to the game and as much as I wish I was wrong, it was clearly the biggest factor. Murray ran for 149 yards on 24 carries and scored two touchdowns. He averaged 6.2 yards per carry. Look, 6.2 yards per carry is impressive even if it comes on just five carries, but doing that on 24 carries is just plain domination. Murray is proving that he is a top-3 running back in the league and Dallas is finally learning that and they’re now allowing him to help them win ball games, rather than putting it all on the shoulders of Tony Romo. Just as it was in Week 1 against the Falcons, the story of the night was missed tackle after missed tackle. Kenny Vaccaro struggled again in that aspect, as he did against Atlanta. Even Jairus Byrd made a fool of himself, taking one of the worst angles I’ve ever seen from a safety of his caliber on Murray’s 15 yard touchdown run in the 2nd quarter. It was an all-around pathetic effort and the hopes of turning around this depressing start to the season will largely rely on New Orleans fixing this problem.

Saints

Keenan Lewis

I alluded to it earlier, but Lewis is the only bright spot you can find from this defensive performance. Yes, he gave up the late touchdown, but after having all of their hopes of a dramatic comeback annihilated on the failed fake punt, I can look past it. Lewis has gone 1-on-1 with one of the best receivers in the NFL for 120 minutes through the past two seasons and succeeded to keep him quiet for all, but about 15 seconds of them.

Sinners

Everyone Else

No, I’m not trying to be funny or cute. It’s simply the truth. Other than Lewis, everyone else who stepped on the field for a defensive snap on Sunday failed to do their job. It was by far one of the most embarrassing performance I’ve ever seen from a New Orleans Saints defense in my time watching this team and it was quite disheartening. The good news? They still have 12 games to play and 7 of those are at home. Throw in a bye week and they have time to salvage what has been a putrid start to the 2014 campaign.

Week 5

The New Orleans Saints (1-3) will return home for their second game in the Mercedes-Benz Superdome, as they welcome the Tampa Bay Buccaneers (1-3). The Bucs have also had many struggles this season, but are coming off of their first win of the season, defeating the Pittsburgh Steelers on the road with a last second touchdown by the score of 27-24.

It’s been a very rough start, Saints fans, but try to keep faith. As always, Who Dat?!

Follow David Billiot Jr on Twitter @DCBilliotJr6