Tag: Bryan Bresee

Saints and Packers looking to repeat performances in this category

The New Orleans Saints and Green Bay Packers don’t have much in common, but their defenses are both coming off high-sack performances:

The New Orleans Saints and Green Bay Packers are in two different places in many major categories. One’s headed to the playoffs, the other is headed to the couch. It’s safe to say they don’t share many similarities, but there is one thing that is similar coming into the game. Each team is coming off of a monster sack performance.

The Saints brought down the elusive Jayden Daniels on eight different occasions. Bryan Bresee, the Saints best pass rusher this year, surprisingly didn’t get in on the action. Chase Young and Cameron Jordan led the charge. Those two have come along recently

The Packers terrorized Geno Smith and Sam Howell last Sunday. Green Bay sacked the Seattle Seahawks quarterbacks seven times..

The Saints pass rush hasn’t been great this season, but that strong performance versus the Washington Commanders places them just outside of the top ten. Green Bay big game seats them just inside the ten highest sack totals in the NFL.

Each team is looking for a repeat performance from their productive pass rush, and that would go a long ways towards a win for whoever accomplishes the feat.

Do New Orleans Saints need more help on defensive interior or edge?

Do the New Orleans Saints need more help on the defensive interior or out on the edge? PFF debated what’s best for them in the 2025 draft:

The New Orleans Saints have a lot of needs to address in the 2025 NFL draft, and the defensive line might be chief among them if Spencer Rattler can make some plays at quarterback down the stretch.

Pro Football Focus analyst Bradley Locker completed an exercise where he pondered two popular draft selections for each team in the league. For the Saints, those two players were Texas A&M Aggies defensive end Nic Scourton and Michigan Wolverines defensive tackle Kenneth Grant.

“The Saints rank 20th in defensive EPA per play and have a boatload of free agents set to hit the open market along the defensive line. New Orleans will desperately need more from that unit next year, so it’s hard to go wrong with either of these options,” said Locker.

The decision basically depends on which ground needs more help for next season.

Scourton would be a much-needed boon to the pass rush. He had more success in the Big Ten than the SEC, but still had 17 sacks during his career. He projects as a solid player that should be better against the pass.

The Aggies product already boasts a solid pass rush set. Given that a defensive tackle leads New Orleans in sacks, they can certainly use a boost off the edge. Carl Granderson has regressed a little bit and Chase Young hasn’t been much of an improvement.

In a surprising turn of events, though, the Saints run defense has fallen off the edge too. Bryan Bresee has become a great pass rusher, but is a long way from solid against the run. Adding another stopper up the middle could be the perfect pair with him.

That’s exactly what Grant would be. Don’t ask him to get to the passer, but he doesn’t let much by him on the ground. He is a massive presence and recent All-American.

A drop in production from Scourton this year could scare New Orleans from potentially falling into the same trap of athletic defensive linemen. Grant is a lower-risk prospect and would immediately improve their line.

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Changes at defensive line coach paying off for Saints’ stars

The move to Brian Young as Saints defensive line coach has produced an uptick in Bryan Bresee, Cameron Jordan and Chase Young’s performance:

The changes at head coach and defensive line coach have been the most impactful changes of the New Orleans Saints’ season.

Switching from Dennis Allen to Darren Rizzi gave the team a needed shift in mentality and energy. One of the biggest moves Rizzi made was making the shift from Todd Grantham to Brian Young as the defensive line coach.

Since Young has taken over, the stars of the unit have blossomed in the pass rush. 10 sacks are in reach for Bryan Bresee. Cameron Jordan is making plays again. Chase Young is putting together consistent performances.

We look at the last two games, but you can trace the bump in consistency to the moment Brian Young took over, and Jordan and Chase Young have been the biggest benefactors.

Chase Young had sacks in back to back games after the coaching switch, only time this year. He later delivered a multi-sack game as well. Jordan’s first sack of the season came in Brian Young’s first game as defensive line coach.

While this may all feel coincidental, Jordan credited the coaching change for the Saints’ strong performance on the defensive line. This came on the heels of sacking Jayden Daniels eight times.

It’s not a coincidence. The Saints just have the right man leading the unit.

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Opposing kickers have struggled since Darren Rizzi became head coach

Since Darren Rizzi became interim head coach, opposing kickers have missed 75 percent of their field goals, and the Saints have 2 FG blocks

Apparently making your special teams coordinator your interim head coach earns you some good luck on the third phase of the game

Since Darren Rizzi has become the New Orleans Saints head coach, opposing kickers have struggled against New Orleans. Every team the Saints have faced since the coaching switch have missed a field goal, other than the Los Angeles Rams and they didn’t attempt a field goal.

The most notable miss was Bryan Bresee blocking Matt Gay’s field goal to seal a Saints win over the New York Giants. The play earned Bresee recognition as NFC Special Teams Player of the Week.

It all started with Younghoe Koo and the Atlanta Falcons. Koo is a normally surefooted kicker, especially against New Orleans. He’d only missed two field goals versus the Saints coming into the game, and one was a blocked kick from beyond 60 yards.

In Week 10, Koo missed three field goals. That’s more field goals than he’d missed against the Saints in his whole career. It’s also the most kicks Koo has missed in a single game in his career.

In total, opposing teams are 2-of-8 on field goals since Rizzi has taken over. Coincidence? Maybe, maybe not. You be the judge.

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Bryan Bresee recognized as NFC Special Teams Player of the Week

Bryan Bresee was recognized as the NFC Special Teams Player of the Week. He made the play of the day with a blocked field goal, but his whole game was impressive:

Congratulations are in order for Bryan Bresee, who was recognized as the NFC Special Teams Player of the Week. The New Orleans Saints defensive tackle made the play of the day with a blocked field goal, but his whole game was impressive against the New York Giants.

Bresee was credited with a sack, two quarterback hits, a tackle for loss and two pass deflections on the afternoon, on top of his field goal block. That’s a really strong day for an interior lineman.

So good for him. That Bresee capped his afternoon with a game-winning effort on special teams just made his performance that much more exciting.

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Saints’ special teams was a tale of two halves vs. Giants

Special teams had their worst half of the season against the GIants, as described by Darren Rizzi. Then, they made the play of the day to close out the game:

Special teams is Darren Rizzi’s bread and butter, and it stood out for the majority of the New Orleans Saints’ Week 14 matchup against New York Giants. But the game’s third phase was in the spotlight for both good and bad reasons.

The two most notable moments on special teams were Rizzi letting loose on Matthew Hayball and Bryan Bresee leaping over the Giants’ blockers to block a game-tying field goals.

The stark contradiction between those moments is a good representation in the difference between each half of play.

Rizzi was extremely disappointed in the way his unit performed at the beginning of the game. “Our special teams had one of, maybe the worst half of the year in the first half.”

Things changed in quarters three and four. “We turned around and made some plays there in the second half. It’s kind of ironic that we ended up winning the game on a special teams play because we were having one of our worst days in recent memory.”

That improvement is highlighted by Bresee’s phenomenal play, but Hayball redeemed himself with two, much more successful, punts later in the game.

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Former NFL head coach says Saints got away with foul on game-winning FG block

Former NFL head coach Jay Gruden says the Saints got away with a foul on their game-winning field goal block. Check the tape for yourself:


There’s no love lost between Jay Gruden and the New York Giants — he coached against them with Washington from 2014 to 2019, going 4-7. The second-to-last game he coached was a 24-3 loss to Big Blue. But the former NFL head coach put the Giants’ close loss to the New Orleans Saints under a microscope when studying this week’s games, and he says the Saints may have gotten away with a penalty on their game-winning blocked field goal.

Gruden highlighted two Saints defensive linemen on the field goal try, Payton Turner and Nathan Shepherd, who pulled and pushed down the left guard and center, creating a gap for Bryan Bresee to leap through, arms extended for the block. That could count as a block in the back or defensive holding, but obviously no penalty was called this time.

“This referee is saying ‘Oh yeah that’s a flag, I got it,'” Gruden said, noticing the umpire’s hand dive into his pocket to grab a penalty marker. But the official decided to keep the flag where it was, and the play stood as a game-winner for New Orleans.

It’s not like referee Clete Blakeman and his crew hadn’t thrown many flags that day. They had fouled the Saints six times for a loss of 40 yards. But they did hit the Giants a dozen times for a staggering 112 penalty yards. They lived up to their reputation as one of the NFL’s most flag-happy officiating crews. So maybe the Saints did get away with one here. Either way, they got a win, and that’s what will be remembered.

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Bryan Bresee spectacular blocked field goal saves Saints’ win over Giants

Bryan Bresee with an amazingly athletic play to save the Saints’ win

The New Orleans’ Saints Blake Grupe missed his two field-goal attempts on Sunday at MetLife against the New York Giants.

He can exhale because of an incredible play by Bryan Bresee on a field-goal attempt by Graham Gano that would have tied the game late.

Bresee leaped over the line of scrimmage and blocked Gano’s kick in the final seconds to secure New Orleans’ 14-11 win.

Bryan Bresee credits his teammates for jump in sack production

Bryan Bresee has already exceeded his sack total from his rookie season. What changed from Year 1 to Year 2? He credits his teammates:

Bryan Bresee has surpassed his sack total from his rookie year, and he has a chance to lead all defensive tackles in sacks this season. Dexter Lawrence leads the league with 9 sacks at the position but is on injured reserve. The New Orleans Saints won’t have to face him when they play the New York Giants this week.

When the New Orleans Saints drafted Bresee in the first round, explosiveness was one of his featured traits. That quickly translated to his ability to get after the quarterback in the NFL.

What has contributed to the bump from 4.5 sacks a year ago to 6.5 sacks with five games remaining this season?

Bresee said how sacks are a team stat: “I think a lot of people look at sacks as a single person stat, but at the same time you have to look at the defensive backs covering. You have to look at the other defensive linemen you’re running games with. There’s a lot that goes into sacks.”

On an individual level, the improvement came from a better grasp of the game. Bresee continued, “Being able to understand what I’m going against every week, who I’m going against, what I think is going to work on them and being able to develop plans.”

It wasn’t immediate, but Bresee has began to piece together what he needs to craft a more intentional pass rush plan. It’s resulted in a more productive sophomore season.

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Bryan Bresee on track to lead the NFL’s defensive tackles in sacks

Sacks aren’t everything for a defensive tackle, but there’s a lot to be said for leading the league in them. Bryan Bresee is on track to do just that:

Sacks aren’t everything for a defensive tackle, but there’s a lot to be said for leading the league in them. And Bryan Bresee is on track to do just that. The New Orleans Saints’ second-year pro is up to 6.5 sacks through 12 games, a big improvement over his rookie numbers (4.5 in 17 games). That ranks second-most in his position group.

So who’s on top? That would be New York Giants star Dexter Lawrence, with 9.0 sacks in 12 games for himself. But Lawrence’s season has ended on injured reserve after he suffered a dislocated elbow. He isn’t expected back in 2024, which sets a clear goal for Bresee to chase through these last five games. His next challenge comes against Lawrence’s teammates on the Giants, who have allowed 40 sacks as a team. That’s tied for seventh-most. For comparison, the Saints have allowed the seventh-fewest quarterback sacks with 23.

This would be an impressive achievement for Bresee if he can get there, but he’s already made some big strides through two years in the NFL. It’s encouraging that he’s improving, but he isn’t a finished product just yet. He’s still getting pushed around and washed out on running downs. He struggles to disengage against an opponent advancing uphill. If he can continue to learn on the job and make improvements, and clean up that part of his game? The sky might be the limit for the young pro.

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