Tag: New Orleans Saints

NFL Week 10: 26 elite performances

Lamar Jackson was a human highlight reel to top the elite in Week 10 of the NFL season.

Lamar Jackson continues to stun, Ezekiel Elliott and Saquon Barkley failed to deliver and the Seahawks edged the Niners to complete Week 10.

Arizona Cardinals

Tommy Gilligan-USA TODAY Sports

Christian Kirk had a huge game in the loss to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. It was going to take time for Kyler Murray and the young Cardinals’ receiving corps — exempting Larry Fitzgerald — to gel. Murray and Kirk were on the same page Sunday as they connected six times for 138 yards and three TDs. Kirk outdid his fellow Texas A&M WR, Mike Evans, on the other side as the Bucs’ star WR had four grabs for 82 yards in the win.

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Bucs underdogs at home in Week 11 for the first time all season

The Tampa Bay Buccaneers face the New Orleans Saints in Week 11 as home underdogs.

The Tampa Bay Buccaneers had a big Week 10 win over the Arizona Cardinals. Not only did it stop Tampa Bay’s four-game losing-streak, but it was also the team’s first game at Raymond James Stadium since Week 3.

A grueling 1-4 road stretch had the team at 2-6 before Sunday’s big win. But, if the Bucs want to continue to climb back to .500, they’ll have to take down Drew Brees and the New Orleans Saints next Sunday.

New Orleans is coming off a stunning 26-9 home loss in Week 10 to the Atlanta Falcons, and the risk of falling further behind in the NFC playoff picture will have them playing in desperation mode against the Bucs.

Sportsbooks like New Orleans in this one as the Saints have opened up as -5.5 point favorites. It’s the first time the Bucs have been underdogs at Raymond James all season.

Remember, though, Week 5’s loss to the Saints was the start of the Bucs’ four-game skid, so revenge is very much on the mind of this team. I wouldn’t be surprised if this line moves before the game in favor of Tampa Bay.

As the Atlanta Falcons proved, when playing a familiar division foe, records mean nothing.

[Gannett may earn revenue from audience referrals to betting services. Newsrooms are independent of this relationship and there is no influence on news coverage.]

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Saints-Falcons snap counts: Defensive line playing often, but not playing well

The New Orleans Saints have given high snap counts to several first-round defensive linemen, but they haven’t received big plays in return.

The New Orleans Saints came up short too early and too often against the Atlanta Falcons, but where do the faults lie? Which position groups are too thin or underperforming too frequently? To find out, we surveyed the Saints snap counts from their Week 10 loss and broke them down below. Here’s what we’ve learned:

Offensive backfield

  • QB Drew Brees, 69 (100%)
  • RB Alvin Kamara, 54 (78%)
  • RB Latavius Murray, 17 (25%)
  • FB Zach line, 9 (13%)
  • QB Taysom Hill, 7 (10%)

The Saints found a great formula they can win with during Teddy Bridgewater’s stint at quarterback: a physically assertive running attack fueled by strong blocking up front, and heavy usage of the fullback. That plan flew out the window early on when miscues in the passing game (off-target throws and dropped would-be big gains) put the Saints into a negative game script. Kamara rarely left the field in his first game back from injury, but the Saints rarely allowed him to run the ball despite consistent success on limited touches. They didn’t have a very effective plan going into this game, and didn’t execute it very well, either.

Skills positions

  • WR Michael Thomas, 66 (96%)
  • WR Tre’Quan Smith, 57 (83%)
  • TE Jared Cook, 49 (71%)
  • WR Ted Ginn Jr., 48 (70%)
  • TE Josh Hill, 22 (32%)
  • WR Krishawn Hogan, 11 (16%)
  • WR Deonte Harris, 2 (3%)

This game was one to forget for the receiving corps; Thomas may have reeled in 13 of his 14 targets, but he was held out of the end zone like everyone else. And all of the receivers listed after him combined for one catch on five targets, with Ginn dropping all three of his opportunities. Brees was a little off-target at times, sure, but the Saints badly needed someone besides Thomas to make a play, and none of them were up to it. It’s continued to be a disappointing first season in black and gold for Cook.

Offensive line

  • T Terron Armstead, 69 (100%)
  • T Ryan Ramczyk, 69 (100%)
  • G Larry Warford, 69 (100%0
  • C Erik McCoy, 69 (100%)
  • G Will Clapp, 49 (71%)
  • G Andrus Peat, 22 (32%)
  • G Patrick Omameh, 1 (1%)

An injury to Peat shortly before halftime pushed Clapp into the lineup, but neither of them played well. Peat was repeatedly bullied by Falcons interior lineman Grady Jarrett, one of the league’s better pass rushers at his position, and he ended up on his back too many times before exiting the game with an arm injury. Clapp has shown before that he can handle a big role in a pinch, but there wasn’t much to be encouraged by in his prolonged action against one of the NFL’s thinnest defensive lines. Atlanta runs a one-man show up front, but the Saints offensive line was challenged across the board by players they should (on paper) outclass.

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Saints open up as 5.5-point road favorites over Buccaneers

The New Orleans Saints are poised for a get-right road game against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, a game in which they’re favored by 5.5 points.

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The New Orleans Saints are looking ahead to their rematch with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, this time with Drew Brees in at quarterback. His understudy, Teddy Bridgewater, turned in the best game of his year when the Buccaneers visited last time; now Brees will get his turn on the road.

Per the latest odds from BetMGM, the Saints are favored by 5.5 points at Raymond James Stadium. With an over/under set at 51.5, that implies a final score in the neighborhood of Saints 29, Buccaneers 23. That’s hardly a blowout, suggesting more of a competitive atmosphere — which is what the Saints are used to in Tampa Bay, having trailed most of the game in last year’s visit. They lost the 2017 regular season finale a year earlier on a last-second Chris Godwin touchdown catch.

It’ll be fascinating to see how the Saints respond to getting punched in the mouth by the Atlanta Falcons on Sunday, the first game in a four-week series against NFC South division rivals. While the Buccaneers have been nearly as sorry as Atlanta (their 3-6 record speaks for itself), they’ve had the opportunity to regroup during their bye week and play better football. They took the Seattle Seahawks to overtime and beat the Arizona Cardinals in a frantic fourth quarter on Sunday.

Still, this should be a get-right game for New Orleans. Their defensive line has quieted down in recent weeks after a hot start to the season. Starting defensive tackle Sheldon Rankins and edge rusher Marcus Davenport have combined played a combined 287 snaps over their last four games, but that’s turned into just eight total tackles (two solo), no tackles for loss, no sacks, and one quarterback hit.

They’ll be playing essentially the same offensive line they bullied in their last meeting, a game where Rankins logged his first sack since last year’s Achilles injury and where Davenport put up the best day of his season (two sacks, three hits, and a forced fumble). The Saints defense will go as far as the monsters up front can take it (especially with top cornerback Marshon Lattimore on the mend), but all of those former first-round picks have lost their mojo in recent weeks.

Gannett may earn revenue from audience referrals to betting services. Newsrooms are independent of this relationship and there is no influence on news coverage.

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Saints offense adds Colorado’s Laviska Shenault Jr. in 2020 mock draft

The New Orleans Saints picked a dynamo in the latest 2020 NFL mock draft, landing versatile Colorado football prospect Laviska Shenault Jr.

The New Orleans Saints offense is paper-thin, and that’s never been more clear than in Sunday’s loss to the Atlanta Falcons. Despite 13 catches and 152 receiving yards from all-star wide receiver Michael Thomas, they were outplayed and outgunned, which was reflected in the final score of 26-9. The final play of the game was almost a metaphor, with Thomas reeling in a catch and fighting his way to the goal-line, only to be touched down a short away from a score.

Outside of Thomas, every other wide receiver on the team combined for one catch on five targets. Ted Ginn Jr. dropped all three passes sent his way, and Tre’Quan Smith struggled to adjust to off-target looks in his first game back from injury. Backups Krishawn Hogan and Deonte Harris were afterthoughts at best.

New Orleans has top-end talent in the receiving corps (just look at what Thomas can do, and tight end Jared Cook and running back Alvin Kamara are getting back up to speed after missing time with their own injuries). What they don’t have is much they can count on behind their star players. For decades the belief has been that Drew Brees can score touchdowns with anybody; Sunday’s loss proves that theory is outdated. Great as he has been, Brees can’t be expected to put the world on his shoulders anymore.

Fortunately, the Saints will have opportunities to improve in the offseason. The latest 2020 mock draft comes from Trevor Sikkema of The Draft Network, who sees the Saints’ need for more juice on offense and addressed it with one of the most versatile playmakers in college football: Colorado Buffaloes do-it-all athlete Laviska Shenault Jr. Here’s what Sikkema wrote to justify the selection:

It feels like wide receiver Michael Thomas is about to break every NFL record for the position. That’s certainly due to how talented Thomas is, but it also has to do with the fact that the Saints don’t have much outside of Thomas in the passing game.

Shenault joining forces with the creative mind of Sean Payton and a group that already consists of Thomas and Alvin Kamara would be incredible to watch.

Shenault lives up to that billing. He’s racked up 2,038 yards from scrimmage and scored 17 combined touchdowns (9 as a receiver, 7 as a runner) in his career with the Buffaloes, though he’s only been a big part of their offense the last two years. While his junior year numbers aren’t as impressive in volume as what he accomplished as a sophomore, his efficiency has increased (jumping up from 11.8 yards per catch to 13.8, and 6.8 yards per carry to 7.9 this season) as Colorado has learned to spread the ball around more evenly. That’s a combined 11.4 yards per touch from 2018 to 2019, or 103.6 yards from scrimmage per game in the same span.

Listed at 6-foot-2 and 220 pounds, Shenault’s versatility would play well off of what the Saints have done with Kamara and Taysom Hill. All three players are experienced at moving all over the field, playing from different alignments and exploiting athletic mismatches with the defense. Saints coach Sean Payton loves using different personnel packages to put opposing defenses in a bind, and it’s easy to see Shenault’s appeal in New Orleans’ system. If the junior prospect does declare early for the 2020 draft, he’d definitely be worth keeping on the Saints’ radar.

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4 big takeaways from Saints’ 26-9 loss to the Falcons

The New Orleans Saints put up a disappointing performance in their Week 10 loss to the Atlanta Falcons, showing a concerning lack of depth.

There wasn’t much to feel good about for New Orleans Saints fans, after their team got bulldozed by the Atlanta Falcons in a surprising upset on Sunday. Saints quarterback Drew Brees was sacked six times (tying his career-worst total for a single game), and coach Sean Payton frowned in disappointment on the sideline as his team slipped and fell all over themselves throughout the afternoon.

Still, there’s plenty to learn from it. Here’s what we picked up on when reviewing the game, hopefully giving an idea of what the Saints can correct moving forward. Their rematch with Atlanta (in prime time, on Thanksgiving) is just a few weeks away. They don’t exactly have much time to let this one linger, even if it was an embarrassing loss to a division rival.

The plan to use Alvin Kamara wasn’t up to snuff

The good news: Kamara went 8-for-10 as a receiver, picking up 50 yards. The bad news: his worst rep of the day came on the opening drive, in which Kamara slipped and fell on the Superdome turf. It was a designed pass to him on a route out of the backfield and the right call against Atlanta’s defense — the closest defender was in poor position to stop him before Kamara would have reached the end zone. Instead, Brees had to take a sack on third down and force New Orleans to settle for three points instead of seven.

There’s no way the Saints were going to ask Kamara to handle fifteen or more rushing attempts in his first game back from injury, but four carries (and 11 as a team) was pitiful. The Saints have run too well lately to call 51 dropbacks for Brees against just 11 runs. This was an example of Payton at his worst, allowing himself to get one-dimensional and over-reliant on his passing attack in a game that was close for three quarters. There’s no excuse for him to have abandoned the run so early.

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How will the Saints respond to Marshon Lattimore’s hamstring injury?

The New Orleans Saints lost CB Marshon Lattimore to a hamstring injury against the Atlanta Falcons, and he’ll reportedly be out a few weeks.

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The New Orleans Saints secondary took a big hit on Sunday, in addition to the passes Atlanta Falcons quarterback Matt Ryan sent soaring over their heads. Per a report from NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport, top cornerback Marshon Lattimore strained his hamstring and is recovering with treatment from the team’s athletic staff. He’s considered “week-to-week,” so his availability is in doubt at least for the near future.

Hamstring injuries plagued Lattimore in college at Ohio State, though he’s managed them very well since the Saints drafted him. This would be his first extended absence since his 2017 rookie year when he missed three games with a concussion and ankle injury.

In his place, the Saints promoted slot corner P.J. Williams to Lattimore’s spot on the boundary and brought rookie defensive back C.J. Gardner-Johnson back onto the field to fill in for Williams. Williams did well in the pinch-hitting role, helping limit Falcons star receiver Julio Jones to three receptions on nine targets — though one of those catches was the biggest play of the game, a 54-yard grab-and-go in which a late tackle by free safety Marcus Williams stopped what would have been a touchdown.

With Lattimore sidelined, the Saints are going to stress the definition of “bend but don’t break” defense. He’s their most impactful defender, able to shift the entire defense schematically when playing at his best. But New Orleans can’t assume he’ll be ready for next week’s game with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, and their talented receiving duo of Chris Godwin and Mike Evans.

So expect the Saints to sign a veteran cornerback. Backup Ken Crawley was waived two weeks ago, opening the door for several experienced tryouts including Kayvon Webster (who spent the summer on New Orleans’ 90-man roster), Captain Munnerlyn, and Johnson Bademosi. Bademosi’s experience on special teams gave him the edge, and he’s already played 33 snaps on the punt and kickoff coverage units in two games.

The Saints need added depth at the position with Lattimore out, even if they don’t expect to start any new faces. Williams, Gardner-Johnson, and Eli Apple should remain the starting rotation, though backup Patrick Robinson could get on the field once he’s recovered from his own hamstring injury. They were fortunate that this wasn’t a season-threatening injury for Lattimore, and fans should have some optimism that he’ll return to the lineup sooner rather than later.

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Falcons rookie CB Kendall Sheffield shines in win over Saints

Entering Sunday’s game against the Saints, the Falcons secondary looked to be in bad shape with top corner Desmond Trufant set to miss his fourth straight game.

Entering Sunday’s game against the Saints, the Falcons secondary looked to be in bad shape with top corner Desmond Trufant set to miss his fourth straight game.

Apparently, something clicked for this team during the bye week, however, and Atlanta would play its best defensive game all season, beating a 7-1 New Orleans team on the road.

The Falcons recorded six sacks of Saints QB Drew Brees, while the secondary played with confidence for the first time in weeks. Rookie Kendall Sheffield more than held his own in Week 10 — being targeted seven times and allowing just five catches for 28 yards.

Pro Football Focus gave Sheffield an impressive grade of 89.9 for his performance on Sunday:

The Falcons have asked a lot of their rookie fourth-round pick this season, and although there have been some bumps in the road, Sheffield has exceeded expectations in 2019.

The team may have lucked into another building block if the former Ohio State standout can keep it up.

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Falcons TE Austin Hooper to have MRI on knee, expected to miss time

The Falcons may have lost two of their starters during the game, but still managed to pull off an upset win over the New Orleans Saints on Sunday.

The Falcons may have lost two of their starters during the game, but still managed to pull off an upset win over the New Orleans Saints on Sunday.

Tight end Austin Hooper hurt his knee and running back Devonta Freeman went down with a foot injury. Both players will have MRIs on Monday to determine the severity of their injuries, according to NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport.

Atlanta hasn’t gotten a ton out of Freeman this season, while the running game as a whole has struggled to find room behind the team’s new-look offensive line.

Backup Ito Smith was just placed on the injured reserve last weekend, so keep your eyes on Brian Hill and Kenjon Barner to get some extra work.

Hooper, on the other hand, was having a breakout year. Through nine games, he was on a career-best pace with 56 catches, 608 yards and 6 touchdowns. Even if the injury causes him to miss time, he is probably on his way to a earning a hefty new contract with the Falcons or someone else in the very near future.

Hopefully, Atlanta won’t be without its star tight end for very long as he’s been one of the few bright spots this season.

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NFC South Week 10 review: Falcons flip the script, stun Saints

Here’s our review of what happened around the division this week.

The Saints have been the team to beat in the NFC South for the last two and a half seasons. On Sunday though they suffered a huge collapse at home against the Falcons. So, maybe they aren’t quite as indestructible as everyone had thought.

Here’s our review of what happened around the division this week.

Saints (7-2) lost to Falcons (2-7), 26-9

Nobody saw this one coming. New Orleans had a six-game win streak going coming into Week 10 and Atlanta appeared to be dead in the water. The Falcons defense flipped the script, holding the Saints to just nine points in a stunning upset. They were dominated in the trenches – a normally flawless offensive line allowed Drew Brees to get sacked six times and Latavius Murray and Alvin Kamara combined for just 36 yards on the ground. The division leaders also saw Marshon Lattimore suffer a hamstring injury. The Saints will try to rebound at Tampa Bay next week.

Panthers (5-4) lost to Packers (8-2), 24-16

The Saints’ surprise loss gave Carolina a golden opportunity to close ground in the NFC South race. The Panthers squandered it, though. Two turnovers by Kyle Allen certainly didn’t help, but it was more excruciating run defense that truly lost this matchup. With defensive tackle Kawann Short on IR and unavailable, Ron Rivera needs to consider taking drastic measures to turn things around, including abandoning his new 3-4 scheme.

Buccaneers (3-6) beat Cardinals (3-6-1), 30, 27

Kyler Murray and Jameis Winston put on a show Sunday, combining for 682 total passing yards. Winston’s threw two more interceptions, though and wasn’t nearly as efficient as the No. 1 overall pick. Nevertheless, the Bucs came out on top, boosted by a second consecutive big game from Ronald Jones II. He totaled 106 yards from scrimmage and a touchdown. Beating Arizona and their awful defense at home is nothing special, though. Call us when they get a secondary.

Falcons (2-7) find a spark vs. Saints (7-2), 26-9

Dan Quinn finally made a real change this week: he switched up his coaching staff and abandoned defensive play-calling duties in favor of linebackers coach Jeff Ulbrich. The impact was immediate. Atlanta’s defense played better than it has in a long time, especially their front seven. Grady Jarrett remains the centerpiece, but Vic Beasley finally stepped up and produced. Together, they totaled four sacks and seven quarterback hits. The Falcons’ victory came at a cost, though. Devonta Freeman and Austin Hooper both suffered injuries and could be out a while. They’ll visit the Panthers next.

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