Tag: New Orleans Saints

Know who to root for: Saints fan watching guide to NFL Week 13

There are many NFL games for New Orleans Saints to watch during Week 13, including the San Francisco 49ers’ visit with the Baltimore Ravens.

The New Orleans Saints handled their business on Thanksgiving with an NFC South-clinching win over the Atlanta Falcons, and they received some help in the earlier games considering the greater scope of the NFC playoff picture. The visiting Buffalo Bills ran roughshod over the Dallas Cowboys, who are hanging onto the NFC East title by a thread, while the Chicago Bears outlasted the Detroit Lions, guaranteeing a longer stay for inconsistent quarterback Mitchell Trubisky.

Now, Saints fans get a long, stress-free weekend of football. Here’s who you should hope wins every game left on the Week 13 schedule, with some serious playoff implications on the line. All odds come from BetMGM.

Around the NFC South

Washington Redskins (2-9) at Carolina Panthers (5-6). Panthers by 9.5. It’s time for the other NFC South teams to start playing for draft position, which means it’s in their interest to lose out and get better players next year. Don’t let that happen, and root for Washington to pull off an upset.

Tampa Bay Buccaneers (4-7) at Jacksonville Jaguars (4-7). Jaguars by 2.5. If Tampa Bay wins, they’ll have worse draft positioning and maybe talk themselves into sticking with Jameis Winston at quarterback. Root for that.

Painting the NFC Playoff Picture

San Francisco 49ers (10-1) at Baltimore Ravens (9-2). Ravens by 5.5. Root for the Ravens to win and force the 49ers into a tough spot before their game with the Saints next week.

Minnesota Vikings (8-3) at Seattle Seahawks (9-2). Vikings by 2.5. These teams are playing for playoff seeding, so root for the Seahawks to defend the fifth seed and keep the Vikings a guaranteed road team.

Green Bay Packers (8-3) at New York Giants (2-9). Packers by 6.5. The Packers have a tenuous hold on the NFC North; root for chaos, and a big Giants upset.

Los Angeles Rams (6-5) at Arizona Cardinals (3-7-1). Kyler Murray may not play this game due to an injury, but root for the Cardinals either way. The Rams can’t afford another loss and still hope to reach the playoffs.

Philadelphia Eagles (5-6) at Miami Dolphins (2-9). Eagles by 9.5. The Eagles would easily be the worst NFC playoff team if they displace the Cowboys, so root for them to win here.

Leftovers and Lagniappe

Tennessee Titans (6-5) at Indianapolis Colts (6-5). Colts by 2.5. New Orleans has to play both of these teams down the stretch, so it can be hard to pick one or the other in this game. A Colts loss would decrease their playoff chances and maybe make them throw in the towel ahead of their Monday Night Football game with the Saints in a few weeks. Root for Tennessee.

New England Patriots (10-1) at Houston Texans (7-4). Patriots by 3.5. Never pull for the Patriots. Root for the Texans and young star quarterback Deshaun Watson.

Oakland Raiders (6-5) at Kansas City Chiefs (7-4). Chiefs by 9.5. Raiders fans can use a win after their strange loss to the Jets, so root for that despite their long odds.

Los Angeles Chargers (4-7) at Denver Broncos (3-8). Chargers by 2.5. The Broncos are auditioning rookie quarterback Drew Lock, so root for him to thrive and keep Denver from drafting another rookie highly next year (when the Saints are scheduled to visit).

New York Jets (4-7) at Cincinnati Bengals (0-11). Jets by 3.5. Bengals fans don’t deserve this after all their team has put them through. Root for them to finally get a win.

Cleveland Browns (5-6) at Pittsburgh Steelers (6-5). Browns by 1.5. Many LSU Tigers fans can sympathize with embattled Browns wideouts Odell Beckham Jr. and Jarvis Landry, and cornerback Greedy Williams. Root for them to win and keep their playoff hopes alive.

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Teddy Bridgewater buys dinner for his Miami high school football team

New Orleans Saints QB Teddy Bridgewater showed his appreciation for Miami Northwestern High School by buying dinner for the football team.

The New Orleans Saints were given a rare weekend off after their Thursday night win over the Atlanta Falcons, so backup quarterback Teddy Bridgewater took the opportunity to return to one of his favorite places in the world: Miami Northwestern Senior High School, where he bought the football team dinner after their big win over Jesuit High School in the state semifinals. And he made sure to bring ribs.

According to posts on social media, Bridgewater contracted several Miami-area food trucks to service the players, coaches, and auxiliary staff free of charge, doing his part to show gratitude to the school and program where his football career started. Bridgewater started three years at Miami Northwestern, where they went 32-8 and made several deep playoff pushes in one of the nation’s toughest high school circuits.

A Miami native, Bridgewater has often visited his hometown when the opportunity arose, including a guest appearance with his high school’s dance team during a game earlier this season. Last summer, he organized a giveaway for the kids in his old neighborhood, handing out school supplies, toys, bicycles and water guns to everyone who stopped by. It’s clear that Bridgewater remembers where he’s come from, and his gracious nature has done a lot to ingratiate him to his new Saints teammates and their fans.

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Teddy Bridgewater makes ‘Friday Night Lights’ hat tip to Taysom Hill

New Orleans Saints backup quarterback Teddy Bridgewater made a creative salute to Taysom Hill after his huge day against the Atlanta Falcons

There are few rooms around the NFL stocked with as much talent as the New Orleans Saints boast at quarterback, much less the chemistry those players share. Sure, Drew Brees is the unquestioned leader in the building and the face of the franchise — but both of his backups have stepped up to help their team when called upon, and they clearly appreciate each other.

That was clear after versatile reserve Taysom Hill scored two touchdowns (one through the air, another on the ground) and blocked the Atlanta Falcons’ first punt in their game on Thanksgiving. After the game, Teddy Bridgewater creatively saluted Hill’s performance on social media.

Responding to a tweet in which the Saints referred to Hill as “Mr. Do-It-All,” Bridgewater shared a clip from the 2004 film “Friday Night Lights” in which a character talks up his highly-recruited nephew to college scouts. You love to see it. Check it out for yourself in the video embedded below, or by following this link:

It’s going to be interesting to see which path each of these quarterbacks takes in the offseason. All three of them are headed for free agency, though Hill should be the easiest player for the Saints to retain. It wouldn’t be a huge shock if Brees seriously considers retirement, but that feels unlikely after he missed five games with injury earlier this year. Bridgewater has been groomed to become the heir-apparent, but he could get an offer he can’t refuse in free agency. If Nick Foles and Kirk Cousins can get contracts worth in excess of $80 million, why can’t he?

So be sure to appreciate these moments while we can. The Saints have built something special, and it’s well worth remembering once things change someday.

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Saints select Sheldon Rankins for 2019 Ed Block Courage Award

Having returned from serious injury, New Orleans Saints DT Sheldon Rankins earned the 2019 Ed Block Courage Award in a vote by his teammates

In a team vote, the New Orleans Saints chose defensive tackle Sheldon Rankins as the recipient of the 2019 Ed Block Courage Award, the team announced Saturday. Rankins returned ahead of schedule from an Achilles injury he suffered back in January during a divisional round playoff game with the Philadelphia Eagles, which ultimately caused him to miss just three games. This vote from his teammates recognizes the tedious, painful work Rankins put in during the offseason to recover from an injury that could have ended his season before it started.

“This season hasn’t, statistically, personally, gone exactly as I wanted it to,” Rankins told the Saints website. “But we’re in a good position as a team and I’m continuing to get better. I’ll take it, and it’s always good when your teammates can recognize the things you’ve been through and how hard you battled to come back and try to help the team.”

Rankins currently has two sacks and five quarterback hits through his first nine games this year, posting his best game of the season on Thursday night against the Atlanta Falcons. He sacked Falcons quarterback Matt Ryan once, struck him twice, and hurried Ryan off of his spot and into the arms of his Saints teammates on more than one occasion. It’s clear that Rankins is on his way back to playing like his old self as his body continues to recuperate. His best football is yet to come.

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Pro Football Focus credits Saints pass rush with 41 QB pressures vs. Falcons

The New Orleans Saints defense started and ended their game with the Atlanta Falcons by sacking Matt Ryan, but the story is larger than that

The Atlanta Falcons did everything they could to take the New Orleans Saints defense out of the game on Thursday night. They forced the Saints defenders to remain on the field for a season-high 93 plays, expecting the heightened workload to tire them out down the stretch.

It didn’t happen. If anything, the prolonged playing-time hurt Atlanta’s own blockers. The Falcons allowed 5 sacks in their last 15 snaps (one of which was wiped out by a Saints defensive penalty) and 9 on the day as a whole, leading coach Dan Quinn to take aim at specific players for mistakes in his postgame media availability — a rarity in their troubled season. Quinn has largely avoided singling out struggling players, but he was left with no choice after the beatdown they suffered on Thanksgiving in front of a national audience.

Quinn told Falcons team reporter Kelsey Conway that two of the sacks were at fault of starting left tackle Jake Matthews, the team’s first-round pick back in 2014. Two more sacks were put on rookie first-rounder Kaleb McGary at right tackle, while big free agent signing Jamon Brown and star running back Devonta Freeman each allowed a sack of their own. Quinn chalked up three other sacks to lockdown coverage by New Orleans.

However, there was more to the Saints’ success than just their takedowns. They pressured Falcons quarterback Matt Ryan relentlessly, as seen in their game grades from the analysts at Pro Football Focus. The Saints pass rush was credited with 41 total quarterback pressures on the day, including all of those sacks, often moving Ryan off of his spot and hurrying him through his reads. Three different Saints defensive linemen received grades above 90 (defensive ends Cameron Jordan and Marcus Davenport, and rookie nose tackle Shy Tuttle) as did rookie slot defender C.J. Gardner-Johnson.

When the Saints are getting after quarterbacks this well, there aren’t many passers who can hold up to such repeated pressure. The Saints played one of them already this season in Seattle Seahawks MVP candidate Russell Wilson; if things keep going the way they have so far, New Orleans might not see the other one until Super Bowl LIV, if Lamar Jackson and the Baltimore Ravens can go the distance.

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Sean Payton exasperated by ’embarrassing’ repeated onside kick flops

New Orleans Saints coach Sean Payton saw plenty to like in their NFC South-clinching win over the Atlanta Falcons, but not on onside kicks.

New Orleans Saints coach Sean Payton saw plenty to like in his team’s NFC South-clinching win over the Atlanta Falcons, but not on special teams. He watched with increasing irritation as the Falcons recovered three consecutive onside kicks in the game’s final moments, though the first was wiped out by an Atlanta penalty. Payton addressed the chronic problem during his postgame press conference.

“It’s not good. It’s embarrassing. We’ve got to get it cleaned up. It’s not the first time that this has happened now. We went through this (already),” Payton said, referencing similar issues in a game with the Chicago Bears earlier this season. Two of the Saints’ best pass-catchers, Michael Thomas and Alvin Kamara, each failed to secure the live ball after it was kicked onside by Falcons specialist Younghoe Koo.

It’s obviously an area that Payton plans to emphasize in practice, continuing: “We’ve got to get that cleaned up. We’ve got to make sure we understand what we’re telling them. Clearly after one or two of them [onside kicks], you saw it wasn’t going very deep and we’re still lined up 10 yards behind the [line]…so we’ll get that cleaned up. That’s on us.”

Those late-game possession steals gave the Falcons hope in a game that shouldn’t have been so close. They turned those two drives into 15 more plays against the Saints defense, but to their credit New Orleans kept battling despite having logged 90-plus snaps in the game already. Of those 15 plays, the Falcons offense surrendered 5 sacks (one of them was nullified by a Saints penalty) and left with just 42 net yards from scrimmage.

That speaks to how talented this Saints team is. Even when one phase of the game breaks down (as the special teams unit did here), another group is ready and able to step up to secure the win. Once Payton and his staff get these issues cleared away, they just might be unstoppable.

Maybe he should try again to recruit retired coach Mike Westhoff, who shared a cup of coffee with the Saints back in August after serving as the team’s de facto special teams coordinator the last two years. Westhoff resumed his retirement after the Saints shook up their special teams staff during the offseason, hiring longtime Miami Dolphins coordinator Darren Rizzi and his assistants.

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Saints’ Taysom Hill needs to become fantasy football’s first QB/RB/WR/TE

Make it happen!

One of my favorite things in fantasy football is when there’s a wrinkle in position eligibility. Remember the great debate of 2016 over how Ty Montgomery should receive running back eligibility when he took over for Eddie Lacy?

And how about Jaylen Samuels, the Steelers running back who entered last season with tight end eligibility and probably won some fantasy titles for his owners at that position?

The issue with New Orleans Saints all-around player Taysom Hill isn’t quite as huge as with those two. His performance on Thursday — 33 yards on the ground, 12 through the air and two scores — is a rarity for the Saints’ gadget guy. We know he’s good for about one pass per game, a couple of rushes and maybe a catch or two.

But then you hear head coach Sean Payton talking about getting him the ball “even more” …

… and it makes you think: shouldn’t Hill — if he becomes more fantasy-relevant — be more than just a player at the QB slot?

He’s probably a tight end and a quarterback … but heck, let’s honor the fact that he does everything for the Saints on offense and call him a QB/RB/WR/TE.

I’ve seen some other people lobby for something more than “QB” and a few think he could get a “Flex” designation, much in the same way designated hitters in fantasy baseball are “Util” players, and that’s a pretty good idea, too:

This is a very fantasy geeky thing to lobby for, but it’s mostly for fun so we can see Hill get the recognition he deserves for his “Flex” skill set.

And if Payton really does use him more often, it might actually pay off for fantasy owners.

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Saints snap counts analysis: Vonn Bell logged 104 plays vs. Falcons

By playing both defense and special teams, New Orleans Saints safety Vonn Bell saw his snap count climb to 104 against the Atlanta Falcons.

This year’s NFC South division championship belongs to the New Orleans Saints, just as it did last year, and the year before that. The Saints still haven’t played a complete game with penalty-free, clean execution in all three phases, but they’re still 10-2 and have clinched a playoff berth in November. They have time to improve before the postseason kicks off.

Snap counts got weird in this game, particularly on defense. They ran a season-high 93 plays when Atlanta had the ball, which is a huge disparity against the 50 plays the Saints ran on offense. When the Saints go 2-for-10 on third down while the Falcons go 6-for-16 (and get helped out by a number of dubious penalties against the Saints defense), that’s going to happen. Here’s our snap count analysis:

Offensive backfield

  • QB Drew Brees, 48 (96%)
  • RB Alvin Kamara, 41 (82%)
  • QB Taysom Hill, 13 (26%)
  • RB Latavius Murray, 13 (26%)
  • FS Marcus Williams, 1 (2%)

Hill didn’t see a huge jump in playing-time on offense (he’s averaged 11.4 snaps per game this year) but this game was easily his biggest day of the year so far. He scored both of the Saints’ two touchdowns (one through the air, another on the ground) and consistently gave the team a spark when they needed it on critical downs.

Skills positions

  • WR Michael Thomas, 40 (80%)
  • WR Tre’Quan Smith, 37 (74%)
  • TE Josh Hill, 29 (58%)
  • TE Jared Cook, 29 (58%)
  • WR Ted Ginn Jr., 27 (54%)
  • WR Krishawn Hogan, 11 (22%)
  • TE Jason Vander Laan, 5 (10%)

Smith ran a lot of routes but didn’t get open often against Atlanta, catching two targets for 14 yards. Cook was frustratingly inconsistent. The veteran tight end has clear playmaking ability — just look at his latest 40-yard catch-and-run — but he’s dropped three would-be touchdown passes in the last two weeks, and went 3-for-6 as a receiver on Thursday. At least Brees is still giving him chances to make an impact.

Offensive line

  • C Erik McCoy, 50 (100%)
  • T/G Patrick Omameh, 50 (100%)
  • G Larry Warford, 50 (100%)
  • T Ryan Ramczyk, 50 (100%)
  • G Nick Easton, 50 (100%)
  • G/C Will Clapp, 6 (12%)

New Orleans had to start two new faces at left tackle (Omameh) and left guard (Easton), and they both responded well when called up. The Saints gave up six sacks in their last game with the Falcons but rebounded to keep Brees clean and upright in this meeting. Their success in a pinch was a huge reason for the Saints’ success.

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Vikings playoff outlook after Thanksgiving games

If the season ended on Friday, Nov. 29, the Vikings would be the sixth seed in the playoffs and would play the No. 3 Packers.

On Thanksgiving, we saw the Lions get eliminated from the playoff picture, the Bears kept their hopes alive, the Cowboys continued to falter, and the Saints clinched the NFC South.

How does all of this impact the 8-3 Vikings?

If the season ended on Friday, Nov. 29, the Vikings would be the sixth seed in the playoffs and would play the No. 3 Packers in Green Bay in the wild card round of the playoffs.

Per FiveThirtyEight, the Vikings have a 93 percent chance to make the playoffs, a 49 percent chance to win the NFC North, a 25 percent chance to get a first-round bye and a seven percent chance to win the Super Bowl.

If the Vikings beat the Seahawks on Monday Night Football, their odds to make the playoffs increase to 98 percent, winning the NFC North to 62 percent and getting a first-round bye to 44 percent.

A loss puts those percentages down to 87 percent, 35 percent and just five percent, respectively.

To say Monday night’s game is a big one is an understatement.

Saints celebrate division win, but acknowledge ‘The South Is Not Enough’

The New Orleans Saints won their third straight NFC South title, but their celebratory shirts carry a slogan downplaying the accomplishment.

The New Orleans Saints clinched the 2019 NFC South division title in Thursday night’s win over the Atlanta Falcons, earning the playoff berth and celebratory shirts and hats that came with it. It was New Orleans’ third consecutive division win, tying the Carolina Panthers’ run from 2013 to 2015 for the best streak in NFC South history.

But this isn’t new territory for the Saints. They’ve already experienced this regular season success, and they have bigger goals in mind than just a division crown. The playoffs tournament and Super Bowl LIV are where they’re focused, and this year’s slogan illustrates that.

After the game, the Saints debuted new gear celebrating their latest NFC South championship, with a bold new message reading: “The South Is Not Enough.” See them for yourself:

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