Although it was mostly a team effort, Mark Ingram did his best to carry the Saints on his back when needed.
Offense
Pass Offense: B-
It’s unusual to look at the stat sheet and see Drew Brees complete just 20 passes and still finish with a 67% completion percentage. It’s also weird to see just one player have more than 3 receptions. Well, those things are unusual to see in a Saints victory, at least. That was the case from Saturday night, though. Thankfully, the passing game didn’t have to be at it’s peak performance and it’s probably a good thing they didn’t have to, because, well…they weren’t. Brees looked awful in the first half, throwing two costly interceptions. Only one turned in to points for Philadelphia, the Riley Cooper touchdown catch, but they both very likely cost the Saints points on their side of the scoreboard. Both interceptions came with the ball around mid-field. Brees found his groove in the 3rd quarter, but finally had some weight taken off of his shoulders by the running game. As for the pass protection, they were pretty good. Brees was sacked twice, but only for -1 total. He was likely trying to begin to scramble on each of them, getting out of a big loss. All-in-all, the pass offense did what they had to do to help, but they weren’t the stars for once.
Rush Offense: A+
It’s not very often that the Saints’ rushing attack is graded out higher than their passing game after winning a game. Actually, I can’t think of the last time I graded it that way off of the top of my head. It couldn’t have come at a better time, though. Heading in to the game, just about everyone in the country believed said that the Saints had no chance in the playoffs if they didn’t find their running game. I mentioned in the offensive preview that I believed they needed to get the ground attack going, but I honestly didn’t believe they would. I didn’t think that they’d necessarily not be able to, I just didn’t think they’d try that hard. Whether it was the game plan going in or Payton took notice of it’s early success, coupled with two first half interceptions from Drew Brees, but it showed up. It showed up big time. I don’t mean to go overboard with a perfect grade, but I can’t help but believe that things could have been played any better. When you average 5.1 yards per carry as a team, including four quarterback sneaks, you had a pretty good day. The high rushing average is surely great and all, but it could end up meaning nothing if you can’t close out a game by picking up a couple first downs on the ground. Hell, the only reason why the Saints were playing in the Wild Card round is because they failed to do just that in two games this season. They didn’t fail on Saturday, using nine runs as part of their ten play drive to set up the game-winning field goal. Mark Ingram and Khiry Robinson were huge on the final drive. Ingram easily had his best, most complete game of his young career, carrying the load with 18 carries for 97 yards and a touchdown. His 5.4 yards per carry average was actually the lowest among the running backs. Robinson added in 8 carries for 45 yards and a 5.6 yards per carry average. Darren Sproles didn’t run it much, but his 4 carries for 29 yards certainly helped. Watching the Saints win a ball game with the rushing attack was refreshing, to say the least. If they have any chance of beating Seattle this weekend and advancing any further, this performance will absolutely have to become a trend in these playoffs.
Saints
Drew Brees
After a terrible first half, Brees made a 180 with his performance in the second half. He was instrumental in the two touchdown drives that set the tone in the 3rd quarter, giving the Saints a two score lead for a short period. A good friend of mine, Nick, made a great point at halftime on Saturday night. He said that when you have a future Hall-of-Fame quarterback like Drew Brees, if there is any one player or position you’d rather see get off to a bad start, it’s him. Why? Because he’s the best player on the field and has the best chance of turning it around. Well, he did just that and regardless of how good the rushing attack was, the Saints don’t win that game if Brees hadn’t made the adjustments.
Mark Ingram
This one is a no brainer. I have to say, I’m as happy as anyone about Ingram’s play since he returned from his injury halfway through the season. I’ve been a believer in his talent and work ethic from the start and it’s nice to see that it’s finally coming through. The kid runs with authority every time he touches the ball. Last year and even in the first two games of this season, he looked slow and couldn’t find a hole. Now, he looks as quick as anyone on the field and is displaying excellent ball carrier vision. Hopefully this is just the start of his ascension in the game, because he is fun to watch.
Khiry Robinson
After 16 games of being either a healthy inactive or being used sparingly for a carry here or there, the rookie was called upon in big moments and he delivered. Robinson finished with 8 carries for 45 yards, but the 3 carries for 22 yards that he had on the game-winning drive may have been the most important. He was crucial on the final possession, helping the Saints run down the clock and get in to field goal position to clinch the victory. Not bad for an undrafted rookie who barely made the roster, huh?
Sinners
None
Defense
Pass Defense: B
It’s amazing what a difference the absence of Keenan Lewis made after getting injured late in the third quarter. It almost looked like two different teams had taken the field and team with the ball was much better. The pass rush was so-so throughout the night, but they struggled to get to Nick Foles after Lewis went out. The combination of having the 4th and 5th string corner backs on the field, along with all day for Foles to throw, was a bad combination and very apparent. The difference in the game may have been when the defense was able to stop the Eagles after they found their way in to the red-zone early in the 4th quarter, forcing a short field goal. If Philadelphia had gotten in to the end zone on that drive, the Saints would’ve needed more than a field goal on their last possession and who knows how things would’ve turned out. Thankfully, things happened they way they did and the pass defense held out just long enough to help win the game.
Rush Defense: A
There’s not much to complain about after holding LeSean McCoy to just 77 yards rushing and a 3.1 yards per carry average. Defensive Coordinator Rob Ryan did a fantastic job of scheming and game planning on how to slow down the NFL’s rushing title holder. The Saints did a wonderful job of limiting McCoy’s cut back lanes, which is where he has become famous at making teams pay. My one criticism would be the two 4th down conversions that New Orleans allowed. Although only one led to points, I’d like to see the Saints be able to stymie the efforts of another team when they roll the dice in that situation.
Saints
Keenan Lewis
Lewis’s coverage on DeSean Jackson was phenomenal. For as dangerous as Jackson is, it’s quite the accomplishment to hold the guy without a catch for three quarters of play. It’s unfortunate that Lewis had to leave the game, because it would have been interesting to see if he could have went the whole game without allowing a reception. Jackson clearly gained respect for Lewis, as he was standing closely to the corner back as he was on the ground with the trainers, waiting to see if he was OK.
Cam Jordan
Not that we have come to expect any less, but Jordan’s 1.5 sack performance further proves how productive he is becoming in his young career. He didn’t get close to the quarterback quite as often as usual, but what he did register was big.
Sinners
Corey White
I hate to make it seem like I constantly pick on this guy, because I know I do that a lot. Before I get started, let me acknowledge that I know he’s very young and very raw. I do like him as a player, but he’s much better suited for the nickel role. Unfortunately, injuries have forced him to the outside and for a little over a quarter last week, he was pushed in to the role of #1 corner back. I can’t say that his performance surprised me, but it was still frustrating. First, on the deep ball that DeSean Jackson came down with, he somehow managed to let Jackson get back in front of him on a broken play and out-leap him for a high pass from Foles. Hey, getting beat happens. They second mistake was truly frustrating, though. Jackson does one thing very well and that’s run deep. With just over five minutes left in the game and with your team holding a three point lead, you can’t let the guy get behind you. White did just that, letting Jackson get behind him inside of the 5 yard line. The ball was under thrown, but it didn’t matter because White didn’t get his head turned around and gave the referees one of their easiest calls of the night. The defensive pass interference gave the Eagles a free 40 yards and the ball at the Saints 3 yard line, leading to the eventual go-ahead touchdown. The two main things that he needs to learn were both apparent on that one play. He needs to do a better job of getting beat deep and he needs to learn when to turn his head and either get a hand on the ball or not make the most blatant pass interference calls there are.
Who Dat?!
