For the second week in a row to start the season, a last-second field goal sent the Saints home with a loss.
Offense
Passing: C
It was a tough day for the New Orleans Saints passing attack and it all started up front. Drew Brees was sacked twice, while being rushed on throws throughout the game. Along with Cleveland Browns pass rush, the crowd also played a factor. Brees had to burn two timeouts in the first half because he could not get his pre-snap checks made in time due to his teammates not being able to hear him. The Cleveland crowd certainly did their part.
Brees simply looked uncomfortable throughout the day. He had only one completion over 20 yards, with the rest being short throws or check downs. Brees’ stat line doesn’t indicate that he played bad, but it was apparent when watching the game that Cleveland was bothering him. He finished 237 yards on 68% passing, while throwing two touchdowns and one costly interception which was returned for a touchdown.
Aside from Jimmy Graham, no one could really get anything going on the other end of Brees’ throws. Graham finished with 10 receptions, 118 yards and two touchdowns, while no other receiver had more than three receptions or 37 yards. Robert Meachem, Kenny Stills, Mark Ingram, Brandin Cooks, and Pierre Thomas each had three receptions, meanwhile Marques Colston didn’t even record a target. Many asked if he was even on the field. He played on 41 of the 70 offensive snaps for the Saints, second most behind Cooks’ 55.
Rushing: A-
It’s not often that the running game out-grades the passing attack in this offense, but this was certainly one of those few rare occasions. The only reason that the grade wasn’t even better was because they didn’t run the ball even more. As a team, the Saints averaged 6.0 yards per carry. Mark Ingram, Khiry Robinson, and Pierre Thomas combined for 130 of the team’s 174 yards rushing, averaging 5.9 yards a pop.
Mark Ingram led the day with a stellar performance, taking 11 carries for 83 yards and a touchdown, while averaging a whopping 7.5 yards per carry. Throughout the second half, many were wondering why he wasn’t getting the ball even more. That feeling was magnified on the team’s final drive, when trying to pad their lead with just a few minutes to go. Well, unfortunately Ingram broke his hand sometime in the first half and played the rest of the game with it taped up, so it appears as if Coach Sean Payton didn’t want to push it too much. Khiry Robinson added in 8 carries for 31 yards, while Pierre Thomas chipped in 3 carries for 16 yards. Both will see an extended role in the ground game for the next few weeks with Ingram sidelined for about a month.
The Saints continued to use Brandin Cooks in his Percy Harvin-like role, giving him two carries on jet sweeps. He added in 31 yards on the ground, with 28 of those coming on one explosive run to set up one of Jimmy Graham’s touchdown receptions.
Saints
Mark Ingram
Shouldn’t be any surprises here. Ingram looked fantastic, which now makes his injury even tougher to swallow. The man just can’t catch a break in the NFL, but hopefully he’ll be back after the team’s Week 6 bye week, when they travel to Detroit to face the Lions in Week 7. With it simply being a hand injury, there’s no reason to believe he isn’t capable of picking up where he left off with his 7.5 yards per carry on Sunday.
Jimmy Graham
As for the other half of Sunday’s dynamic duo, Graham’s 118 yard receiving made up half of Drew Brees’ output. His two touchdown receptions helped give the Saints their first lead, although they could not protect it. Graham did a lot of his damage being covered by Pro-Bowl cornerback Joe Haden. His first touchdown was very impressive, going up high in one-on-one coverage with Haden, making the cornerback look like he never had a chance.
Sinners
The Receiving Core
It’s tough to single out any one guy here, but the entire group is at fault for not being able to get themselves open and help their quarterback. Cleveland’s defense is above average, but they still have to find a way to give Brees options to throw the ball. Between that and a few dropped passes, these guys were a let down on Sunday.
Defense
Passing: C-
Meh. That’s about the best way to sum up this unit’s performance. While they only gave up 204 yards passing to Brian Hoyer, they failed to make a play in big moments. Between two third downs and one fourth down conversion on the Browns final drive to kick the game winning field goal, they didn’t show up when needed the most.
Once again, the pass rush was mostly no where to be found. Junior Galette recorded the only sack of the day, his first of the season and only the second for the team in two games. Cam Jordan was able to get close to Hoyer a few times in the second half, but never really made any real threat to get him to the ground. Hoyer had all day to throw, especially on the big conversions that his team made to extend drives.
Patrick Robinson…man, oh man. The guy just continues to look lost out there on the field. He was routinely beat giving up a touchdown and a long pass interference call. On the touchdown pass he gave up to Miles Austin from three yards out, Robinson was about five yards away from Austin when he caught the ball. NOT EVEN CLOSE. The worst thing for this guy is a lack of a pass rush, which is exactly the combination we’ve seen through the first two games.
Rushing: C+
A lot of people though that the run defense was worse than it was, but giving up 4.0 yards per carry isn’t terrible. It’s not good, but it could be much worse. The tackling was cleaned up a decent amount, especially from Kenny Vaccaro. He was tied for second on the team with seven tackles, while not missing any from what I recall. Other than that, there really isn’t a whole lot to say here, other than even though they weren’t that bad, there is still room for improvement.
Saints
Jairus Byrd
Just looking for someone to put here, Byrd is the only player somewhat worthy. He didn’t make any big plays on Sunday, but he’s certainly making his presence felt on a play-to-play basis for this defense. I’m excited to see him continue to grow in Rob Ryan’s unit, with his aggression and ability to fly around to the ball already being showcased.
Sinners
Cameron Jordan/Junior Galette
It was another disappointing day for the pass rush duo. Galette came up with his first sack, but the two again struggled to put any pressure on the quarterback. As I mentioned before, Jordan was starting to find his way in to the backfield, but just as he’d get around his blocker, Hoyer was able to get rid of the ball. For one player who just inked a big contract extension and one who’s looking for his, they have a lot of work to do.
Week 3
That’s a wrap from another heart-breaking finish for the now 0-2 New Orleans Saints. They’ll return to the comfy confines of the Superdome as they welcome the 1-1 Minnesota Vikings for a 12:00 start on Sunday afternoon. I’ll have a full week of previews coming up as we near the weekend, so keep an eye out.
As always, Who Dat?!
Follow David Billiot Jr on Twitter @DCBilliotJr6
