Jairus Byrd’s forced fumble was one of the very few highlights from the defense last Sunday.
Things can’t get any worse than last week, right? Statistically, the answer to that question is a firm “no”. The New Orleans Saints defense fell flat on their faces in an attempt to slow down division rival Matt Ryan and his Atlanta Falcons. After giving up 568 yards and 37 points, the Saints rank dead last in the NFL in both total defense and scoring after a week of play. The good news? They can only get better. Well, maybe not. After scrolling through my news feed on Facebook and seeing nothing but negativity last Sunday, I felt inclined to remind everyone that it was just one week and Atlanta is a pretty good team. I also mentioned that if Brian Hoyer comes out and throws for 400 yards on the Saints, then it’s time to panic. So, while statistically things can’t get any worse, they could in reality. No part of me believes that will happen, though.
The Cleveland Browns were surprisingly decent on offense in Week 1. Facing a tough defense in the Pittsburgh Steelers on the road, Cleveland was able to put up 389 yards of offense, good for 13th in the league. They scored 27 points, which was 11th most among teams in the first week of the season. Quarterback Brian Hoyer played well, despite the continuously growing question of when Johnny Manziel take over. Browns Head Coach Mike Pettine said this week that Manziel will remain on the sideline, barring an injury to the starter, so for now it’s still Hoyer’s job to lose.
Pass Defense
Just as they were in total defense and scoring, the Saints rank dead last in the league in pass defense. They allowed 445 yards through the air against the Falcons last week. Keeping up with the explanation I gave in yesterday’s piece regarding total passing compared to the amount of yards that the quarterback actually throws for, Matt Ryan threw for 448, but Tyrunn Walker’s sack was for a loss of three. That sack from Walker was the only one in the entire game for the Saints and frankly, they didn’t come very close on any other occasion. Top cornerback Keenan Lewis missed a few plays to start the second half after sustaining a minor knee injury. Lewis was limited in his first practice of the week, but got back to full action shortly after. Safety Marcus Ball continued to miss time all week with his hamstring injury from late in the preseason. Patrick Robinson went down a few times during the game with what appeared to be a neck injury, but he was left off the injury report this week and looks to be back to full health.
As I mentioned earlier, Brian Hoyer surprisingly played pretty well for the Browns last week. Pittsburgh isn’t quite the steel curtain that they’ve been in year’s past, but they are pretty good. Hoyer through for 230 yards, which was tied for 18th in league. He completed a modest 61.3% of his passes and threw one touchdown and didn’t turn the ball over at all. Hoyer proved last year in his brief stint as the starter that he’s pretty talented, but unfortunately had his season end pretty quickly after tearing his ACL. On the other end of his passes, newly signed Andrew Hawkins came down with 8 receptions for 87 yards in his Cleveland debut. Up and coming tight end Jordan Cameron recorded 2 receptions for 47 yards, but injured his shoulder in the process. Cameron did not practice all week and looks like a long shot to play tomorrow, which will take away the Browns #1 weapon. Travis Benjamin and Miles Austin each recorded exactly 2 receptions for 20 yards, with Benjamin coming down with one of them for a touchdown.
Let me start of this preview by saying, the Cleveland Browns are far from the Atlanta Falcons. I know you’re probably thinking, “Thanks, Captain Obvious”, but let me explain what that means. First off, the Saints should have no where near the trouble against the pass this week as they did last week. Brian Hoyer is no Matt Ryan. The Browns don’t have a Julio Jones or Roddy White running routes for them, either. Rob Ryan should be able to play more of the man defense that he likes to play. He was forced to go with more of a zone last week, with the intention of not allowing any big plays over the top. The other point of my obvious statement is touching on what I mentioned earlier. There was no reason to panic after last week’s debacle, but if the defense looks that bad against this offense, it could be a clear sign of trouble. The Browns did allow Hoyer to be sacked three times last week, so the Saints should have opportunities to get to him. Both Cameron Jordan and Junior Galette harped on their inability to produce a pass rush against Atlanta, saying that performances like that are unacceptable.
Rush Defense
The one defensive category that New Orleans was not dead last in was rushing defense. That’s not saying they were particularly good, though. After allowing the Falcons to rush for 123 yards, the rush defense ranked in at 19th in the NFL after Week 1. Curtis Lofton and David Hawthorne were the usual suspects playing key factors in stopping the run, combining for 18 tackles. Kenny Vaccaro, also commonly active against the run, missed more tackles than what he recorded. His 6 missed tackles were twice as much as he had in all of 2013.
The Browns had a very good day on the ground in their season opener. Rushing for 183 yards, Cleveland totaled the 6th most yards on the ground in the NFL. Rookie Terrance West led the way with 16 carries for 100 yards, averaging 6.3 yards per carry. Fellow rookie Isaiah Crowell rushed the ball 5 times for 32 yards and 2 touchdowns. Ben Tate, Cleveland’s usual starter, sprained his knee in the game and has already been ruled out for the next 2-4 weeks.
Cleveland will almost definitely try and attack the New Orleans rush defense to continue to keep the pressure off of Brian Hoyer. The near 200 yards that they ran for in Week 1 was certainly a big help to keep the game from resting solely on the shoulders of Hoyer. The Browns likely took note of the 4.9 yards per carry that Falcons running backs gained last week and try to establish the run early on. I’d look for the tackling from the Saints to be cleaned up after such a dismal Week 1 performance. Although Vaccaro has taken most of the heat, it poor all around.
Players to Watch
Cameron Jordan/Junior Galette
This is a big turnaround week for these two. After combining for 24.5 sacks a year ago, coming out and not even being able to get close to the quarterback against a team’s third and fourth offensive tackles is simply unacceptable. Galette just got his big contract extension and Jordan is almost definitely next in line, so both have work to do. The talent between the bookends is far too good to be contained for more than one entire game.
Kenny Vaccaro
Another obvious name here, but Vaccaro is also in need of a bounce back game. Like Jordan and Galette, his talent far exceeds what he produced on the field last week. It’s pretty clear that an entire season of work is more of a telling sign than just one game, so Vaccaro should get back to the type of play that missed only three tackles through fifteen games in 2013, rather than the six he missed just last week. Look for him to play with a chip on his shoulder and get in some big hits early.
Prediction
While the Saints played poorly and the Browns played well in each team’s respective match-up, I still do not believe that New Orleans will find themselves 0-2 after tomorrow’s game. Cleveland’s defense will have a hard time stopping Drew Brees and company, while it wouldn’t be a surprise to see someone like Jairus Byrd produce another takeaway from an overwhelmed Browns offense. I see the Saints staying in control from the start, then pulling away in the 4th quarter.
Saints – 31
Browns – 14
Who Dat?!
Follow David Billiot Jr on Twitter @DCBilliotJr6
