SB Nation - Darren Sharper

Cowboys vs. Saints Preview: Knocking Off an Undefeated in Six Simple Steps

Rafael Vela — Fri, 18 Dec 2009 23:49:18 -0000

The Cowboys would benefit from more plays like this tomorrow. (AP Photo/Waco Tribune Herald, Jose Yau)

Simple to identify, difficult to execute:

1. Get the lead.

The Saints don't usually fly out of the box, the way the old 'Niners teams of the '90s used to do. (More on this in a second.) They've more like an old Saturn V rocket. They start slowly, but consistently build momentum every quarter, until they're outracing bullets by the 4th.

Several teams have built early leads on them. The Dolphins had a huge lead. The Panthers built a fair one. The Redskins kept them off balance for most of their game. The Cowboys will need to join them, which means the second quarter will be vital. The Cowboys, at least in the Garrett-era, make their offensive hay in the 2nd and 3rd. They'll have to join these other teams in wringing points out of the first 30 minutes.

2. Keep the foot on the accelerator

The Panthers ran their way into the lead, as did the Dolphins. They faltered in the second half because they lacked the firepower to keep scoring once the Saints sold out and slowed those rushing attacks down. If the Cowboys find the lead, either through the air or on the ground, they need to keep attacking. To me, this suggests a steady diet of Romo passing, with the expected draws and counters mixed in. Marion Barber isn't, or shouldn't be counted on to ice away the game with late running, if it comes to that. The Cowboys are a big play team, and score from the opponents 20 out much of the time.

When the Cowboys pass their own 40, the big play calls are coming; the wrinkle runs, the attacks over the middle, the combination routes up the sidelines. They'll likely start here and continue until the Saints 20. The imperative is to score touchdowns. Missing a field goal, as Shaun Suisham did for Washington two weeks ago, and as Nick Folk has done seemingly every week since the pre-season, sets up New Orleans for the quick-strike counter attack.

3. Don't Forget to Defend the Run

The Cowboys have been steady at containing running attacks since the Bucs ripped them to open the season. The Saints get leads, get you worried about their many passing threats, and then hammer you on the ground. They run more than just about any team and run effectively.

Pierre Thomas must be kept under some measure of contain. The Redskins and Falcons held New Orleans to two of their season lows in rushing the last two weeks and knocked the Saints scoring maching off rhythm. It may seem counter-intuitive, because Drew Brees passes so well, but putting the game on his shoulder, putting him in second and third and longs, would greatly increase Dallas' competitiveness.

4. Self scout yourself extra hard this week

Saints defensive coordinator Gregg Williams often builds his defenses from the back forwards. In Washington, he drafted Sean Taylor and Laron Landry to roam the deep middle. They gave him the flexibility to blitz more with his front seven, which had trouble sacking QBs with a four man rush.

When he came to the Saints, Williams inherited a team which also had a so-so rush, and a weak pass defense. The team invested heavily in the secondary, adding free agents Jabari Greer, an unsung YPA leader in his Buffalo days, and Darren Sharper, a smart, but aging FS who seemed to lose his top two gears in Minnesota.

They teamed with second year CB Tracy Porter to shore up the Saints pass defense. Gregg's guys have not made a huge step forward, but they are three points better per game this year than last. Add a seven point improvement from the offense and you can see why the Saints have rocketed from .500 to perfection.

Williams' fronts look vanilla till just before pre-snap; he gives a lot of base 4-3 looks, then makes a lot of late shifts. He's a streaky game caller, and when he's on, it looks to opposing teams that he's in the huddle. His philosophy is to take away your ten best plays and make you adapt. Sharper's production shows the effectiveness of this strategy; many observers thought his legs were gone in Minnesota, and he won't win many foot races these days, yet he has 8 picks, because he knows where to be.

For this reason, opponents need to understand what they do, because the Saints will. The challenge then is not to try to make yourself over, but to change your tendencies, so you can still do what you do best, but do it in slightly unpredictable ways. Have a pet play you like to run in the red zone? Run it, but run it outside the 20. Have a play you favor on 3rd downs? Run it on first instead this week.

That said, look for Jason Garrett to use an inside/out passing tactic which he used very effectively against Williams' defense in a 28-23 win at Texas Stadium. He started Terrell Owens out wide, then motioned him into the slot. T.O. was sent up the field on combination routes. Tony Romo would fake to him, then lob passes over the top of the secondary. The motion isolated Owens on the middle linebacker, who had deep responsibility in the cover-2 the Redskins played a lot, or put him on a safety. Owens ended the day with 173 yards and four scores.

I look for Dallas to try similar plays with Miles Austin. Garrett got him off to a hot start three games ago against the Raiders by motioning him across the middle. He may do this again, but take his routes farther up the field in this game. Sharper is smart, but he's not fast anymore. Saints MLB Jonathan Vilma is the most athletic of the Saints LB trio, but he nonetheless will have some trouble tracking receivers across his zone.

5. Ball custody, ball custody, ball custody

The Saints have turned leads into blowouts by racking up defensive turnovers. They have taken the ball away 37 times in 13 games, nearly three times per game. That's double the Cowboys' defense, for example.

Poor to average teams which have protected the ball have scared New Orleans. The one-win Rams only turned the ball over once, and therefore gained possession in the last two minutes with the score at 28-23. They couldn't find the end zone, but gave themselves the chance.

The Falcons' secondary bled yards, as they have all year, but their backup QB Chris Redmond only turned it over once. They too had the ball in the last minute with a chance to win the game.

The Cowboys have been pretty good at ball custody lately. Marion Barber made a costly turnover in New York, but Dallas actually won the turnover battle the last two weeks. Tony Romo has just three interceptions in his last nine starts.

Dallas will need another strong week from him. If the Cowboys keep their turnovers low, they'll have a fighting chance. If Romo gets pass crazy, as Tom Brady did last month, and makes early picks, as Brady did, the game could spiral away from the Cowboys quickly.

6. Relocate the Big Return

When the Cowboys went on their four game winning streak in October, Patrick Crayton made some huge punt returns. Lately, the Cowboys' return game has gone missing. San Diego twice downed punts inside the Dallas two last week.

The kickoff return game has struggled all year, though Felix Jones returned the opening kickoff past the Dallas 40. Another big return or two would greatly help the cause.

Overall

The Cowboys defense was able to hang on last week against San Diego. Philip Rivers made his share of plays, but he's done that to everybody all season. Dallas held him to a season low 20 points. The D will need a similar effort this week. They need to set their cap around 23 or 24 points, hope they match the game Atlanta sprung last week, and then get the offense to get near 30.

Can it be done? Yes. Three teams at the bottom of the standings, the Rams and Redskins, have given New Orleans two of its toughest games this year. The Falcons had their chances in both close losses and the Dolphins fizzled once the game fell to their passing game, which served up three crippling interceptions. The Saints have their weaknesses, and Dallas has weapons to exploit them.

On the other hand, the Cowboys' middle pass defense is soft. The Chargers and other recent opponents are gaining big yards throwing at Keith Brooking, Bradie James and the Dallas safeties. San Diego bled the clock dry in the 4th running Malcolm Floyd, Vincent Jackson and its backs across James' zones. New Orleans has weapons to do the same.

The result will likely come down to whether Dallas loses the big play races, as it did in New York and against the Chargers, or whether it edges ahead, as it has in its wins.

Saints @ Redskins: Prediction Results and Voting

Saintsational — Tue, 15 Dec 2009 19:00:19 -0000

Before we get to the prediction results from the most recent Saints game against the Falcons this Sunday, we need to vote for last weeks winner from the Washington game. So here they are.

Nobody got all three of their predictions right and we didn't have anyone correctly guess the score so it looks like it might come down to score predictions.

Begin voting now. Prediction results and voting for Sunday's game will be later today.

*CSC Member*	*Predictions*	*Analysis*
GobBluth	Brees throws 2+ TDs Colston and Meachem 1+ TDs each Saints D has a TD	Yes Yes No *Score Prediction: Saints 45-17*
nanvinnie	1) Shockey 1+ TD 2) Defense 2+ TOs 3) Payton No Challenges	No Yes Yes *Score Prediction:* Saints 41-13
whodatone	1. Brees with at least two TD passes. 2. Shockey gets at least one TD. 3. Sharper has no Int.	Yes No Yes *Score Prediction:* Saints 31-27
arcuate	Saints outgain Redskins in rushing yards. Meachem scores at least one TD. Saints D makes 2+ turnovers.	No Yes Yes *Score Prediction:* Saints 35-6
Cajun in CA	1. Skins score 1st. 2. Saints have only 1 turnover. 3. Brees gets to watch the end of the game from the bench.	Yes Yes No *Score Prediction:* Saints 31-9
Nate W	1) Redskins rush for under 100 yards 2) Saints 2 or more sacks 3) Devin Thomas 5 or more catches	Yes No Yes *Score Prediction:* Saints 31-6
cck781	1. Brees 2+ td passes but under 300 yds. passing 2. PT and Bell both score a TD 3. Defense 3+ turnovers	No No No
saints-nation	1. Saints score first 2. Saints up by double digits at halftime 3. Pierre Thomas with at least 100yds rushing and at least 1 TD	No No No
Alex Saints	Colston gets in the endzone David Thomas gets his 2nd TD Brees QB rating 30+ pts higher than Campbells	Yes No No
xen-cuts	1. Brees has 3x+ TDs 2. Meach has 1x TD 3. Shockey has 1x TD	No Yes No
MtnExile	1. The Saints have no problem running on the Redskins, getting over 100 yards. 2. Drew has an off day, throwing for only 2 TDs and an interception. 3. Darren Sharper returns an INT for a TD.	No Yes No
andyp111	Drew Brees has 3TDs Reggie Bush has a rushing and recieving TD Saints are +3 in the turnover battle	No No Yes
sernycrusher	1. pt bruiser goes over 100 yards 2. shockey get a td 3. harper leads team in tackles	No No No
Ponysaints	1. Brees has at least 2 TD’s. 2. PT gets at least 2 TD’s. 3. Brunell gets to play in the 4th Qtr.	Yes No No
CoastRebel	1. Brees 2 TDs+ 2. Saints D 2 INTs+ 3. Kickoff/punt return for a TD	Yes No No
lonBlitz	1. Brees with 1 TD 2. Bell with two rushing TDs 3. Sharper with 1 INT	No No No
viper4dx	1.Brees 2 TD,1 INT 200+ yards 2. Saints total 150+ yards rushing,2 TD 3. Saints D wins TO battle,also scores on Pick 6.	Yes No No
Steve the fan	1. Roby has a kick return TD. 2. Dave Thomas gets a TD. 3. Jenkins has an INT.	No No No
TigerPaw	1. Brees gets picked twice 2. Campbell gets sacked at least 3 times 3. Saints rushing game held below 100 yards	No No Yes
satchmo26	1. Carney misses a FG attempt, which causes Who Dat Nation to lose all confidence in him and demand Hartley. 2. Brees throws for less than 300 yards and less than 2 TDs, mostly because he won’t have to. 3. Saints D scores on a turnover.	No No No
mississippisaintsfan	1.We have our first shut out of the year 2.Pierre Thomas and Mike Bell both score on runs 3.No missed field goals by our kicker this week (which ever one gets the nod)	No No No
FLDune Patrol	1. Washington sacks Brees 3+ 2. Shockey has TD 3. Sharper gets interception and yardage record	No No No
Ace Venom	1) We shut out the Redskins 2) Carney misses a field goal attempt. 3) Brees completes two TD passes	No No Yes
bondcrash	1) Hartley is the only active kicker for the game 2) We punt 4+ times 3) Pierre Thomas has 100+ alll purpose yards	Yes No No
saint-sly	Brees gets 3+ TD passes Colston gets 2 TD’s Smith gets 2 sacks	No No No
bowlbound09	Brees 2+td’s, 1 INT Campbell 1+td’s, 2 INT Pierre Thomas will have big game	Yes No No
Grok Rocker	1. Brees has 3+ TD’s 2. Pierre Thomas has 75+yards and 1+ TD 3. 20th player gets a TD to get closer to NFL record	No No No
themarsist	1. Sharper gets a pick 6 2. Mike Bell has 100+ yards and TD 3. Brees throws two TDs	No No Yes
saintfever09	1. Jason Campbell throws 2+ picks. 2. Brees has 300+ yards and 3+ touchdowns. 3. Will Smith will have at least 1 sack	No No No
Baggs5	1. Brees doesn’t play all 4 quarters 2. Both teams have a special teams return of over 30 yards 3. Saints defense records at least 3 sacks	No Yes No
Ron the fan	1- Drew at least 3 TD.s 2-Pierre gets in on the act this week with 2 TD performance. 3-Shockey gets back in pay dirt with a TD.	No No No
FuSoYa	Brees is sacked at least twice New Orleans wins the TO battle, but has offensive TO’s of their own(at least one) A Washington TD results from a starting field position on NO side.	No Yes No
saintsbrasil	Jason Campbell has 2 + ints Will smith has 2+ sacks Colston scores 2 tds	No No No
GSO Saints Fan	1) Brees: 4 TD, 0 INT 2) PT: 2 TD, 100+ yards rushing 3) Saints D scores another TD	No No No
saintsfan77	brees throws 2 tds thomas scores 2 rushing tds smith and hargrove each have at least one sack	Yes No No
SaintBevo	Saints D has at least 4 take-aways Brian Orakpo has at least on sack of Brees Pierre Thomas has at least 90 total yards and at least 1 TD	No No No
carolinasaintsfan	1. Colston has at least one TD. 2. S. Ellis get a fumble recovery, but holds on to this one. 3. Saints D. Ends have at least two sacks collectively.	Yes No No
sainteric	1. Saints hold Redskins under 100 yards rushing 2. Saints get 3 sacks 3. Saints rush for over 150 yards	Yes No No
darshiva420	180 or more yards rushing Shockey gets threes tds 2 defensive tds	No No No
daisy117	1. Brees throws 2+ TDs 2. Pierre Thomas has 100+ YFS 3. Brees has 0 INTs	Yes No No
benm316	1. Drew throws for at least 250 yards 2. Saints D gets 4 turnovers 3. Redskins convert on less than 50% of their third downs	Yes No No
bmi601	1. Saints defense gets a pick 6 2. Jason Campell gets sacked and fumbles 3. Redskins offense held to under 300 yards total	No No No
Philinwood	- Close game ( within 10 points) until mid- late 3rd qtr - Jason Campbell has 60 + rushing yds - Our special teams clearly outplay their special teams	No No No
BlackandGold4ever	1) Brees throws for 300+ yards, 3+ TD’s 2) Defense scores 1+ TD’s 3) Campbell is sacked at least 4 times	No No No
skinnykinney	1. Brees 3+ TDs and 250+ yards 2. Saints D gets 2+ turnovers 3. Our running game gets 120+ yards total and at least 1 TD.	No Yes No
Boo.	1. Brees 2 TDs of 40+ yards 2. Skins win T.O.P battle 3. Orakpo sack+forced fumble	Yes No No
PilneyPark	1. Saints 150+ yards total rushing 2. Saints force 2+ fumbles 3. Brees pulled before end of game	No Yes No
jray2000	1. Bush, Bell, and Thomas each get over 50 yards from scrimage 2. Saints DEF: 5 or more sacks 3. A Saints TE will score a TD	No No No
SaintsFanInIraq	1 – Sharper gets a Pick 6 2 – Jenkins and/or McKenzie gets a pick 6 3 – at least 4 offensive TD’s	No No No
jimfrotch	1. Saints win T.O. ratio 2. 20th player will score a TD for Saints this year (19 through week 11) 3. Brees throws under 300 yards	Yes No No
hakimdropstheball	1. Saints rush for at least 175 yards. 2. Saints win by at least 15 points. 3. Saints D get at least two turnovers against the Skins.	No No Yes
SaintsFanMD	1. Saints rush for more than 150 total yards. 2. Brees passes for more than 200 yards. 3. Saints D gets at least 2 turnovers and 1 pick 6.	No Yes No
coldpizza	1. Drew Brees will pass for less than 300 yards. 2. At least one tight end from each team will score a TD. 3. The Saints will fly home Sunday evening as 2009 NFC South champs.	No No Yes
RumDunnitt	1. Sean Payton gives game-ball to Greg Williams. Greg Williams wants a shut-out 2. Darren Sharper sets NFL record for INT. return yardage. 3. The Ellis Pressley D-Line makes Jason Campbell "All Shook Up" when they beat him like a "Hound Dawg" on their "JailHouse Rock". I suggest he not step on their "Gold Suede Shoes", because they will not "Love Him Tender"!	No No No
Deckape 69	Saints rush for over 150 yards Saints return a punt for a TD Brees throws 3 TD	No No No
HansDat	1) Bush 1 punt ret TD 2) Bush 1 short yardage rush TD 3) Bush 1 rec TD	No No No
saint boss hog	1.pierre thomas will rush for 75+ yards and a td. 2.saints defense gets a td 3.meachem gets atleast 1 td	No No Yes
Tigernut	1. 4 or more TD’s for Brees 2. 2 or more INT’s 3. Saints wear gold pants.	No No Yes
OldFartFan	water boy fills can’s with hot chocolate. Sharper + McKenzie wrestle INT into end zone each player receives half touch down. Sedrick Ellis recover’s fumble entire Saint’s defence dog pile’s Big E .	No No No
metryman	1. Brees 250+ yds.and 2 Td’s 2. Saints D 3 sacks and +2 TO’s 3. Lucky Pierre 100 total yds. and +1 Td	Yes No No
Scott2417	Saints defense scores 2 times Shockey 100+ yds. TD Brees 350+ yds. 2 TD passing, 1 TD rushing	No No No
jeremysherwin	Brees 3 TD Thomas 2 TD Defense gets 2+ turovers	No No Yes
Joseph William Stern	Saints score greater than 9 points in the first quarter. Redskins commit greater than three turnovers. There are exactly three video challenges in the game	No Yes No
simone219	1.Saints rush for ove 200 yards 2.Meachum catches 1+tochdowns 3.Our defense has 3+ turnovers	No Yes No
jgshocker22	1) brees will throw for 250+ yards, at least one TD and the redskins will no longer have the #1 pass D 2) Saints will get at least 1 INT and at least 2 sacks 3) Saints rush for 100+ yards	Yes No No
janepriceestrada	1. Brunell plays at least one snap. 2. Bell leads team in rushing, +80 yards. 3. Carney misses something prompting Payton to take him out back and toss him in the Potomac.	No No No
Malsby	1. Colston catches at least 1 TD 2. Brees throws for less than 300 yards 3. Redskins rush for at least 100 yards	Yes No No
DrWhoDat	1. Saints D scores a TD 2. Redskins will not score in 4th quarter 3. Saints rush for 150yds	No No No
Monkey Poop Battle	Saints defense records 6+ sacks Saints defense recovers at least two fumbles Pierre Thomas scored at least one TD.	No No No
Just 'Nother Day	1. Shockey scores two touchdowns. 2. Brees scores one rushing touchdown. 3. Bush scores two touchdowns.	No No No
redneckfan	Sharper has pick and sets NFL int. return record Brees throws for 3+ TD’s Saints combined rushing 150+ yards	No No No
WhoDat_OH	1) D/ST force 3+ Skins fumbles 2) At least 3 different Saints score TD 3) Skins do not score in second half	No No No
gavin31785	1. Saints get 3+ sacks 2. Saints have more rushing attempts than pass attempts 3. Saints get 1+ interceptions	No No Yes
Nez	PT has 100 yd day Colston 2 tds Drew throws for 200yds 3 tds	No No No

Poll

Who has last weeks most accurate predictions?

New Orleans Saints' Defensive and Special Teams Player Grades @ Falcons

saints-nation — Tue, 15 Dec 2009 12:00:24 -0000

by Dave Martin - AP

8 days ago: New Orleans Saints linebacker Jonathan Vilma (51) reacts after the Saints stopped the Atlanta Falcons on fourth down near the end of their NFL football game in Atlanta, Sunday, Dec. 13, 2009. (AP Photo/Dave Martin)

View full size photo »

Here's the defensive and special teams grades. They are really, really bad. Keep in mind that while, yes, they held Atlanta to 23 points, they were torched by Chris Redman.

Saints vs Falcons recap

Saints vs Falcons boxscore

Saints vs Falcons coverage

Will Smith: D+ (2.74) Smith was completely neutralized on his pass rushing attempts. I don't know what teams are doing differently, but I sense they're taking advantage of Grant's nonexistent play to load up against Smith. Smith finished with 1 tackle on a nice hustle play downfield inside the Saints' 5 to tackle Tony Gonzalez from behind and save a touchdown. No matter, the Falcons would score on the next play. An extremely quiet day for the normally more active end.

Charles Grant: F (1.97) Congratulations, Charles, you've received my first official F of the season. It's quite an impressive feat, actually, that of all the performances I've graded throughout the season Grant has been the only one bad enough to get this grade. It takes a true commitment to laziness, failure and apathy to pull this one off. To get an F despite playing on a 13-0 team is even more impressive. Wow, Charles, you've outdone yourself. At one point Grant was beaten around the edge and showed decent pursuit, only to make his one and only tackle around the line of scrimmage as the play was held up on the sideline, I was almost disappointed. I thought to myself, "man that was a decent play Charles, are you going to pull off another D-?". But screw it, I'm done with the guy. He deserves an F. He's lining up pitiful performance after another, and on top of that he's rewarding the opposition with personal foul penalties and free first downs into field goal range. It's bad enough that he's being manhandled and completely useless, but he's got to cost us 15 yards too? Saintsational mentioned he's not hungry. I beg to differ, he's obviously very hungry, have you seen his stomach? His GPA is plummeting faster than the stock market was in March. Pass rushing? Forget about it. I'm telling you all right now that the chance of this guy getting another sack this season are zero. Run defense, his supposed strength? Forget about it. He's now too fat, too slow and too effortless to make a play. Am I too hard on the guy? Probably. But enough is enough. He's one of the highest paid players on the team and he has sucked. Am I even allowed to say that? Saintsational might dock my salary.

Bobby McCray: D (1.97) Nice GPA, Bobby. You guys might notice that McCray's GPA is dangerously close to someone else I've been ragging on. So close in fact, could they be the same player? McCray is getting less and less playing time in this defense. I know he's listed on the injury report and limited in practice each week. Is he too hurt to play? He's regressed majorly from a season ago. When he did get in against Atlanta, Redman had all the time in the world. No tackles for McCray.

Anthony Hargrove: C- (2.31) Hargrove had decent push up the middle, and had a nice tackle against the run. That was his only tackle, though, despite extended playing time. Ultimately, the defensive line as a whole got absolutely no pressure on Redman and they were manhandled by the Atlanta pass blocking depsite the fact that they were battling numerous injuries.

Sedrick Ellis: B- (2.70) Ellis wasn't great, but he was much better than his counterparts. He has still seemed rusty to me, and at one point I saw him walk gingerly off the field. I don't think his knee is close to 100%. One thing is undeniable, though, and that's that even when Sedrick Ellis isn't playing lights out, he's not giving up. Same came be said for Smith, and effort goes for a lot. Sometimes good things happen to you and plays find their way to you when you go out there and make some effort. Ellis finished with 3 tackles, and he got a borderline "sack" when he stopped Chris Redman around the line of scrimmage. That play was nice, though, because it forced Atlanta to kick a field goal on a 3rd and 2 play.

Remi Ayodele: B (2.31) Ayodele did an excellent job again clogging up the middle and limiting Atlanta's ability to run the football with a skeleton crew. He just had one tackle, but his impact was evident and useful. He's lined up a couple straight solid performances, so he's starting to grow on me. Atlanta finished with 89 yards rushing, but that didn't stop them from passing almost at will on the Saints.

Scott Shanle: C- (2.59) It's not that he was particularly bad in this game, it's that he wasn't really involved. This was a hard performance to grade because I couldn't really point to any things that Shanle did that disappointed me. You guys all know by now I'm a bigger fan of Shanle's than the average Saints fan. I always have been. Just 2 tackles though, and he was very quiet.

Jonathan Vilma: A- (2.98) I was upset with Vilma for allowing Jason Snelling to slip into the middle of the field for a 38 yard gain on the opening drive. Vilma took a bad angle on the play and showed poor speed catching up. Beyond that mistake, though, Vilma was pretty solid throughout. Then, when the game was on the line, he went from pretty solid to instrumental. First, Vilma intercepted a pass and set up what should have been the game killer. Oh, the offense couldn't put it away? No problem. On the next Falcon drive, Vilma hit Jason Snelling on 4th and 2 on a pass over the middle and blasted him backwards, stopping him short of the first down marker and ending the game. Make no mistake, despite a very poor performance by the offense, special teams and coaching staff down the stretch, Jonathan Vilma won this game for us. with those two plays. He finished with 7 tackles.

Randall Gay: B+ (2.67) Gay was by far the most performant player in the defensive backfield. He finished with 8 tackles. He was solid and physical in coverage, either breaking up passes or making sure tackles when he gave up a play. He also assisted his teammates in tackles, often cleaning up their mistakes. Some of you will remember the woeful performance Gay had against the Rams, but against the Falcons he showed how he can handle himself when he's not lined up against a blazing speed receiver. When used to his strengths, that is: playing in the slot, the box and close to the line of scrimmage covering underneath routes, Gay impresses. He deserves credit as well for blowing up an end around to Eric Weems for a 12 yard loss.

Malcolm Jenkins: C- (2.63) Malcolm made strides after last week, but he's still struggling to come into his own. I wonder if his destiny will be replacing Darren Sharperat free safety like we all speculated about after the draft. He's an aggressive and physical player with good instincts, but I wonder if he has the foot speed to play corner as well asTracy Porter and Jabari Greer. You could tell against Atlanta he was giving more cushion to the receivers, most likely because he's lost a little confidence after getting beat deep. He finished with 4 tackles, but his coverage and tackling wasn't impeccable.

Roman Harper: D (2.87) The recipe for moving the ball by and large the past two weeks has been to find Roman Harper on passing plays. He's been victimized in the passing game and he's really struggled. You can say the absence of Greer and Porter hurt the Saints' ability to play pass defense, but Harper and Sharper's play has been most suspect of late. You can't blame the poor pass defense on the corners this week nearly as much as the safeties. The Saints dialed up the blitz early and often, leaving Harper on an island often, and they paid for it almost every time. He finished with 5 tackles.

Darren Sharper: D- (2.89) Sharper had his worst game of the season, by far. He flirted with an F as well. He bit badly on a double move by Michael Jenkins and was victimized by 50 yard touchdown pass. Jenkins beat Sharper deep to get wide open on another play, but fortunately for Sharper the pass was overthrown because that would have been 14 points on Darren. Sharper looked very slow and vulnerable. This was not the same Darren Sharper that discovered the fountain of youth earlier in the season. He wasn't particularly good coming up and making tackles, either. He finished with 3 tackles. Let's just hope he can rebound from this disastrous performance.

Troy Evans: B (1.92) Evans was the biggest surprise of the day. He was good against the run, and while he wasn't great against the pass he was at least active and around the ball. Evans is never going to blow anyone away with his play, but he played within the defense and tackled well. If he can play like this while Fujita is out, he won't be the defense's problem. He finished with an impressive 5 tackles.

DeMario Pressley: B- (2.75) He finished with 1 tackle, doing a good job on a running play. He had limited action, but once again looked promising when he was in.

Pierson Prioleau: C (2.43) Prioleau never makes major mistakes and you can tell he's a Gregg Williams favorite because he's a high IQ football player. That said, the guy gives too much cushion to his receivers in an effort to limit the damage. He finished with 1 tackle.

Mike McKenzie: C+ (2.22) McKenzie played a decent amount in the second half and he was picked on by Redman with mixed results. At one point Roddy White was wide open and McKenzie was fortunate that Redman's pass lacked accuracy because he was beat. That said, McKenzie showed good spirit and energy out there. He had one tackle, but more importantly he showed he still has that fire in his belly.

Thomas Morstead: A- (3.05) He only got to punt once, and it was fair caught after a pedestrian 35 yard effort. He earned his keep this time with consistent depth on kickoffs. Of the 6 he hit, 4 were kneeled for touchbacks. Good thing, because Eric Weems is a dangerous returner and he was able to take one out for a 37 yard gain. Morstead has been incredibly valuable in setting opponents up with bad field position.

Courtney Roby: C (2.92) A plain performance from Roby who averaged 19.5 yards on his two kick returns.

Garrett Hartley: C+ (3.00) Hartley hit a big field goal from 28 yards out to break a 23-23 tie. That ended up being the difference, so give him credit. That said, are the Saints incapable of finding a guy that doesn't miss extra points? That's now 3 on the season and this is really starting to get ridiculous. What's more, that 23-23 tie I speak of was thanks to the shank. Hartley was also perfect on a 33 yarder earlier in the game, but the missed extra point is flat out inexcusable. While the fake field goal wasn't his fault, I wonder if the call was partially due to the coaching staff's lack of confidence in Hartley? The pathetic crew of Joe Buck and Troy Aikman mentioned that he was "big time struggling" and "couldn't make a kick in warmups". Not sure how accurate that is, considering he was 4-5 last week and his only miss was an unrealistic 58 yarder in bad conditions. Perhaps they were basing their statements on what they saw in the pregame. For what it's worth, I also read a Jeff Duncan tweet that mentioned Hartley nailing a 58 yarder in warmups that would have been good from 60. The bottom line is I am not asking to Hartley to be perfect, but I do expect him to be perfect on PATs.

My Defensive Player of the Game: Jonathan Vilma
My Special Teams Player of the Game: Thomas Morstead

Poll

Who Was Your Defensive Player of the Game?

New Orleans Saints' Defensive and Special Teams Player Grades @ Redskins

saints-nation — Tue, 08 Dec 2009 19:00:15 -0000

by Gerald Herbert - AP

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Brace yourselves because it isn't pretty. I know I sometimes get criticized for being too harsh in my grading of certain players, and if you're one of the people that generally complains about that you will not be happy with some of these grades. As always I'm interested and looking forward to your feedback. Below are the player grades for defense and special teams at Washington. The letter grade represents the player's performance in the game and the GPA represents the player's cumulative effort on the season.

Saints vs Redskins coverage

Saints vs Redskins recap

Saints vs Redskins boxscore

Will Smith: B- (2.86) Smith fought through constant double teams and struggled to put much pressure on Campbell. He was very helpful against the run and did a good job there, finishing with 4 tackles. He was able to hit Campbell hard twice as the ball was released, but he saved his grade mostly for his performance against the run.

Charles Grant: D (2.14) Charles Grant finished with 2 tackles, both coming late in the contest. Otherwise, he was utterly and completely invisible. On most running plays, he was either blown completely off the ball and out of the play, or he overpursued the edge leaving massive running lanes for the Redskins to take advantage of. He really had a horrible, horrible game and at one point I considered giving him an F. If he hadn't registered a tackle, I would have given it to him. Grant has been undisciplined in his play, lazy, and overall bad as of late. I'd rather Bobby McCray get more snaps at the position at this point.

Bobby McCray: B- (2.06) McCray's lone tackle was on a running play where he blew the Redskins up for a big loss. Once again he surprised me by playing the run better and I think that part of his game has come a long way. His pass rushing skills have suffered a little from that improvement, but I can deal. He did get upfield a couple of times and force a quick release, but the bottom line is Campbell was getting the ball out too fast to wide open targets to get much of a pass rush. McCray doesn't get nearly enough playing time, and based on Grant's recent performances I'd like to see him start at Atlanta. Who knows if that'll happen, but a man can hope.

Anthony Hargrove: C- (2.36) The love affair with Hargrove for most continues despite him struggling to do much of anything in games. I'd say at this point he's played 2-3 good games, but the guy is a defensive end to me. The switch to defensive tackle hasn't worked out that well and he hasn't played the run with any inspiration. He finished with 1 tackle and was seen knocked off the ball repeatedly.

Sedrick Ellis: B- (2.71) Ellis finished with 6 tackles, including 1 for a loss. He's slowly getting back to his pre-injury level of play. He did allow a few players to slip out of his grasp by not wrapping up properly and showing poor tackling technique, but the effort and pursuit was always there. The Redskins only rushed for 88 yards and a 3.5 average per carry, so while it would seem like everything the Redskins did worked, the Saints were actually very good against the run.

Remi Ayodele: B+ (2.24) BY FAR, in my opinion, Ayodele's best game as a Saint. For me this was his coming out party. I've been hard on this guy all season and I've constantly complained about how this guy can be in the mix, but now I understand why. He was pushing the pile constantly, FANTASTIC against the run, and came up big on several third and short plays. The Redskins had no answer for his push up front, and as the game wore on the Redskins essentially gave up on running the ball because it wasn't really working and the pass yardage was coming so easy. He finished with 6 tackles, including one for a loss, and anytime a player was in his grasp he wasn't getting away.

Scott Shanle: B- (2.67) I heard rumblings that some fans were unhappy with Shanle's play, but I actually thought he was ok. On one running play he absorbed a strong block, opened his shoulder and was able to stop a run for no gain dead in it's tracks. Impressive play there, and overall Shanle used the lanes Ayodele and Ellis provided him to be effective stopping the run. He finished with 4 tackles, but he did miss a tackle or two. The major liability, for me, came in his pass coverage. He did a poor job on Fred Davis. Suprising because Shanle usually does a good job covering but he just couldn't run with Davis. Shanle got good pressure on the Vilma interception blitzing, forcing a quick release and bad pass from Campbell.

Jonathan Vilma: B- (2.92) Vilma finished with 5 tackles, but I thought he had a mediocre game overall. He wasn't aggressive and shooting gaps like he normally does. As I screamed at the TV for the defense to make a play, every time I'd notice Vilma pursue a play and get blocked out of contention. He saved his grade with a BIG interception with about 30 seconds left in regulation. That pick stopped a Redskins drive that could have given them a shot at a game winning field goal.

Malcolm Jenkins: D (2.76) The good: he had 9 tackles and was able to knock Campbell down on a blitz from the edge. The bad: those 9 tackles were a product of him getting beat repeatedly, and he dropped the easiest interception he'll ever get which would have killed a Redskins drive late in the red zone. The ugly: he looked like a rookie that was completely lost out there. He took horrendous angles on ball carriers, he bit badly on any fakes and double moves, he was often beat deep, and the "lack of speed" that many pre-draft gurus warned teams about before selecting Jenkins was exposed BIG TIME. He still tackled well, and he's just learning so I don't feel like we should all take the sky is falling approach by any means. Jenkins is still a good young player that will only get better... but this was a really bad showing for him. Hopefully he'll learn from it.

Roman Harper: D (3.03) Harper played his worst game of the season, hands down. We all know he's usually terrific in the box in run support, and we all know he's somewhat of a liability in coverage (especially downfield). Well, in this game he was bad in the box, and he was laughable against the pass. ESPN currently claims he had 4 tackles, whereas NFL.com has him listed as having as 2 tackles. So I don't know which one is accurate. What I did see was that Harper missed a repeated amount of opportunities to tackle someone, and his help over the top on pass plays downfield was late and pathetic. He gets a D instead of a D- for saving a touchdown on a kick return by Devin Thomas.

Darren Sharper: C (3.09) Sharper finished with 5 tackles. His lack of speed was an issue. On Fred Davis' first touchdown he took a bad angle and was beat to the corner. He was late bringing help over the top, like Harper. That said, Sharper was many times the security blanket, and he at least did a good job of limiting the damage. I felt like there were a few plays that were just "bad" instead of "disastrous" because Sharper was there to end them. Give him credit for coming up with a HUGE stop on 3rd and short right before Shaun Suisham's miracle miss.

Troy Evans: D+ (1.55) Evans did finish with 5 tackles, but he was bad in pass coverage and bad in run defense. Twice I caught Sean Payton laying into him on the sidelines for missing assignments. He was third in line to play the position, but had to play with the starting unit once Scott Fujita was made inactive and Jo-Lonn Dunbar got injured early (looked like a hamstring pull). I hear Fujita may be out for a while after he had emergency surgery following a bursa sac rupture in his knee that caused a staph infection. I don't know if that means he's out for the year or what, but we're in MASSIVE trouble if we can't get Fujita back. Too bad, he was playing at a high level. Evans, however, was not. Hopefully Dunbar can get back on the field because he's a much more palatable option.

Pierson Prioleau: C- (2.50) He was ok in coverage, actually, except for one play where he played too far off his receiver and allowed a first down in front of him. He finished with 3 tackles. He'd get a better grade, but he came up with a real boneheaded facemask penalty late that gave the Redskins a chance to win the game.

Usama Young: B- (3.00) He got some reps again at corner in dime packages after McKenzie went out with an injury. His coverage was good and he handled himself fine. He didn't really have anything memorable to write about, but no mistakes either. His biggest play came on special teams when he recovered a fumble right before halftime to give the Saints good field position after they had been stopped down 17-10.

Mike McKenzie: D- (2.17) As good as he was last week, it was back down to earth for Mike McKenzie. McKenzie just couldn't seem to do anything right whatsoever. He was beat deep routinely. He blew just about every open field tackle he had a chance at making. He gave receivers way too much cushion, and yet they would still blow right past him. At one point he took a terrible angle, and Sharper made the tackle behind him and gave him a death stare and screamed letting him not it's not ok to mess up plays like that. At times he seemed disinterested in being out there. At one point he was beat deep, the receiver then fell down, and McKenzie didn't even bother hustling to touch him down. He did finished with 4 tackles, but probably could have had about 10-15 with the number of plays being run right at him. The injury he suffered in the game is unknown, but I was glad it took him out of the game. He flirted with an F for large portions of the game.

Chris McAlister: C+ (2.50) McAlister, like Jenkins and McKenzie, was getting beat routinely and did a poor job of tackling the screen receiver pass the Redskins ran all day. He gave a lot of cushion to his man as well, inciting the Redskins to continuously use that play. He finished with 3 tackles. McAlister, though, came up with arguably the biggest play of the game. He hit Mike Sellers and managed to jar the ball loose in overtime, and had the good sense to recover the fumble as the whistle was being blown and Sellers was called down. The replay showed the head referee that it was indeed a fumble (not sure about that call, but I'll take it), and McAlister single handedly got the Saints the ball in overtime. Ultimately, they would turn that turnover into the game winning 3 points.

Garrett Hartley: A- (3.67) Surprise move to see Sean Payton go with Hartley for this game instead of John Carney. Chris Berman on ESPN said at one point that Carney was hurt, but I think he's misinformed. I think this move was strictly performance based, though I could be wrong. Regardless, Hartley was excellent. All of his kicks were right down the middle. He was 4 for 5 on field goals with a long of 34 yards. His miss was a 58 yarder as time expired, so it's hard to blame him for that miss. Extra points might not be a big deal, either, but Carney has been shaky on that all season long and Hartley did tie the game at 30 with his PAT after Meachem's touchdown. He also hit the game winning 18 yarder, twice, as the first was called back by a Zorn timeout. I don't think there's any way Carney kicks next week and this could mean the end of the veteran's reunion run with the Saints. Hartley was impressive with his accuracy.

Thomas Morstead: C (3.00) Morstead's kickoff depth was much shorter than usual. To be expected given the weather and field temperatue. He did manage to get one about half way into the end zone in overtime, which was an important time to do so. His punts were largely poor, as he averaged 33.3 yards on 3 punts. He did manage to pin one inside the 20, though. One of his punts was so short, it hit an unsuspecting Redskins' blocker in the back, resulting in a turnover for the Saints. The punt was bad, but the end result was magnificent.

Courtney Roby: B+ (3.00) Roby was routinely getting past the 30 on kickoff returns, and almost broke one big on a couple of occassions. Per usual his returns were impressive. He also made a nice tackle on special teams as a gunner.

My Defensive Player of the Game: Remi Ayodele

My Special Teams Player of the Game: Garrett Hartley

Poll

Who Was Your Defensive Player of the Game @ Washington?

Remi Ayodele

17 votes

Sedrick Ellis

21 votes

Darren Sharper

7 votes

Jonathan Vilma

54 votes

Chris McAlister

16 votes

The Defense Was So Collectively Bad, I'd Rather Click Here and Not Pick Anyone

74 votes

No one on defense impressed me, so Garrett Hartley gets the vote

65 votes

* BY REQUEST * Robert Meachem, for his "defensive" touchdown

352 votes

606 votes | Poll has closed

New Orleans Saints' Defensive and Special Teams Player Grades vs. Patriots

saints-nation — Thu, 03 Dec 2009 12:00:15 -0000

by Dave Martin - AP

20 days ago: New England Patriots quarterback Tom Brady sits on the sidelines during the fourth quarter of an NFL football game against the New Orleans Saints, Monday, Nov. 30, 2009, in New Orleans. (AP Photo/Dave Martin)

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You know the drill by now, below are the grades.

Patriots vs Saints coverage

Patriots vs Saints recap

Patriots vs Saints boxscore

Will Smith: B+ (2.88) Early in the game, Laurence Maroney ripped off a 22 yard run, and Will Smith had a clear shot at him around the line of scrimmage. Sometimes I feel like he's focused on improving his sack total and his run defense has suffered from it. That said, he did a good job of staying in Brady's face despite double teams for a good portion of the game. He finished with 4 tackles, hit Brady 3 times, and ended with 1.5 sacks. He was the beneficiary of a stat padding sack at the end of the game, and that sack gave him 10 for the season. It's been a while since we've had a double digit sack guy, so that's nice to see 11 games into the season. After having a lower GPA early in the season, Smith's grades have been rising steadily and he continues to pile up consistent performances.

Charles Grant: D (2.24) For an extended portion of the game, Grant was nowhere to be found. He was manhandled anytime a play came his way, and he was unable to get any pressure whatsoever on Brady. On an end around to Welker at one point, Grant showed ZERO pursuit or effort. I was pretty disheartened to see on tape what I concluded was a lazy performance. He did finally get good pressure on a 3rd down play in 4th quarter, though, hitting Brady as he released the ball. It was tough sledding for the Saints' pass rushers though, as they dropped most players they had and often rushed only 4 or sometimes even 3. He finished with 2 tackles.

Sedrick Ellis: C+ (2.71) Nice to have the big man back, and his presence against the run game was felt. He was rusty, though, so I'll expect better things as he gets more reps. I'm sure everyone remembers the fumble fiasco. Hey Sedrick, YOU ARE A DEFENSIVE TACKLE. Fall on the ball already. The fact that he picked up the ball and tried to shimmy his way to the open field like Barry Sanders was laughable. I give him credit for a good all around effort, though. He was sloppy in his tackling at times, but he was also disruptive. He had a terrific tackle at the line of scrimmage at one point on Kevin Faulk. On the Darren Sharper interception, Ellis put nice pressure on Brady to force a bad pass. He finished with 4 tackles.

Remi Ayodele: C- (2.14) Ayodele really didn't play much, surprisingly. When he did, I thought he did an ok job of congesting the middle and forcing Maroney outside. The Saints spent a large part of the game either with a 3 man front, or using Hargrove more because of his superior pass rushing ability and the decreasing threat that the Patriots would run.

Anthony Hargrove: C+ (2.43) As much as Hargrove played he was rather quiet, but he did show terrific effort and a good motor. The plays just didn't really come his way. He finished with 2 tackles, and he did get a chance to force an incompletion by poppin' Brady pretty good right as he released the ball.

Bobby McCray: B (2.00) Finally I saw McCray come in and show me some of those pass rushing skills. Finally! McCray got the other half of the sack with Will Smith, but I felt McCray got the better pressure on that play. He was often coming off the edge and drawing either a double team or a chip block. On one play he absolutely CRUSHED Brady as he released the ball. He also had very good pressure on the long pass to Moss and almost got a sack but Brady evaded him before getting rid of the ball off his back foot. He finished with just 1 tackle, but given the limited help he got rushing the passer I thought his performance was much improved.

Scott Fujita: B+ (2.81) Fujita played MUCH better in the second half. In the first half he was mostly quiet, and I saw him stand out on a play he got beat with on pass play over middle. In the second half, Fujita was dominant. He made a terrific play to force the fumble that Ellis recovered, and he got terrific penetration on that same drive to nail Sammy Morris in the backfield. Kevin Faulk did beat him to the outside on one run, but he was very aggressive and all over the field. He finished with 7 tackles.

Scott Shanle: C- (2.67) Pretty forgettable performance from Shanle who is losing his early season form. He was burned badly by Kevin Faulk on the opening drive of the gain to convert a 3rd down. Then, he was blown up on the 4th down touchdown run by Maroney. He had an absolutely miserable first half. As the game progressed he got more involved and absorbed blocks better, but he was unusually mediocre in pass coverage. He finished with just 3 tackles.

Jonathan Vilma: C+ (2.94) Vilma was up and down during the game. He had 9 tackles, which would lead you to believe he was active and all over the field, but he was also involved in way too many negative plays. Vilma was blown up on first run of the game. Later, he whiffed on Maroney badly to allow the back to get big yardarge. On a pass to Welker, Vilma showed poor awareness. While Welker wasn't his assignment, he had a chance to jump that throw and break up the play or maybe intercept the ball. Instead it was a completion. Like Shanle, his first half was by and large dismal. He did get good pressure on Brady a couple of times blitzing right up the middle. He made up for a shaky start when he BLEW UP Maroney in backfield shooting the gap in the second half. Just when he got on my good side again, though, there was that moronic late hit on Welker out of bounds to give the Patriots 15 free yards. He did get better as game progressed.

Malcolm Jenkins: B (3.06) He was often lined up against Wes Welker and he did an admirable job. He was very physical with Welker, sometimes getting away with possible penalties, and you could tell Welker got frustrated by it. He was PHENOMENAL with tackling all day long, and any time he had a shot at Welker he made sure the slippery receiver went down. He was caught holding twice, once negating an intentional grounding by Brady and another time giving the Patriots a first down - but that was all part of him roughing up Welker. Great job, and I'm glad we have him. Did I already mention he's a terrific tackler?

Chris McAlister: B- (2.67) McAlister was pretty solid all day in coverage, especially in the first half. Despite being matched up against Randy Moss, he didn't allow the future hall of famer to catch a ball until very late in the second quarter. He was however responsible for the long pass to Moss in the second half, and he was fortunate that Brady overthrew a long ball intended for Aiken because McAlister was beaten badly and it would have been a touchdown. He finished with just 1 tackle and he didn't offer much support against the run. Give him credit though, he's only been with the Saints 2 weeks and his he's obviously still capable of covering elite receivers.

Mike McKenzie: A- (3.67) Per Jon Gruden on Monday Night Football "he has guts". I thought that described McKenzie best. He gambled and occasionally lost, but his aggressiveness and fire was instrumental in the win. It was clear the Patriots were going to attack him, and he responded present. It was almost like he never missed a beat from his peak performances 2 years ago. His interception was a HUGE momentum changing play. Later in the game, he had a 3rd down tackle short of 1st down, forcing the Patriots to punt. At one point, beaten by Moss, he dove to make the tackle and somehow jarred the ball loose for a forced fumbled. It was a suspect play, but he saved the Saints from Moss getting major yardage after the catch. He did give too much cushion at times, and was beat on a 3rd and 9 throw curl route to Aiken. The Patriots tried to run that same play soon after and McKenzie jumped the route and almost had another pick. He allowed a first down late by missing a tackle I've seen him make countless times, but he redeemed himself moments later by killing the game with a BIG 4th down play breakup on a pass intended for Moss. He finished with 3 tackles, an interception and 3 defended passes. It's nothing short of incredible that this guy could play at this level after being out of football for a year. The Saints are very fortunate he was available. The welcome back party was in full effect for #34.

Pierson Prioleau: B- (2.67) Prioleau was used as the dime back on some passing downs, and had awesome coverage on a deep pass to Ben Watson down the seam for a breakup. He did a pretty good job in coverage when he was in.

Roman Harper: B (3.21) I have no earthly idea how Harper totaled 10 tackles. He seemed to have a very quiet game, but somehow Harper gets his nose in a lot of plays. He was quiet about his business, but I did notice a big hit he put on Wes Welker on a crossing route early that slowed the receiver down just enough to allow Malcolm Jenkins to knock him down and force the Patriots to kick a field goal. He did get flagged for an illegal contact on a 3rd down to give the Patriots an easy 1st down, which was stupid and negated a good pass rush by Bobby McCray.

Darren Sharper: A- (3.20) Sharper seemed more interested in laying the wood early than getting himself another pick. It seemed like there were passes out there he could have tried to make a play on, but he was focused on crushing anyone that came over the middle. I liked the change in philosophy because he knew he had corners that needed help and he let Pats know early, you go over middle, you pay. Specifically he had a DISGUSTING hit on Faulk that I'm not quite sure how the LSU product got up from. He was very solid all day in coverage and he was a good security blanket limiting the damage when a play would break open. He finished with 6 tackles and was rewarded for his good play with an interception late on a gift wrapped terrible pass by Tom Brady.

Jeff Charleston: C+ (2.33) Not a ton to say, but he played a good amount and was decent pass rushing and decent against the run. He finished with 2 tackles.

John Carney: D (2.61) He was awful. His first field goal hit the upright, and he was fortunate to give the Saints a 3-0 lead when his 30 yard kick bounced in. With the game out of reach he also missed a 36 yarder. So you're thinking, "he was 1 for 2 on field goals, not that bad". True enough, but once again his extra points were VERY dicey. At least three of his point after touchdowns barley made it just inside the right upright. He's already missed 2 this year, and lately it's felt like an adventure with him out there. Not impressed with the guy lately, but I also know he's capable of bouncing back from a bad performance. That said, this extra point thing is nothing new. He's been shaky on those all season long. I've mentioned this before, but I wonder if Brunell being left handed isn't part of the problem? Or maybe the new snapper?

Thomas Morstead: A- (3.09) Every single kickoff he booted went in the end zone, and over half were downed for touchbacks. I mean the guy is just awesome on kickoffs. On punts, it wasn't his fault Welker ripped that big return. He had a nice high and deep punt that the coverage unit should have covered better. He did manage to get another punt inside the 20.

Courtney Roby: B+ (2.97) Roby's best kick return was his first one, which went back to the 35. Two other times he had a shot at getting nice gains but he slipped. As usual he was good and dangerous. He made his grade covering kicks this time. First he caught Welker from behind on that long punt return showing amazing speed. If he doesn't make that play Welker is gone for a touchdown, and McKenzie doesn't come up with a pick on the next play. He also had terrific coverage on a punt to force a fair catch by Welker.

I also need to give props to Lynell Hamilton. He gets an incomplete grade based on limited playing time - but he had a punishing closeline tackle on kick return, and he was a decoy on the touchdown pass to Dinkins.

My Defensive Player of the Game: Mike McKenzie

My Special Teams Player of the Game: Thomas Morstead

Poll

Who Was Your Defensive Player of the Game vs. the Patriots?

Darren Sharper

45 votes

Malcolm Jenkins

41 votes

Mike McKenzie

602 votes

Will Smith

8 votes

Roman Harper

6 votes

Scott Fujita

6 votes

708 votes | Poll has closed

New Orleans Saints' Defensive and Special Teams Player Grades @ Bucs

saints-nation — Tue, 24 Nov 2009 12:00:24 -0000

by Chris O'Meara - AP

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Below are the grades for the defense and special teams @ Tampa Bay. Some terrific play all around.

Saints vs Buccaneers coverage

Saints vs Buccaneers recap

Saints vs Buccaneers boxscore

Will Smith: B+ (2.83) Smith finished with 3 tackles and a sack. He did a reasonably good job of putting pressure on Josh Freeman, and was able to waltz in untouched for an easy sack on a missed blocking assignment. It was nice to see Smith help against the run on a number of occasions, too.

Charles Grant: C (2.37) Grant finished with just 2 tackles, and he knocked Freeman down once on a pass rush. His pass rushing was mediocre, and his run defense was mediocre... so he gets a mediocre grade to go with his mediocre GPA.

Bobby McCray: D+ (1.89) What happened to this guy? He was a very solid pass rusher last year, but his reps get lessened each week mostly due to his complete lack of production. At one point in training camp they were talking about installing packages that would include McCray blitzing from the linebacker slot. Whatever happened to that? No tackles for McCray in this game despite a decent number of snaps. He was complete neutralized on pass downs, too.

Anthony Hargrove: B- (2.44) Just one tackle for Hargrove, but he did a good job getting push on passing plays up the middle, and he recovered a CRUCIAL fumble that broke Tampa Bay's back.

Remi Ayodele: B (2.19) Ayodele plugged up the middle much better than usual and forced the Tampa backs to often bounce their runs outside, allowing the Saints' linebackers to make plays. He finished with 3 tackles and also showed more effort than what I've seen in the past. The main problem I've had with Ayodele is he has a lazy streak where he won't play to the whistle, but I didn't see that in this game.

Scott Fujita: A- (2.72) Fujita is back and playing at a high level. This was arguably his best game of the season. He was making terrific reads and had a very impressive play getting in the backfield and hitting the Bucs' runner for a loss. His tackles were sure and he showed no ill effects from the calf injury that slowed him down. His biggest play was a blitz off the backside where he sacked Freeman and knocked the ball loose, leading to Hargrove's big recovery. Nice to see Fujita making plays, he's been missed. He was a major reason the Bucs struggled to move the ball after that first drive.

Scott Shanle: C+ (2.77) Quiet day for Shanle, who really didn't do much until the second half. There were no major mistakes, but some of the bigger runs early in the game were plays going right at him where he didn't absorb the blocks very well.He was solid in coverage and ended with 2 tackles.

Jonathan Vilma: A- (3.00) Vilma was all over the field, looked fast and was steady. He finished with 6 tackles, a defended pass, a knockdown on a blitz, and an interception. When he gets a clean look at stopping a rusher he almost always makes the play. I don't think he's playing at quite the level he was a season ago, but he clearly makes everyone around him better. Nice to see him get that pick, he made a fantastic catch covering a tough customer in Kellen Winslow Jr.

Randall Gay: C (2.59) Gay was pretty solid in coverage before leaving early with a tweaked hamstring. From what I've heard it sounds unlikely he'll be back in time for the Monday Night game.

Malcolm Jenkins: A- (3.07) Jenkins made a terrific interception, the first of his career, going to the ground to come up with a low pass. He benefited from Antonio Bryant slipping, but still jumped the route well and showed terrific hands. He led the team with 7 tackles on the day and 2 defended passes. He held a very good receiver in Antonio Bryant to just 3 catches. Bryant did have a 21 yard reception against Jenkins at one point, but the coverage was picture perfect and Bryant just made a ridiculous catch on his outside shoulder - not much you can blame the rookie for there. He really stepped in and did not miss a beat.

Roman Harper: B (3.23) Harper dropped an easy interception, jumping a route well but failing to come up with the catch. If there's one thing I've learned from watching Harper all the years is the guy has the worst set of hands I've almost ever seen. He finished with just 3 tackles, but was sent blitzing a number of times. He was able to register a half sack, and he also knocked Freeman to the ground two other times.

Darren Sharper: B- (3.15) Sharper was fine. No real chances to get a pick this time. The few times he was in a good position, the ball by Freeman was so poorly thrown that Sharper had no chance. He finished with 5 tackles and was especially helpful against the run. His grade suffers because of yet another personal foul 15 yard penalty. He's had at least 4 or 5 this year. It was a blatant facemask penalty, and there really was no need for him to do that.

Jo-Lonn Dunbar: C+ (2.73) Dunbar finished with 3 tackles and played in spot duty late in the game at linebacker. He was aggressive and did ok. He over-pursued twice but with the game so far out of reach it's hard to grade him. I'll give him some love for doing a great job on special teams, though.

DeMario Pressley: B- (2.78) This guy deserves to start alongside Sedrick Ellis. There, I said it. I know there's a love affair going on with just about any avid Saints watcher and Anthony Hargrove, and the coaching staff seems enamored with Ayodele, but Pressley has been the tackle performing most consistently. I see him sometimes get pushed off the line of scrimmage, but once when that happen he bounced back up the middle and ended up making the tackle. Even when he's beat he plays to the whistle and shows terrific effort. He finished with 3 tackles and did a decent job rushing the passer.

Pierson Prioleau: B- (2.67) He finished with 3 tackles and did a fairly good job in coverage. With the Saints depleted at corner thanks to the injuries to Torrence and Gay, he stepped in and helped hold down the fort.

Usama Young: B (3.17) Young also lent a helping hand at corner with the Saints shorthanded by injury. He was pretty good, especially helping in run support. He finished with 2 tackles. His grade gets a boost, too, from 2 spectacular special teams plays. First he forced a deep punt to be fair caught inside the 20 with terrific downfield coverage, then he dove on a ball and downed it at the 1 yard line after another great punt by Morstead.

Leigh Torrence: C (2.00) Torrence was placed on IR, I'm told, and that's too bad. The guy was finally getting some playing time. Sure, he wasn't the best corner but you can't argue with the guy's toughness. He separated his shoulder and came back in the game to play and make a tackle due to the Saints' injury problems. He finished with 4 tackles and teamed up with Harper to get the other half of a sack on Freeman. He was also responsible for the touchdown pass to Michael Clayton, though, and I feel like his coverage was spotty enough that a better quarterback could have made him pay. I'm surprised as far as he was playing off receivers that Freeman didn't take advantage of the short routes in front of him.

John Carney: A- (2.77) Carney did his job, so it's hard to give him a worse grade. He hit a big 38 yard field goal to break a 7-7 tie, and at the time it was important. He also hit all 5 of his extra points, but once again got one or two barely inside the upright.

Thomas Morstead: A+ (3.03) He was booming the ball all day long. I tip my cap to you, Mr. Morstead, and I can't tell you how glad I am the Saints kept you over Glenn Pakulak. He was, in a word, fantastic. Every kickoff he booted went into the end zone, and as the game progressed they kept getting deeper and deeper (I believe his last 3 were touchbacks). Clifton Smith is known for being one of the most dangerous returners in the NFC, and Morstead completely neutralized him. He also blasted 4 punts for a 48.8 average, and pinned two inside the 20 (one of those at the 1). He only had one of his punts returned for 11 yards, so he ends up with an extremely impressive net average of a little over 46 yards. Without question his best game as a Saint.

Courtney Roby: B+ (2.93) Roby was pretty good returning kickoffs. No standout plays but he returned 2 kicks for a 25.5 average. His coverage skills, however, are what earned him his grade this time. The play that Usama Young made at the one was only thanks to a great athletic and head's up play by Roby, as he dove into the end zone and tipped the ball back into the field. For some reason the Bucs challenged that play, too, which had to be one of the dumbest challenges of all time.

My Defensive Player of the Game: Malcolm Jenkins
My Special Teams Player of the Game: Thomas Morstead

Poll

Who Was Your Defensive Player of the Game?

Malcolm Jenkins

200 votes

Scott Fujita

113 votes

Jonathan Vilma

111 votes

Chris Reis (didn't play enough to get a grade, but I'll give him props for his pick)

17 votes

441 votes | Poll has closed

Rocky Rhodes- Kerry Frustrated

David_Wyatt — Sat, 21 Nov 2009 13:35:10 -0000

Brian Costello of the NY Post talked this week with both Kerry Rhodes and defensive coordinator Mike Pettine about the safeties lack of game changing plays this season:

"It is getting difficult," Rhodes said. "I see myself wanting to do certain things on certain plays to try to make a play. But once you start doing that you get yourself out of position and other plays happen. This is where you really have to stay disciplined in what you believe in and what the game plan consists of."

Defensive coordinator Mike Pettine was asked about Rhodes this week and said Rhodes has graded out well but then raised an interesting issue about Rhodes' off-the-field activities.

"There are some guys where that's their thing," Pettine said. "When they leave the building, they put more on their plate football wise. I think as coaches we all want to be of the mindset that our guys are all going to be gym rats and football junkies and if they leave here, they're going to go home and study tape. Not everyone is like that."

Pettine did say he has no issue with Rhodes' work ethic, but the implication is clear -- he thinks Rhodes might be too worried about TV appearances and photo shoots.

Kerry Rhodes has come under intense scrutiny this week after he failed again to make any real impression on a Sunday. In fact the only impression that he did make came on a play that basically wrapped up the game for the Jaguars, as a miscommunication between himself and Leonhard allowed Lewis to streak down the field and bring in a 30 yard catch to put the game to bed.

He has come under scrutiny on GGN a lot this season, as part of his mid-season post, John named Kerry as the most disappointing player this season. Now it seems to me like Pettine although back handedly and probably not intentionally has increased the spot light on Rhodes, and not a Hollywood spot light that Rhodes prefers. In calling into question his off the field activities.

Nobody here knows how much work Kerry puts into studying video on opponents, and maybe it is that opposing teams are more wary of him now than they have been in the past. Although to take the next step he has to adapt back, I'm sure that teams are more than aware of players like Ed Reed and Darren Sharper, but they still make game changing plays.

Here we are heading into game 10 of the 2009 NFL season, and Rhodes has 0 sacks and 0 INT. Few big hits and 0 forced fumbles. Quite simply put, Kerry right now is not a big deal, he is average in every aspect of his game. Areas that he does lead in, music video appearances, fan interaction and social media networking. I admire him for his open attitude to the fans.

However sooner or later he is going to have to do his talking on the field, because if he doesn't, we may have to find someone that will.

Chat with Canal Street Chronicles' Dave over Bucs/Saints game.

Niko Houllis — Thu, 19 Nov 2009 11:00:11 -0000

saints

View full size photo »

You can check out my convo with Dave over at their SB Nation blog site and see what He asked Me and what I answered, as well as checking out their comments!

Here we go...

Niko: Its pretty well accepted the Saints of 2009 are better because of improved defense. What do you think are the biggest changes on defense that have helped?

DAVE: Most of it has to do with Gregg Williams. He has completely changed the culture of this defense as a whole and gets a lot more out of the defense than former coordinator Gary Gibbs ever did. Williams' defense emphasizes blitzing, turnovers and populating the ball; all in an aggressive manner. Former defensive coordinator Gary Gibbs ran a very plain scheme but Williams has proven these guys are capable of so much more, and runs many different schemes including both the 4-3 and 3-4.

That's not to say the off-season acquisition of players like Darren Sharper and Jabari Greer haven't proved to be genius. Those two alone have made a huge difference. But I still think the coaching and culture change is the more overriding factor.

Niko: How has Reggie Bush's role changed over the last year or two?

Dave: It's been a roller coaster to say the least, even up to today, and it's a controversial subject among fans. The first two seasons he usually saw a fair number of touches on a very regular basis. I would often complain that the offense was built too much around Reggie. Earlier this season, however, his role was greatly reduced with the emergence of Mike Bell and Pierre Thomas, leading many to wonder whether he was being phased out of the offense. But he's stepped it up the last few weeks, culminating with his two touchdown performance this past Sunday. But even then, in a game when he's playing incredibly well and the Saints are in need of offense, his touches were curiously limited. He is also used as a punt returner but hasn't been as effective as in years past.

Niko: How do Saints fans feel about TE Shockey? What does he do for the team?

Dave: I think they like him. My wife loves him and he's her favorite player. I like him but I'm a Drew Brees man myself. Shockey brings great energy. I have season tickets and sit two rows behind the Saints bench. Shockey is always standing on the bench, waving a towel and trying to get the crowd pumped. After last year I think fans were a little pissed and would rather have kept the draft picks they gave up for him. Now I don't think as many fans would say that.

From an on-the-field standpoint, he does all the things you always hear the TV announcers saying. Shockey is a threat in the red zone. He's a better-than-average run blocker. He opens up the field for Drew Brees and the other receivers. All that stuff.

Niko: After the NFC Championship appearance in 2006, The Saints have been average at best. Now they are undefeated at week 10. Do you think they are more liekly to be the 07 Pats; undefeated and a trip to the Superbowl ? or 98 Vikings whos high powered offense got them a 14-1 record and homefield advantage but a loss in the Championship game?

Dave: Neither. Both of those teams failed to win a Super Bowl. The Patriots lost that 2007 Super Bowl; certainly nothing I want to see for the Saints. The one goal for every single Saints fan is to see the team win a Super Bowl. As for going undefeated the entire way, I think that would be cool but only as icing on a Super Bowl championship cake. Maybe made by Duff from Ace of Cakes or the dude from Cake Boss.

Niko: My standard no.5 q- Who on the Bucs would you like to have, and who would you be willing to trade to get him if you could?

Dave: Barrett Ruud. I know he plays the inside of a 3-4 but if he was versatile enough to play in the Saints system, I think he would really round out the defense. If I have to be serious about a player I would be willing to trade I guess it would probably be a receiver. Saints have enough talent there to afford. Choosing one is the difficult part. You can have anyone but Colston. But I'll throw in Randall Gay just to sweeten the pot.

Where the Arizona Cardinals Stand in the NFC Pro Bowl Balloting

Hawkwind — Wed, 18 Nov 2009 20:23:28 -0000

More photos » by Tim Larsen - AP

Only four players in the entire league have received more votes for the Pro Bowl than Arizona Cardinals receiver Larry Fitzgerald and the only question that remains is how many of his teammates will accompany him? (AP Photo/Tim Larsen)

Browse more photos »

The NFL has released it's first update on the fan voting for the Pro Bowl and the Arizona Cardinals have quite a few guys in the top five at their respective positions. As we all know the fans don't get the final say but it's nice way to judge the popularity and/or of players on a national level. We've started a segment here campaigning for some deserving Cardinals (check out Dockett's, Warner's and Fitz's story) and we've got more to come but for now we all need to go vote, early and often.

Larry Fitzgerald: Only four players in the entire league have received more votes than Fitz (Drew Brees, Peyton Manning, Adrian Peterson and Brett Favre) and it's a safe bet he'll be a starter again this year.
Adrian Wilson: Wilson is the leading vote getter among NFC strong safeties and has almost twice as many votes as the next best, Roman Harper. Again, I think it's safe to assume he'll be starting his second consecutive PB.

Antrel Rolle: Rolle, who's been getting better and better as the season progresses, is actually second among NFC free safeties, but the leading FS (Darren Sharper) has nearly six times as many votes. Still though if Rolle can hang in there and earn his first trip to the Pro Bowl, it would help his case for a new contract a great deal.

Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie: DRC is currenty fourth among NFC cornerbacks but he's going up against some household names in Asante Samuel, Antoine Winfield and Charles Woodson. It would take a really impressive run by DRC to move up the ladder but if he stays in the top five he'll have a chance to go once guys start dropping out for injuries and/or personal reasons.

Darnell Dockett: Nine-0 is also fourth among defensive tackles behind the Williams-Wall (Kevin Williams and Pat Williams) and Albert Haynesworth. Those are some big names to replace but only Kevin Williams stats are noticably better than Dockett's and DD has been getting stronger as the season wears on.

Of the guys who don't rank in the top five at the respective position but should still recieve some consideration are Kurt Warner, Karlos Dansby, Anquan Boldin and Ben Graham. If Warner can stay hot he should be able to jump guys like Matt Ryan, Eli Manning and Aaron Rodgers (all of whom are in the top five) and it would help if the Cardinals keep winning as well. Dansby, even though he's having another good year hasn't had as many big plays as he had last year and he won't make it in without making some game-changing plays. He needs to rack up some sacks and picks in the second half to even receive consideration, but he has that ability. Boldin's case is pretty simple, if he can stay healthy and on the field he'll get into the mix, but he desperately needs to add to his TD total (which currently stands at one). Graham is more than deserving but he's really got no chance.

New Orleans Saints' Defensive and Special Teams Player Grades @ Rams

saints-nation — Tue, 17 Nov 2009 12:15:20 -0000

by Jeff Roberson - AP

about 1 month ago: St. Louis Rams running back Steven Jackson (39) is stopped by New Orleans Saints defensive end Charles Grant (94) as Saints linebacker Jonathan Vilma, left, looks on during the fourth quarter of an NFL football game Sunday, Nov. 15, 2009, in St. Louis. The Saints won 28-23. (AP Photo/Jeff Roberson)

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Below are the grades for the Saints' Defense and Special Teams @ the Rams.

Saints vs Rams boxscore

Saints vs Rams coverage

Saints vs Rams recap

Will Smith: B- (2.78) Smith registered yet another sack which also forced the ball loose, but unfortunately the Saints weren't able to recover. The Rams ended up scoring on the next play on a long pass to Avery. He's been getting better and better this season rushing the passer. Against the run he was mediocre. He finished with just 2 tackles.

Charles Grant: B+ (2.41) Grant was terrific against the run for the second straight week. He finished with 5 tackles and was present on many of the stops the defense made against the run in the second half. 2 of his tackles were plays where he beat his blocker and was able to meet Steven Jackson in the backfield for a loss. His play was aggressive and his tackles were hard to break. He even had a couple of decent pass rushes, and I felt he deserved a half sack on the sack given to Ayodele.

Bobby McCray: B- (1.96) McCray showed some nice ability against the run for once, and this time he got more pressure on the quarterback. Just one tackle for McCray in the game, but I at least saw him involved, active, and always in pursuit. A promising performance given how invisible he's been.

Anthony Hargrove: C (2.42) Hargrove did finish with 4 tackles, and his pressure on Marc Bulger was good, but he's still a little light to play the run effectively. He was pushed out of the way often and mauled on several of Jackson's big runs.

Remi Ayodele: C (2.09) Ayodele got a coverage sack, and just 1 tackle. He was surprisingly pretty good rushing the passer and he pancaked Bulger on another play just as Bulger released his pass. Otherwise, he was eaten alive on running plays and did a poor job of playing at the point of attack. Sedrick Ellis needs to get back in the lineup healthy because the last three weeks watching the Saints attempt to stop the run have been painful.

Scott Fujita: C- (2.53) Fujita was feeling things out early and he seemed rusty in his first game back from a calf injury. He was juked a couple of times by Jackson and allowed him to run through weak arm tackles at other times. As the game wore on, though, he seemed to get better and better as he adjusted back to the game speed. He was in the right place for most of the game and played well in coverage. He finished with 4 tackles, and I hope he'll play more like he did in the second half for all of next week.

Scott Shanle: B (2.81) Nice to see Shanle bounce back and play a pretty solid game. Like Fujita, he was pushed around a little early and seemed to be too tentative in his reads. He did make a couple of terrific open field tackles on a very hard to bring down Steven Jackson, though, and those plays could have been massive gainers if Shanle doesn't come up with the tackle. His tackling technique is very sound, and it's nice to have a linebacker you can trust. True to form he also did a good job in coverage. He finished with 6 tackles including one for a loss.

Jonathan Vilma: B- (2.93) Mixed bag for Vilma. He did have 8 tackles and seemed to get better as the game wore on, but he also had a number of opportunities to make plays where Jackson made him look like a backup. Vilma did a good job on a blitz of hitting Bulger, and almost got a sack at one point but Bulger released the pass as he was going down. Vilma also missed a couple of assignments in the passing game, allowing Daniel Fells to make plays.

Marvin Mitchell: B- (2.45) Mitchell had 2 tackles, including one which was a vicious hit. Overall he didn't make mistakes and looked good against the run and pass in limited duty.

Tracy Porter: C (3.11) Before Porter left the game with an injury, he was having a forgettable game. Assigned for a large part of the game to cover rookie Brandon Gibson, who had no catches on the season going into this game, he was beat all too often. On the play he was injured, he was not only beat but completely blew the tackle. Porter finished with 2 tackles. The news that his injury is only a strain is huge, though. The Saints need him desperately, and the fact the he should be back in time for the stretch run and the playoffs is crucial.

Randall Gay: D- (2.67) Gay was beat on two touchdown passes to Donnie Avery and the Rams in general picked on him all day. He looked slow and despite good coverage on the second touchdown he showed terrible ball skills. Gay did finish with 4 tackles on the day. Gay in my estimation is best used in the slot as a physical corner. I know the Saints were short handed, but matching him up against a burner like Donnie Avery was a terrible matchup. I heard whispers of Jason David comparisons (ahem, Saintsational) and that is going a little too far. Just because he can't run with Donnie Avery it doesn't mean he has no clue out there. Gay will be fine, just a rough day for him lined up against a receiver that is as fast as just about anyone. Next week against Antonio Bryant and Michael Clayton I think Gay will look better.

Malcolm Jenkins: C+ (2.92) He was ok, not great. He finished with 2 tackles and put nice pressure on a couple of blitzes. He did have one devastating hit on Bulger that the Rams' quarterback barely got up from. He also had a big "defended pass" late in the game, where he ran with Avery before getting hit in the back with the ball. One thing I was impressed by was a running play where it was Jackson, a blocker and Jenkins, and Jenkins did a good job of sticking his head in there and trying to take out Jackson's legs. He slowed Jackson down enough to make it an easy tackle for his teammates. Malcolm is pretty physical for a corner.

Roman Harper: B+ (3.26) Another solid game from Harper. He's becoming a pretty steady performer for the Saints, and brace yourselves because he actually looked good against the pass. He was around the box a good amount, especially in the second half, and finished with 8 tackles. He did a good job, mostly, of limiting Jackson's effectiveness at the second level. He had a key pass breakup late in the third quarter on a 3rd down in the red zone forcing a Rams' field goal, and he was involved on the hail mary attempt breakup.

DeMario Pressley: B (2.84) He was pretty good against the run. Sure he was pushed around at times and somewhat responsible for the yardage Jackson amassed, but he looked aggressive and I liked his hustle. Given the fact that Pressley is essentially a red shirt rookie that's only in his second game as a pro, he's performed admirably. He had 5 tackles including 2 for losses.

Pierson Prioleau: C+ (2.67) Prioleau gave up a couple of passes but also laid some nice hits. He finished with 3 tackles and helped the Saints out when they were so thin on the final drive in dime coverage.

Usama Young: B+ (3.33) At times Young looked like a harder hitting, faster version of Darren Sharper. He had a terrific break on the ball on his interception, and he also defended another pass showing nice anticipation. He finished with 4 tackles and had some nice hits. His grade could be better, but he took a couple of bad angles on Jackson at the second level and did a bad job of wrapping up at other times which allowed the Rams to gain more yardage.

Leigh Torrence: C (2.00) Torrence did finish with 4 tackles, and showed pretty good coverage specifically on a deep ball late in the game, but in general he played too far off his man allowing easy throws underneath. He was beat at least twice on slants. He was responsible for Gibson once Porter left with an injury and he did very little to slow him down.

John Carney B- (2.67) No field goal attempts and Carney finished 4 for 4 on extra points. I'm sure some of you are thinking: well, he did everything we asked him to do, why doesn't he get an A or an A-? Well, first off, the best I'd give him for that minimal of a contribution is MAYBE a B+, but couple that with the fact that the Saints were forced to punt once and go for it another time on 4th down because Carney's leg strength was unreliable and there you have it. As much as I like Carney and trust his accuracy, it's a bummer that we don't have an option we currently trust with the game on the line and the ball at our opponent's 35 yard line.

Thomas Morstead D+ (2.89) Morstead didn't have any touchbacks on kickoffs, but his depth was ok. His punting performance was actually pretty dismal. He averaged just 37.3 yards on 3 punts, and netted just 20.6 per punt if you count 2 touchbacks and a 10 yard punt return. On his last punt he blasted it out of the end zone, but it sounded like there was a coaching mix up and he was just following instructions.

Courtney Roby A (2.88) Roby took one to the house to open the second half and break a 14-14 tie. His speed hitting the hole on that return was impressive and no Ram ever had a chance at him. I'm happy to see Roby solidify his standing as the team's returner. I also liked that on a deep kickoff later in the game, he didn't let the big play go to his head and he downed it for a touchback. He also came close to making a nice play as a gunner on a punt that bounced inside the 5, but punt returner blew him up before he had a chance to down the ball prior to it going in the end zone. Glad he didn't get hurt on that play, it was a vicious hit and we need him.

Jo-Lonn Dunbar: B (2.83) Dunbar threw an awesome block on Roby's return, and he was credited with a tackle as a gunner. I could have SWORN I remember him making two tackles, though. None the less, he was involved downfield and had a good day on special teams, so I thought I'd give him his props.

My Defensive Player of the Game: Roman Harper
My Special Teams Player of the Game: Courtney Roby

Poll

Who Was Your Defensive Player of the Game?

Usama Young

108 votes

Jonathan Vilma

20 votes

Roman Harper

102 votes

Charles Grant

55 votes

285 votes | Poll has closed

SB Nation - Darren Sharper

Cowboys vs. Saints Preview: Knocking Off an Undefeated in Six Simple Steps

Saints @ Redskins: Prediction Results and Voting

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Who has last weeks most accurate predictions?

New Orleans Saints' Defensive and Special Teams Player Grades @ Falcons

Who Was Your Defensive Player of the Game?

New Orleans Saints' Defensive and Special Teams Player Grades @ Redskins

Who Was Your Defensive Player of the Game @ Washington?

Remi Ayodele

Sedrick Ellis

Darren Sharper

Jonathan Vilma

Chris McAlister

The Defense Was So Collectively Bad, I'd Rather Click Here and Not Pick Anyone

No one on defense impressed me, so Garrett Hartley gets the vote

*** BY REQUEST *** Robert Meachem, for his "defensive" touchdown

New Orleans Saints' Defensive and Special Teams Player Grades vs. Patriots

Who Was Your Defensive Player of the Game vs. the Patriots?

Darren Sharper

Malcolm Jenkins

Mike McKenzie

Will Smith

Roman Harper

Scott Fujita

New Orleans Saints' Defensive and Special Teams Player Grades @ Bucs

Who Was Your Defensive Player of the Game?

Malcolm Jenkins

Scott Fujita

Jonathan Vilma

Chris Reis (didn't play enough to get a grade, but I'll give him props for his pick)

Rocky Rhodes- Kerry Frustrated

Chat with Canal Street Chronicles' Dave over Bucs/Saints game.

Where the Arizona Cardinals Stand in the NFC Pro Bowl Balloting

* BY REQUEST * Robert Meachem, for his "defensive" touchdown