By Ross Jackson
The New Orleans Saints finished a thriller with the New York Giants on a blocked punt. A fitting end for the Saints’ third win under interim head coach Darren Rizzi, who grew up within 20 miles of MetLife Stadium. While the blocked field goal sealed the victory, several defensive players topped the chart in their contributions to the victory.
Here are the top and bottom 5 Pro Football Focus grades from the win among players with at least 15 snaps in the game:
Top 5:
DE Chase Young – 89.6
S Ugo Amadi – 80.3
DE Carl Granderson – 79.9
RB Kendre Miller – 78.7
LB Demario Davis – 75.9
DE Cameron Jordan – 74.2
Young tied his career high with 10 pressures in this game and generated a 27.8% pressure rate in the meanwhile. An excellent game from the former No. 2 overall selection. Transitioning that pressure into sacks will be the next step for Young in the Saints’ defense. However, with just four games remaining, the benefits will be minimal.
Amadi may have been the most underrated player of the Saints’ win this week. Targeted 10 times, the slot corner allowed seven catches for just 61 receiving yards. That’s just 8.7 yards allowed per catch. Add in two pass breakups and three defensive stops, and it’s no wonder why Amadi was so highly graded.
Miller’s average of just 3.2 yards per carry may not look like much, but his per carry rate only fell when the Saints were running a four-minute offense. Before then, he was comfortably above four yards per carry. His eight-yard touchdown rush was a display of his strength and balance. But he also showed finesse with impressive cutbacks throughout the game. A nice return for the running back.
Davis got those hands he said he ordered a couple of weeks ago after dropping an interception. He reeled in his third pick as a Saints linebacker in this game. He was also near flawless in the run game, reading and pursuing with the confidence everyone is used to seeing from the All-Pro-level linebacker. He did not miss a tackle in the day.
Jordan has continued to see his snaps hold steady after some lighter games earlier in the season. He’s making them count. He racked up five pressures in this game along with a pair of run stops. Two of his pressures were also hits on the Giants’ quarterback.
Bottom 5:
RG Cesar Ruiz – 50.8
DE Payton Turner – 50.6
CB Kool-Aid McKinstry – 49.1
WR Kevin Austin Jr. – 46.8
DT John Ridgeway III – 30.5
It’s a mixed bag of positions for the lowest-graded players. But for the most part, these are fine grades. Ridgeway’s grade is the lowest on his limited snaps because of his 28.4 run defense grade. He was graded in the mid-60s in both tackling and pass rush. Austin took a hit because of his drop.
