By Ross Jackson
It was another rough loss for the New Orleans Saints as they dropped their final home game against the Las Vegas Raiders by a score of 25-10. Unsurprisingly, the defense takes the brunt of this loss after a tough game against a far lesser offensive attack by NFL standards. But some of the offensive issues that arose in the second half certainly played their role as well.
Pro Football Focus graded the Saints performance fairly low with the top grades coming in at just about a 75 their grading scale. Here are the top and bottom five grades for the Saints from their Week 17 loss.
Top 5
LB Pete Werner – 75.4
RG Cesar Ruiz – 75.1
TE Juwan Johnson – 74.6
DE Carl Granderson – 71.3
TE Foster Moreau – 69.4
Werner was all over the field in this game. He tied for the lead in combined tackles with fellow linebacker Demario Davis, added a pair of pressures and allowed just 12 receiving yards on the three catches that were credited to him. The fourth-year linebacker allowed just one yard after the catch. Werner was a solid contributor throughout an otherwise gloomy defensive day for New Orleans.
No offensive lineman performed particularly well on Sunday, but Ruiz earned the highest grade of the group and one of the highest offensive grades all told. He did so because he played a clean game penalty-wise and graded well in the run game. He allowed two pressures, both in true pass sets (no play action or rollouts, just drop back passes).
In making an honest assessment of Sunday’s game, Johnson’s grade should probably be lower. The tight end was penalized for an offensive pass interference penalty and as ticky-tacky as the call was, it still spoiled a big play that would have put New Orleans in scoring position. He also had more than a couple of passes go off of his hands. He deserves a ton of credit for what he did in the pass blocking game, and he did lead the team in both receptions (6) and receiving yards (66), but the day could have been bigger for the offense were he to have held on to a couple more of those passes.
Granderson’s grade is deceptive. PFF credits full sacks for players involved in half sacks, which is a major disruption of sack numbers and contributions. On top of that, Granderson is still credited by PFF for a sack in this game despite receiving no credit from the NFL for one. The first quarter sack on Raiders quarterback Aidan O’Connell is solely attributed to defensive end Cameron Jordan. Remove that sack from Granderson’s ledger, and you’re left with two pressures on 22 pass rushing snaps, three combined tackles and a blocked field goal which does not impact his defensive grade listed above. He also had an offsides penalty that erased an early three-and-out.
Outside of running back Alvin Kamara, Moreau has been the team’s best and most consistent threat. He was second on the team with 47 receiving yards against Las Vegas, but it was the all-around effort that continues to stand out for the former Raider. From run blocking to pass protection to receiving and route-running, Moreau is the definition of effort every play.
Bottom 5
DT Bryan Bresee – 51.7
LB Demario Davis – 51.7
WR Marquez Valdes-Scantling – 51.2
DL Tanoh Kpassagnon – 39.5
S Ugo Amadi – 35.4
It’s unsurprising to see a slew of defensive names here. The Saints defense missed 10 tackles and allowed over 150 rushing yards to the worst rushing offense in the NFL. The unit as a whole shot itself in the foot on multiple occasions as well with big receptions allowed on key downs, only one sack in the game.
Bresee’s day would have been better had his opening drive sack stood, but it was erased by penalty. Davis was credited with two missed tackles and almost came up with an interception off the hands of a Raiders receiver. But missed opportunities continued to pile up for the team. Valdes-Scantling was blanketed throughout most of the game. He was held without catch on two targets and was knocked out of the game with injury, re-aggravating his back injury, per interim head coach Darren Rizzi.
