The New Orleans Saints pulled off an improbable victory in Week 2 with their 24-17 come-from-behind victory over the Baltimore Ravens.
Coming out of the win, the Saints saw their top players rise to the occasion to help the team come back from a 14-3 deficit. Meanwhile, the trenches continue to struggle.
Here are the highest and lowest Pro Football Focus (PFF) grades earned by Saints players that took at least 20 snaps in the game.
Highest Graded
- EDGE Chase Young – 88.5
- TE Juwan Johnson – 80.9
- WR Chris Olave – 78.9
- LB Kaden Elliss – 74.5
- EDGE Carl Granderson – 72.6
Olave and Johnson were key parts of the Saints’ second-half surge. Olave currently ranks No. 2 in the NFL in receiving yards and finished the game against the Ravens with eight receptions for 86 receiving yards. He reeled in his first touchdown catch of the season on a wide-open post route downfield. Meanwhile, Johnson continued to be the team’s best yards-after-catch threat with his physical play. He helped to convert some clutch third downs, particularly down the stretch.
Defensively, Young, Elliss and Granderson were everywhere. Young finished the game with 1.5 sacks on the day and led the team in pressures with seven.
Elliss added four pressures, including two hits on quarterback Lamar Jackson. He also graded out well in coverage and missed no tackles in the matchup.
Granderson’s defensive grade falls short of his special teams grade of 93.5 thanks to his blocked field goal in the first half. Defensively, he had the game-winning pressure that forced Jackson to overthrow his target, leading to an interception by safety Julian Blackmon. Granderson finished the day with three pressures.
Lowest Graded
- DL Davon Godchaux – 35.5
- DL Nathan Shepherd – 36.7
- DL Vernon Broughton – 40.0
- OL Kelvin Banks Jr. – 45.1
- OL Cesar Ruiz – 48.5
The Saints’ trenches took a beating from PFF. Godchaux, Shepherd and Broughton each saw their grades dragged down by run defense and tackling with Broughton and Godchaux each missing a tackle. None of the trio of defensive lineman finished with a run stop and now all carry an average depth of tackle through the first two games of four yards or greater. Interior run defense has been underwhelming thus far, but has also faced elite competition in Detroit Lions running back Jahmyr Gibbs and Ravens rusher Derrick Henry thus far. The bad news is that the running back matchups aren’t getting any easier soon.
The starting left tackle Banks, who exited the game in the third quarter with an ankle injury, was credited with four pressures allowed, including a sack. However, it was his run blocking grade that dropped his overall offensive rating for the game.
Similarly, Ruiz was mostly penalized by his run blocking grade, a consistent area of improvement for the starting right guard. As a pass blocker, however, he was credited with no pressures surrendered while playing 100% of the offensive snaps.
