The final 15 minutes of game time in the New Orleans Saints’ win over the Cleveland Browns may not have been perfect from a defensive perspective with explosive plays surrendered, but the overall play of the unit that held its opponent to just six points through three quarters and earned players high marks on that side of the ball.
Pro Football Focus graded out each player from the Browns and Saints’ Week 9 and the defense dominated the Saints’ scoring on both ends of the spectrum.
Here are the highest- and lowest-greaded Saints players that took at least 20 snaps in the win:
Highest-Graded
- LB Kaden Elliss – 89.4
- DL Colby Wooden – 82.7
- S Justin Reid – 81.6
- STAR Jonas Sanker – 79.9
- EDGE Chase Young – 77.3
Elliss and Young combined for 15 pressures, nearly half of the defense’s total and each also contributed to the run defense that surrendered only 2.8 yards per carry to the Browns’ rushing attack.
Wooden contributed well against the run, also, adding some impact from the interior. Meanwhile, Reid and Sanker matched up well against the Browns’ talented tight ends until late in the game. A missed tackle by Reid might have kept him from being the first- or second-highest graded player before all was said and done.
Sanker was much improved in coverage after the team put an additional focus on that area of his game throughout the practice week. He was targeted four times as the nearest defender and allowed just two receptions for eight yards.
Lowest-Graded
- S Julian Blackmon – 29.7
- CB Martin Emerson Jr. – 36.2
- WR Bryce Lance – 44.8
- CB Kool-Aid McKinstry – 49.7
- S Jordan Howden – 52.0
Blackmon’s grade fell dramatically because of his tackling and run-defense grades after missing three tackles in the game and notching a 75% missed tackle rate. He was also graded low in coverage despite only being credited for allowing one reception for eight receiving yards.
McKinstry and Emerson were both responsible for some explosive plays, but had strong enough performances away from those targets to not fall to the lowest-graded players, though Emerson was close.
Lance was targeted just once, and was credited with a drop on that target, which sunk his grade, but did grade out well as a run blocker in one of the team’s most successful rushing performances of the season.
