By Ross Jackson
Heading into the bye week with a 2-0 start for Interim Head Coach Darren Rizzi is certainly not what anyone expected for the New Orleans Saints. But considering the way things were going, it turns out it’s exactly what they needed going into the break. The Saints look rejuvenated under their new head coach and cashed one of their best performances of the season against the Cleveland Browns.
They were so good, in fact, that even the lowest grades awarded to players by Pro Football Focus are solid ones. Here is a look at the top and bottom-5 grades for the Saints in their Week 11 win.
LB Demario Davis – 91.2
TE Foster Moreau – 85.9
TE Juwan Johnson – 84.8
QB Derek Carr – 84.7
TE Taysom Hill – 80.5
David was vintage throughout this game. He piled on 13 total tackles, which led the game, and added a pair of passes defended and a stop in the run game. After the game, Davis was displeased with his two pass breakups because he felt they should have been interceptions. He joked that he’d be online shopping soon for some hands. But despite his jest at his own expense, Davis was one of the best players on the field Sunday.
Moreau had a touchdown reception taken off the board due to a holding call, but that didn’t stop him from having an impact. Despite going out for a portion of the game to get his shoulder checked out, his production was excellent for New Orleans. His three catches gained 50 receiving yards and a pair of first downs.
Aside from the fourth quarter touchdown catch by Johnson, his contributions spanned the offense much like Moreau’s. He put together and outstanding and competitive block downfield on wide receiver Marquez Valdes-Scantling’s 71-yard touchdown. He also contributed in the run block game and added his own 50 receiving yards to boot. Altogether, it was a strong game from the Saints’ tight end room.
When you complete 77.8% of your passes, throw two touchdown passes and no interceptions, you deserve to be recognized as one of the better players in any contest. Carr was exactly that. The quarterback gets a lot of criticism, but there’s no doubt that when he’s on, the offense works. He added an eight-yard run on a fourth-and-short situation as well.
The star of the game without a doubt, Hill lands on the list of top grades. Of course, he’s dinged for his two turnovers, a red zone fumble and a deep ball interception. But after three rushing touchdowns and over 200 all-purpose yards, Hill was the team’s MVP on offense. We may never see another like him in the NFL.
LT Taliese Fuaga – 54.2
LG Nick Saldiveri – 52.4
S Ugo Amadi – 52.2
S Tyrann Mathieu – 50.0
S Will Harris Jr. – 46.2
Most of this grading looks worse than it really is since the players are lumped into the “bottom-5” portion. However, the grades are actually quite solid. And the performances still warrant praise on tape versus the analytics.
Fuaga held Browns defensive end Myles Garrett to season lows in pressures and pressure percentage. Saldiveri looked good filling in for starting left guard Lucas Patrick again, but he did surrender three hurries and one quarterback hit. Amadi, Mathieu and Harris were all big contributors in the run game.
Pro Football Focus’ coverage grades are based on “nearest defender” tracking, making them mostly ineffective in tracking coverage responsibilities. But Amadi was credited with surrendering 11 catches for 96 receiving yards, with a long of just 20 yards. So good tackling at the catch point for the most part for the safety who tied his career high in tackles for a second consecutive week playing in the slot.
