Category: NFL

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5 things to look out for in Week 10

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Two exciting primetime games and the first NFL game in Germany are standouts in Week 10

1. Germany becomes the fifth country to host a regular-season game

Bayern Munich’s Allianz Arena welcomes Tom Brady’s Tampa Bay Buccaneers and the Seattle Seahawks to Munich for the first-ever regular season game to be hosted in Germany.

Unlike in the UK, football is the second most watched sport in Germany, so it makes you wonder how it took so long for the country to get a game.

Both teams were victorious in Week 9, the Bucs’ comeback may be the turning point needed to finish the year strong and win their division, whilst the Seahawks have won four straight. 

2. 7-1 meets 6-2 as the Vikings travel to the Bills

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Josh Allen looks to be good to go for the Buffalo Bills as they host the Minnesota Vikings, after Allen, one of the MVP favourites, sustained a UCL injury in his throwing elbow against the Jets last week.

Two of the NFL’s best receivers in Justin Jefferson and Stefon Diggs grace the same field in this game, two years after the 2020 first round pick (acquired by the trade with the Bills) replaced Diggs in Minnesota. 

TJ Hockenson had a big day on his Vikings debut last week, having arrived via trade the previous Tuesday, he played a big part in winning their sixth one-score game of the season.

3. Ryan Tannehill returns for the Tennessee Titans as they host the Broncos

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The Denver Broncos stopped a run of four straight losses with their win over Jacksonville at Wembley before their bye, a win on Sunday is crucial as they’re all but out of it if they lose to the Titans

Tennessee are in the fight for the one seed in the AFC, following Buffalo’s loss to the Jets, unfortunately for them, they just lost out in overtime to the Chiefs on SNF last week.

They’ve coped very well without Ryan Tannehill, whilst Derrick Henry looks back to his best, having only averaged three yards per carry at the start of the season. 

4. San Francisco 49ers and Los Angeles Chargers in all-California clash on SNF

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Sunday Night Football sees two teams fighting for wildcard spots in their respective conferences, and potentially the division in the Niners’ case, battle it out.

Both the Chargers and 49ers are trending in the right direction, having both had a less-than-ideal start to this campaign, the latter noticed that, made a move, and their offense has been rolling since acquiring Christian McCaffrey.

San Francisco’s defense will be delighted with the fact that the Chargers’ offense is super banged up, with both Mike Williams and Keenan Allen joining the likes of Joey Bosa and Rashawn Slater on the sidelines. 

5. Can the Commanders end the Eagles’ hopes of an unbeaten season?

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Who would’ve thought that the Washington Commanders would be in the mix for the NFC wildcard spots having started 1-4!

The 4-5 Commanders have the chance to end Jalen Hurts and the Philadelphia Eagles’ hope for a perfect season, on Monday Night Football.

Expect this one to be closer than you think because the last five Commanders games have ended in one score, being the winning side on three occasions. 

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Analyzing Three Key New Orleans Saints Matchups Vs. The Steelers

The Saints are again wounded, this team just can’t seem to shake the injury bug, and unfortunately, it always seems to be key players that are missing time. But, at this stage, it doesn’t matter; one game back from the lead in the NFC South, the Saints need to start stacking victories.

These three matchups are the keys to securing a crucial victory.

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Saints Rushing Attack Vs The Steelers Front Seven 

Last week against the Ravens, the Saints offense crumbled when I couldn’t run the ball. It’s as simple as that. This offense goes as far as the running game will take them.

Against the Ravens it felt like as soon as it didn’t work on the first drives, Pete Carmichael caved and conceded that it wasn’t going to work, so we aren’t going to try.

That can’t happen this week, the Steelers on paper are relatively similar to the Ravens against the run. They have the personnel to execute the blueprint the Ravens showed last week to shut down the Saints rushing attack. Fast LBs, a big, experienced, and disciplined defensive front.

The Steelers enter Week Ten ranked seventh in the NFL in YPC given up (4.2 YPC) and will be getting reigning defensive player of the year, DE T.J. Watt, back after he tore his peck earlier in the season. 

The Saints will also be without two of their starting offensive line, which adds to the level of difficulty this week, but they have to find a way to be the bully we’ve seen in previous weeks.

That does not mean running Alvin Kamara up the gut 20 times. That means actually using Taysom Hill, running QB Power (arguably the league’s most effective play), and not giving up if it doesn’t work the first time.

We saw what the Andy Dalton-led offense looked like last week without a running game. We can’t see it again this week in a game the Saints can’t afford to lose.

Saints Defense Vs Fundamentals 

The Saints actually had a good plan on Monday night vs. Lamar Jackson, but the fundamentals of defense let them down, Tackling and coverage. 

The defense had 13 missed tackles on against the Ravens, which is a problem that has plagued the team all season. Many of those looked to be when the defense tried to corral Jackson.

The Saints blitz Lamar more than they have any other QB this season. I think the plan worked the problem was the execution. There were several times when Lamar should have been sacked or stopped for minimal gain, but the defense missed him. One play that springs to mind as an example Marcus Davenport came screaming off the edge and had Jackson for a sack but aimed high. Jackson slipped the sack and rushed for a first down (for reference, 4:20 in the 2nd quarter).

There were other examples of this all game.

The final issue was blown coverages. It looked like the Saints defense blew several against the Ravens, where players either didn’t know their assignment or couldn’t get lined up in time to execute it,

This should not be happening this far into a season, especially with the amount of experience the Saints have in the secondary. These coverage errors led to the Ravens first touchdown and plenty of first-down passes, some on big third downs.

The Saints will be without Marshon Lattimore again this week and could be without Marcus Maye and P.J. Williams as well this weekend. Meaning the depth of this secondary will again be tested. 

The Steelers offense is not a good one on paper, so giving them free big plays through missed tackles and blown coverages is a recipe for a long, frustrating game for the Saints.

Saints Defense And Turnovers.

If the Saints do play disciplined coverage, that should lead to turnovers.

The Saints still only have two interceptions on the season; only the Giants have fewer. That is putrid production from a secondary which such talent, The team as a whole only has seven takeaways, with one of those coming on special teams. Seven takeaways ranks second to last in the league, tied with the Dolphins and Commanders. Only the Raiders have less (5).

This is one of the main reasons for the team’s slump this year. They are last in the league in turnover differential at -10. 

This week the defense squares off with rookie QB Kenny Pickett, a player the Saints were rumored to have really liked in the draft this past season.

If you look at his numbers so far this season, PFF has charted how he does against pressure, no pressure, blitzed, and not blitzed.

It makes for interesting reading. Usually, QBs, especially rookies, perform better with a clean un-pressured pocket. It’s clear that’s not the case with Pickett.

So far, Pickett has thrown seven of his eight interceptions when he’s had a clean pocket. That’s a sign when a team makes Pickett read the defense and make the right decisions, he isn’t, and it forces the ball into windows that aren’t there.

It looks like sending four rushers, even if they aren’t being that effective ( and I think they would be), and making Pickett decide where to go with the ball with plenty of players in coverage could be a recipe for success this Sunday.

For more Saints articles- https://www.full10yards.co.uk/saints/ 

Please let me know your feedback on this article and the others throughout the season. I’m always looking to improve and add things that people want to read about!

Follow me on Twitter and Instagram @SaintsReportUK for much more Saints content and discussion.

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Week 9: Rookie Standouts

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The halfway point has now been reached, and some of the stragglers are starting to slide away from playoff contention as the field becomes clearer. Here are three rookies that stood out this week.

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Kerby Joseph, Safety – Detroit Lions 

In the first three weeks of the season, Joseph didn’t even get a snap on the Lions defense, and it’s likely that he’d still be playing a limited role if not for the Achilles injury sustained by Tracy Walker. In the five weeks since he was thrust into the lineup, Joseph has had his fair share of teething issues but has slowly improved. However, no one could have foreseen what happened this week.

In the Lions’ improbable 15-9 win over the freefalling Green Bay Packers, not only did Joseph finish with 10 tackles and 3 pass breakups (including a key one on 3rd down), but he also picked off reigning MVP Aaron Rogers twice. This outstanding showing won him a well-deserved NFC Defensive Player of the Week.

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Dameon Pierce, Running Back – Houston Texans 

In a season that seems lost already, it’s difficult to find any kind of plus for the Texans as they rack up loss after loss. Luckily, their rookie class of Jaylen Pitre, Derek Stingley Jr., and Dameon Pierce have shown that not only are the Texans drafting well, they are getting impact players.

With the Texans’ two main wide receivers, Brandin Cooks and Nico Collins, ruled out, Pierce almost single-handedly kept the Texans competitive in their game against the Eagles, as he finished the game with a career-high 139 yards on 27 carries. Incredibly, his 139 yards were only 17 yards shy of the franchise record of 156 yards set by Steve Slaton in 2008 and Alfred Blue in 2014.

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Cade Otton, Tight End – Tampa Bay Buccaneers 

With Rob Gronkowski retiring and O.J. Howard leaving in free agency, drafting a tight end became a necessity for the Bucs, and at the start of the fourth round, they picked up the former Huskie, Otton. This season was supposed to be a learning experience, but Brate’s injury struggles forced the Bucs to use him sooner.

Luckily, what the Bucs have found is a more than ready replacement who is now starting to flash in the passing game as well as being a more than able blocker who might keep Brate out of the team regardless of his status. As the Bucs were staring at another loss, Brady hit Otton on the first pass of their final drive for a 28-yard gain before hitting him again for his first career touchdown, sealing the game for the Bucs with 9 seconds remaining.

Honourable Mentions

Sauce Gardner (New York Jets), Kenneth Walker III (Seattle Seahawks), Tyler Allgeier (Atlanta Falcons), Ikem Ekwonu (Carolina Panthers), Kader Kohou (Miami Dolphins)

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Four Takeaways From The Out-Matched New Orleans Saints Primetime Defeat

Gone are the days of a game like this being a primetime slug-fest between two teams with great talent and even greater expectations. 

The Saints were out-matched almost from the get-go in primetime last night against the Ravens, and sadly, I think this is only the start.

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This Offense Does Not Work Without The Running Game

It’s been clear for some time that this Saints offense goes as the running game does. Last night was a crippling reminder of that. Without it, you are expecting a 35-year-old Andy Dalton to function with Chris Olave and Alvin Kamara to throw, too, and that’s about it.

It was clear from the first drive the Ravens wanted to make the Saints one dimensional, they sold out to stop the run game, and they achieved that on the first drive. The Saints had a second and three, followed by a third and one. Usually, that’s exactly where the Saints want to be, they couldn’t convert, and it wasn’t close.

What happens when the offense has to pass, and the defense knows it? The defense blitzes, and the Ravens did that last night with great effectiveness. Getting to Dalton early and often with creative blitzes, especially on third down.

The Saints finished 3-11 on third down after entering the game as one of the league’s better third-down offenses. That was massively down to effective blitzes and not being able to run the ball as effectively as they have in previous weeks.

The blueprint is out on the Saints offense. HC Dennis Allen and OC Pete Carmichael Jr need to know that and adjust otherwise, teams will be loading up all season, and there will be plenty more offensive displays like last night.

The Saints Miss Michael Thomas

Many of you are reading this and thinking, well,… obviously.

To some, it wasn’t obvious. There was some thought that this offense would be fine with Chris Olave as the number one WR, and that’s about it, and the receiver position.

To some extent, I could forgive people for thinking that, since Dalton has taken over as the starter, the passing game has been far more effective than we have seen the last two seasons. Alvin Kamara has come to life in the passing game as we would’ve always expected, and the running attack has led the way for the offense.

However, last night it was clear as day why a player like Michael Thomas is so important. When the run game is shut down, and the Saints have to pass, they need someone else who can get open quickly on third downs and in the RedZone to give Dalton a quick outlet to go to when the defense does blitz.

Outside of Olave, that just wasn’t there last night. Marquez Callaway did have one filthy route in the RedZone at the end of the first half that should have been a TD.  Unfortunately, Dalton just flat-out missed him, but that is not a consistent enough occurrence. Callaway then pretty much disappeared for the rest of the game. 

Getting Jarvis Landry back should help a lot. His game meshes much more with the Dalton-led offense than the Jameis Winston offense. Him returning and being effective is no longer a luxury it is essential.

The Defense Still Struggles Against Mobile QBs

If you look at the box score, you may think they didn’t do that badly.

At face value, they didn’t, and with some better tackling, the stats would have looked a lot better. This was an improvement to previous games against QBs with similar rushing ability to Jackson. The issue is this team has to allocate so much attention, concentration, and resources to stopping this part of the team’s offenses that everything else falls by the wayside.

Both safeties blow a coverage because they paid so much respect to Lamar and the rushing attack. One led to the Ravens’ first TD, and the second left a wide-open TE to convert a third and long.

The numbers don’t show it, but Jackson could do whatever he wanted in the passing game. In fact, if he didn’t miss three of four wide-open WRs, the score and the passing game stats would have looked a lot different.

At this point, I don’t what this team can do to fix this issue. It’s been a problem every year, even throughout their dominant run as one of the league’s best defenses. This team is not one of those dominant units. 

I’m starting to wonder if the Saints prototype of massive DEs who win with power rather than speed could be a reason. Where the DEs take a little longer to win, it’s easier for QBs to escape, and even if they do win quickly, it seems easier for the more nimble athletic QBs to escape and make the play when they really shouldn’t be able to.

The Injuries Are Still Piling Up

The hits keep coming to this team. They’ve already played much of the reason without Michael Thomas, Jarvis Landry, and Marshon Lattimore.

Just as you think the Saints are starting to get back to good health, Erik McCoy, Pete Werner, and Marcus Davenport left last night’s game with injuries.

Losing any of these players for extended periods would be brutal for this team. All three are crucial to the team’s success. 

McCoy is the anchor of the o-line, which, as we’ve already discussed, is crucial to this team’s effectiveness. It also means a lot of juggling on the line. Cesar Ruiz would move to Center, where he did play in college, but Ruiz’s improvement at RG this season has been so good the team could really do without moving him. Then to replace Ruiz, the Saints have Calvin Throckmorton, who played well with limited expectations last season but has struggled so far in limited snaps this year.

Pete Werner has been playing at an all-pro level so far this season, and the team’s depth behind him is shaky at best. They’d be forced to play Kaden Ellis more, who’s done well so far this season in a very specific role. How he’d do with a more expansive role remains to be seen.

Although Marcus Davenport’s sack numbers have not been there so far this season, he’s still leading the team in pressures. Losing him would be a real hit to an already limited pass rush. Similar to the point made about Werner, the team’s depth is fairly shaky begins Davenport as well. Payton Turner has shown some improvements in the last two games. Again how he would do with more responsibilities as the team’s main, base DE remains to be seen.

Either way, these are questions this team could really do without. The margin for error is already so small with this team. Add to that three key starters not being available, it only gets smaller.

Conclusion

There are no more if, and’s, or buts. This team is what their record says it is a 3-6 football team with more questions than answers. Somehow, they are only one game back from the lead in the putrid NFC South.

There’s still a path for the team to make the playoffs, but it is wafer thin, they need to win all the games they should ( and there are not many at this stage) and win a couple on paper they shouldn’t, and even that might not be enough.

It has to start next week against the similarly dysfunctional Pittsburgh Steelers and go from there. Either way, Saints fans, protect yourselves. Temper expectations, enjoy the highs whenever they come, and take the lows for what they should be at this point. Expected.

For more Saints articles- https://www.full10yards.co.uk/saints/ 

Please let me know your feedback on this article and the others throughout the season. I’m always looking to improve and add things that people want to read about!

Follow me on Twitter and Instagram @SaintsReportUK for much more Saints content and discussion.

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Fantasy Recap – Week 9

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Welcome to the fantasy recap. Apologies for missing week 8 and the byepocalypse, which would have been a very handy waivers segment I will admit. Life and mental health meant the article was something I had to sacrifice to buy time for other things. But I am back to review another mad week with some frankly easy candidates for each category. Some players have moved to new places and starting to pick up their playbooks so there’s a lot of variables. The Steelers, Browns, Cowboys, Giants, Broncos and 49ers were all out of action and that makes it tied with week 14 for the most teams on bye in a week so fantasy line ups were less about “who to pick?” more “who is playing?” We lose some big hitters next week too so hopefully the section at the end will help you survive that mess. But here we are, week 9; enjoy.  

NB: Scores based on PPR leagues

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Fantasy Stars:

Joe Mixon (CIN) – 22rsh/153yds/4td + 4rec/58yds/1td 55pts

Okay so there’s nowhere else we can start this week other than with Joe Mixon. He won a lot of people their matchups on his own with 5TDs and one of the most dominating displays by a single player in fantasy for quite some time. This was one for the ages.

Justin Fields (CHI) – 17cmp/123yds/3tds/0int + 15rsh/178yds/1td 43pts

Early in the season many people thought the Bears and Fields were busts. Fast forward to week 9 and still without any real weapons or major passing yardage, Justin is having a Fields day and seemingly having fun out there in a team which (dare I say it) looks competitive again. The Fields may be gold for a little while, but with more receiving weapons, just imagine what this team could become.

Devante Adams (LV) – 10rec/146yds/2tds 37pts

Adams had an awful week 8, but that can mostly be attributed to an illness he suffered from all week essentially relegating him to a decoy. This week he was back to being dominant and seemed comfortable against a Jags defence that had no answer for him. That being said the offence did have an answer as the Raider lost, again.

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Surprise Packages:

Jeff Wilson (MIA) – 9rsh/51yds + 3rec/21yds/1td 16pts

Wilson was one of the deadline day trades coming over from the new home of CMC San Francisco. He’s proven over many year that he’s a very capable pass catching RB2 and this game epitomised that.

Garret Wilson (NYJ) – 8rec/92yds + 1rsh/7yds 17pts

Just when you think the Jets have lost their last hope of being a respectable offence, they go out and beat the Bills. After earlier having a week of the disappointments section being all Wilsons, this is almost a section of surprising Wilsons as Garret had a good game just without getting into the endzone.

Cole Kmet (CHI) – 5rec/41yds/2tds + 2rsh/9yds 22pts

Cast your mind back to pre-season and your fantasy drafts. Was Cole Kmet a potential star and a late round Tight End you were targeting? Then after a few weeks was he on your waiver wire? Well after a season which can only be seen as a disappointment, this was the week he broke out and put up a monster score. 2TDs does help that but now the Bears seem to be unlocking their offence, Kmet is just one of the potential beneficiaries.

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Disappointments:

Matt Stafford (LAR) – 13cmp/165yds/1td/0int + 2rsh/-1yds 10pts

Stafford and the Rams offence as a whole (if you exclude Cooper Kupp) has been a huge disappointment. This is the 5th time in 8 games where Stafford has scored below 11pts but this was his lowest passing total to date. Being sacked 4 times won’t help either but there is very little running game and the O-Line is just trash.

Alvin Kamara (NO) – 9rsh/30yds + 3rec/32yds 9pts

The likes of Pacheco, Benjamin and Herbert are not outright RB1s on their team and should be expected to put up big numbers weekly. Clyde Edward-Helaire and David Montgomery have had their workloads dropped in recent weeks. D’Onta Foreman may be the Panthers RB1 but that is still the Panthers. I mentioned AJ Dillon last week and Aaron Jones was injured. So in the end I have gone for Alvin Kamara. Baltimore just shut him down and there was no other obvious reason he’d scor under 10pts.  

Drake London (ATL) – 3rec/23yds/1fumlost 2pts

His name was here 2 weeks ago and I see no reason to remove it. Drake London had everything going for him early on in the season, but the Atlanta offence does not look good.

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Waiver Wire Pickups:

BYE Weeks: BAL, CIN, NE, NYJ

QB – Justin Fields (CHI) – It seems like Fields has become a plausible every week starter and most leagues are going to have a manager looking for a solution to their QB situation. If you feel like it’s a gamble you’re willing to take, then enjoy the ride.   

Other QB Options – Goff @CHI, D.Jones vsHOU, Carr vsIND..

RB – Chuba Hubbard (CAR) – The coaching changes in Carolina and some rest due to injury may give Hubbard a route to touches this week against a porous Atlanta defence. Most good running backs are owned but if a Patterson, Dillon, Herbert or Jeff Wilson are out there, go grab them.

WR – Wan’Dale Robinson (NYG) – Josh Palmer and Alan Lazard could be out there in some leagues and they would be a major priority but if not then Wan’Dale Robinson fresh off the Giants bye week could be a handy addition.  Michael Gallup, Nico Collins and Mecole Hardman could also prove useful if you’re stretched.

TE – Greg Dulcich (DEN) – Dulcich had 3 consecutive weeks of 10+ PPR points before the bye and looked to be an answer for the Broncos and at about 40% ownership due to the bye, grab him now while you can. Cole Kmet could become an options and Juwan Johnson seems to be taking the receiving Tight End work in New Orleans.  

DST Options – Giants vsHOU, Titans vsDEN, Raiders vsIND, Rams vsARI.

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5 things to look out for in Week 9

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Week 9 sees three huge matchups in the AFC playoff race and two NFC teams looking for a lifeline

1. Newly-boosted Miami Dolphins travel to Chicago to face the Bears

The Dolphins went all in on Tuesday, trading a first-round pick for edge-rusher Bradley Chubb, putting them right up there with the best in the AFC.

Chicago were active too, first losing Roquan Smith to the Ravens for a 2nd, but then flipping another 2nd to Pittsburgh for Chase Claypool, giving Justin Fields another weapon.

Luke Getsy’s Bears offense run the ball over 50% of the time, will they be successful against the league’s sixth-best run defense?

2. Buffalo Bills and New York Jets face off in key AFC East matchup

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PFF’s #1 ranked offense (Bills), faces off against the #1 defense that the New York Jets possess, expect them to cause Josh Allen problems.

New York’s offensive line is really banged-up, look for Von Miller, Ed Oliver and co to feast.

A win for the Jets will see them hold the tiebreaker over not only the Buffalo Bills but also the Miami Dolphins, setting up a spicy end to the AFC East.

3. Arizona Cardinals are in need of a win vs Seattle Seahawks

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Arizona scored over 25 points once whilst DeAndre Hopkins was suspended, in the two games since he came back, they’ve done it twice.

Seattle were 19-9 winners when these two sides met in Week 6, Pete Caroll’s team have won the past two against Kliff Kingsbury’s Cardinals. 

With two of the worst defenses in the NFL statistically, this one, as most Seahawks games have been this year, could be a shootout.

4. Two pre-season NFC favourites looking for mid-season lifeline

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Who would’ve thought before the season started that both the Los Angeles Rams and Tampa Bay Buccaneers would have losing records in their Week 9 meeting?

Both teams, who have plenty of talent offensively, have only scored more than 25 points once all season.

This one could be a sack fest as two of the NFL’s best defensive lines are up against two poor pass-protection units.

5. Arrowhead hosts the 2020 AFC Championship Game rematch on SNF

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Two of the league’s most in-form teams in the Kansas City Chiefs, and Tennessee Titans, battle it out to end the ninth NFL Sunday of the season.

This one sees an interesting battle between the Tennessee offense that runs the ball 52.1% of the time, and the Chiefs’ third-ranked rushing defense.

A win for either side will be very important when it comes to playoff seeding, because right now they both sit 5-2 and lead their respective divisions.

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Analysing Three Key Matchups For Saints Vs Ravens

There is newfound hope around this New Orleans Saints season, for that to continue they need a strong performance on Monday night when the 5-3 Baltimore Ravens come to town. There are three key matchups the Saints need to be on the right side of on Monday night for that hope to continue.

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Alvin Kamara Vs Roquan Smith And Patrick Queen

The Saints offense runs best when their best gets the ball early and often. Since Andy Dalton has taken over at QB for the Saints that’s happened, he’s fed Alvin Kamara as much as possible. With Dalton as the starter,  Kamara has played four games and is averaging 17.75 rush attempts per game and 8.5 targets per game. Pretty much 25 touches per game.  He’s amassed 323 rushing yards and 268 receiving, an average of 80.75 yards rushing and 67 receiving yards per game, equally 147.75 scrimmage yards per game.

What that should illustrate is how effective Alvin Kamara has been this season with Dalton starting. 

The Ravens on paper have two very good Alvin Kamara erasers (if there is such a thing). Right in time, the Ravens traded for Roquan Smith from the Chicago Bears, Smith is one of the better coverage LBs in the league and one of very few LBs in the league with the athletic profile to match up with Kamara. (4.51 40 time) 

Since entering the league Smith has 8 interceptions and 11 PBUs, whilst only allowing 3 touchdowns in his coverage, equalling an 83.6 passer rating when targeted, that number is even more impressive this season sitting at a 69.0 passer rating allowed when targeted.

His expected starting partner Patrick Queen is no slouch either, running a 4.5 40 time, however, a fast 40 does not mean you are an elite coverage player at LB. he’s been a bit more streaky in converge so far in his NFL career. In his NFL career so far he has allowed 6 touchdowns whilst in converge and has 2 interceptions and 3 PBUs, equalling a 108.5 passer rating when targeted. He’s faired slightly better so far this season by only allowing a 92.7 passer rating when targeted.

Despite this improvement, he’s been targeted a lot in the passing game, so far this season he’s been targeted 46 times, surrendering 38 receptions for 387 yards, a massive 279 yards of those have come after the catch. Something we’ve seen all of Kamara’s career is he is smooth and effective as anyone after the catch.

This is a really interesting matchup for Kamara this week, both Lbs have the athletic profile to keep up with AK and both are used in coverage a lot, Kamara against an LB is a matchup the Saints will always target but they might have to tread carefully this week, especially against Smith.

Saints Run Defense Vs Lamar Jackson

Anyone who’s watched the Saints indecent year knows that this defense, as good as it’s been against the run, has struggled massively against mobile QBs. Well, that will be tested again this week against the best running QB in the league, Lamar Jackson.

This season Jackson 553 rushing yards at an average of 7.4 yards per rushing attempt. His 553 rushing yards are 140 yards more than the Saints leading rusher ( Alvin Kamara). 

In their two matchups this season against rushing mobile QBs, the Saints defense allowed Marcus Mariota to rush for 72 yards on 12 attempts (6 YPC) and Kyler Murray rushed for 30 yards on 7 attempts (4.2 YPC).

This might not sound too bad, however, to combat the threat of these QBs rushing, the Saints have to deploy a much more conservative pass rush plan, that focuses more on keeping the QB in the pocket and less on sacking the QB. In both those games combined they pressured the QB 13 times, in the Raiders game alone the Saints had 22 pressures. 

This defense goes as the pass rush does, if the front 7 are getting after the QB the Saints defense effectively they are far better than if they are not, that’s not groundbreaking information but it doesn’t make it any less true.

The final, unfortunate consequence of the additional attention the defense is paying these QBs is that the RBs on those teams seem to have more success than they might have usually. Take the two games mentioned earlier Cordarrelle Patterson rushed for 120 yards at 5.4 YPC and Eno Benjamin rushed for 92 yards at 7.6 YPC. 

There is one way the Saints can turn the tide in their favour against Lamar’s rushing ability, forcing fumbles. Jackson has already fumbled 4 times this season on running plays, in his 4 seasons prior to this year he averages 10.75 fumbles per year on rushing plays. 

This has to be an area the Saints attack with Jackson on Monday, but with great care, one failed attempt at striping the ball could allow Jackson to break free for a massive gain.

Saints Slot Defender/s Vs Mark Andrews 

The Ravens are fairly thin on receiving threats, however, they do have the best receiving threat at TE in the league outside of Travis Kelce, in Mark Andrews.

To add to Lamar’s elite running ability he is also one if not the best passer in the intermediate area of the field (10-19 yards). So far this year Jackson has completed 66.7% of his passes when throwing between this yardage, for 502 yards,4 touchdowns and zero interceptions. These throws have averaged 11.4 yards per attempt.

If we look just specifically at the intermediate middle part of the field Jackson is completing 65.5% of his throws for 292 yards, 2 touchdowns and zero interceptions ( 10.1 yards per attempt). The reason I highlight this particular area of the field is this is where Mark Andrews does much of his damage, he’s one of the best players at attacking the seams in the NFL. 

Andrews has run 66.4% of his snaps from the slo0 so far this season, so it’s going to be interesting to see who the Saints use to cover the slot this week, it sounds like Marshon Lattimore will be out again this week. Leaving Paulson Adebo and Alontae Taylor to start at outside corner.

Andrews is a bit banged up he was listed yesterday as a DNP at Thursday’s practice, Ravens HC John Harbaugh has said that Andrew’s injuries are not serious, but anytime someone is listed as DNP, with multiple injuries ( shoulder and ankle in Andrews case) it is something worth monitoring. 

Leaving Chris Harris Jr, Justin Evans and P.J. Williams ( who’s expected to activated off IR this week) as the most logical options. Harris and Evans have both struggled so far this year, although Harris had a much better game last week, he is still one of the oldest starting DBs in the league.

P.J. Williams has had success in the slot previously but has since transitioned to playing more safety than CB. Personally, I’d still be tempted to give with Williams there this week, due to his more physical style of play and being the bigger of the three players.

Size does matter in this matchup, Andrews is a monster standing 6” 5  and weighing 247lbs per PFF. which is why you’d usually find a safety matched up on someone of this size. The Saints biggest coverage player would be safety Marcus Maye, but that would still be a size disadvantage and Andrews would likely relish the matchup from a coverage standpoint. This plan would mean Tyrann Mathieu would have to play more snaps as the deep safety has proven to not be the best way to deploy him so far this season.

Therefore as a hybrid safety/CB for me, P.J. Williams looks to be the best option 1 on 1, however, with the Ravens lack of weapons on the outside I’d expect Andrews to be double-teamed plenty this game.

For more Saints articles- https://www.full10yards.co.uk/saints/ 

Please let me know your feedback on this article and the others throughout the season, I’m always looking to improve and add things that people want to read about!

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Week 8: Rookie Standouts

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We’re almost at the halfway point of the season, and as expected, many rookies are getting opportunities due to trades, injuries, and inconsistent form. Here are three rookies that stood out this week.

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Isaiah Likely, Tight End – Baltimore Ravens

As discussed in my first ever Full10Yards article, Isaiah Likely was the Ravens’ second tight end drafted on Day 3, but in minicamp and OTAs, he had already started to separate himself from the pack. The biggest issue that Likely would face, though, is being behind two-time pro bowler and all-pro Mark Andrews.

So, when Andrews, who was already dealing with a knee injury, landed awkwardly on his shoulder and was ruled out after 10 snaps, it was Likely’s time to shine, and shine he did. Likely slotted straight into Andrews’ shoes, catching six of his seven targets for 77 yards and a touchdown, in which he showed great body control to keep himself in bounds. With Andrews now dealing with multiple injuries, this breakout couldn’t have come at a better time for the Ravens.

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Malcolm Rodriguez, Linebacker – Detroit Lions

The Lions are currently sitting at the bottom of the pile in the NFL overall standings, and despite some initial optimism spurred on by their stint on NFL Network’s Hard Knocks, they look to be yet again not getting anywhere near the postseason.

It’s not all doom and gloom, however, as Aiden Hutchinson has already made this list before, and though production has slowed, he’s still been a disruptive force. Now you can add Hard Knocks’ favourite Malcolm Rodriguez to the list.

He was arguably the best defensive player for the Lions in Sunday’s loss to the Miami Dolphins, as he recorded his first-ever NFL sack, jointly led the team with seven tackles, and recovered a fumble forced by fellow rookie Kerby Joseph.

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Garrett Wilson, Wide Receiver – New York Jets

With questions swirling about the future of Jets quarterback Zach Wilson after another rough showing, it’s another Wilson who took the headlines this week. Garrett Wilson made the most of his limited targets (seven) and showed exactly why he should be the team’s number 1 receiver and should be targeted more often, especially seeing as the Jets threw the ball 41 times.

Against a New England Patriots cornerback unit that includes rookies Jack Jones and Marcus Jones, both of whom are in the top ten for the lowest completion rate, Wilson took his lowly seven targets, caught six of them, and recorded an impressive 115 yards, making him the 2nd Jets rookie ever to have two 100 yard plus games in a season, behind Ring of Honor member Al Toon.

Honorable Mentions

Sauce Gardner (New York Jets), Greg Dulcich (Denver Broncos), Martin Emerson (Cleveland Browns), Ikem Ekwonu (Carolina Panthers), Tomon Fox (New York Giants)

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Five Things: Week 8 – New York Giants at Seattle Seahawks

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With the Giants falling to an uninspiring 27-13 loss to the Seattle Seahawks, they can still go into their bye week holding their heads up high thanks to their surprising 6-2 record. Let’s look at five things that stood out:

Mistakes Punished

When you are part of a team that has won five of its six wins this year by less than a score, you need to make sure that the fundamentals are sound, and the mistakes are kept to a minimum. Unfortunately, that was not the case on Sunday, and ultimately, it cost the Giants the game.

Though there were mistakes that led to penalties, coverage issues, and protection, the one that basically ended things for the Giants was a second fumble off a punt by Richie James. After catching the punt on the 21-yard line, James decided to return it up the field. He collided with a crowd, but instead of securing the ball with both hands, he cupped it with one and the ball broke loose again. The already leading Seahawks took the gift and bought their offence back out on the 32-yard line. Two plays later, Kenneth Walker III took advantage of some lackluster defending to walk in for the game’s last score.

Up and Down Adoree

If Adoree Jackson had come out of the game at the end of the third quarter, you probably could have said he was the best Giant out there today. Carrying on his pro bowl caliber start to the season, he had a couple of pass breakups and single-handedly helped the Giants get their first points on the board after he caused a Tyler Lockett fumble, which he recovered at the two-yard line. Unfortunately, what followed in the fourth quarter was not the high standards that Jackson holds himself to.

For starters, he was completely outrun on a 33-yard pass from ex-Giant Geno Smith that Lockett was unable to secure for what would have been a walk-in touchdown. The Giants survived, and Seattle settled for a field goal. Lockett, however, made sure he had his revenge on the next Seattle drive. He hit him with a double move and breezed into the endzone, but this time he secured the ball for the go-ahead touchdown.

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Return to the Field

If there was one heart-warming moment from Sunday’s game, it was the return of Giants offensive lineman Nick Gates. Early in the 2021 season against Washington Gates suffered such a horrific leg break that NFL refused to show any replays of it. What followed was a grueling 410 days in which Gates would go through seven total surgeries due to complications and would even be told that he could end up facing amputation. Once he was passed that even his gritty determined attitude shone through as he vowed to return to the field this season and he stuck to his promise.

Though Gates only suited up for five snaps across the total sixty-five taken by the offense you could see that the former captains’ hunger had not wavered in the slightest. Due to the length of time, he has been out, there was bound to be some “field rust” so the Giants were clever using his only as a jumbo tight end to assist with blocking.  He did make one key block however in the touchdown run by Saquon Barkley and despite ending up on his back celebrated by kicking and punching the air like an excited turtle. Redemption achieved.

Gano and Gillan

With the special teams unit having a nightmare with the two fumbles as well as poor coverage on both kick and punt returns (when it was returned), the offence not really clicking in the ground or air game and the defence struggling with the Seahawks wide receivers despite being able to sack Smith three times, you would be hard pressed to find any players that shone, but there were and it’s likely to be the two players you want to see the least.

Graham Gano continued to be pretty much automatic with his field goal attempts as he made both his attempts, one from 31 yards and the other from 45 yards. Gano this season has made 17 of his 19 attempts and is a perfect 4 for 4 kicking from over 50 yards.

His kicking buddy Jamie Gillan had what was probably his best punting game this season as he punted for an average of 53.7 yards on six punts, including downing two inside the 20 and one 69-yard boomer that was almost downed at the one.

The Tomonator

With the injuries piling up for the Giants, the rookie class from this year has been thrust into the limelight, and luckily for the Giants, most of them have been able to make plays when called upon. Although there were slow days for Wan’Dale Robinson and Kayvon Thibodeaux, there were two such rookies that had stellar days.

Fifth rounder Micah McFadden had slowly seen his snap count decrease over the last three weeks to the point where he had made none in the last two, but he had a breakout game here, recording his first career sack along with four tackles (one for a loss). However, there was one rookie that stood above all the others.

Tomon Fox, the Georgia native who went undrafted as a free agent, was tied for the team lead on tackles with eight and had to two tackles for a loss despite only playing 27 of the 64 snaps the defense faced. It’s extremely likely that if he continues to play this way, his role will increase dramatically.

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Five Takeaways From A Perfect New Orleans Saints Win Against The Raiders

This was the team the Saints fanbase expected to see this season an efficient offense led by Alvin Kamara. A stifling defense led by an aggressive pass rush and a physical, playmaking secondary. 

The Saints beat the Raiders 24-0 on Sunday, therefore there are plenty of things to take from this game that could show the Saints are starting to turn a corner and could make a significant run at the NFC South division title.

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Is the Secondary Fixed? 

Once the strength of this defense, the secondary has not been that so far this season, after Sunday’s game against the Raiders has that changed? not just yet but Sunday was a very encouraging start.

After giving up the most big plays in the league through seven weeks one good performance doesn’t change the narrative but this performance certainly helps and if it continues the Saints secondary will be the dominant force we all expected.

Dennis Allen-led defenses have taken a while previously to get going, generally playing a lot better in the second half of the season than in the first. That could be the case here as well. Allen famously struggled with Malcolm Jenkins’ role after the Saints brought him back, but once they figured it out later in the season the defense took a big step. 

That could easily be the case with Tyrann Mathieu, he looks to be playing a lot more around the line scrimmage rather than back-deep, with Maye taking more of the deep safety responsibilities and that fits Mathieu’s skill set a lot more at this stage of his career. This role allows Mathieu to roam and make plays which is exactly what he did in this game, with an interception and a dropped pick-six after he broke on a route and just couldn’t make the catch.

The second massive improvement has been the rookie second-round pick, Alontae Taylor starting at outside corner. Taylor has been nothing short of excellent on the outside, in his two games so far he’s played significant snaps against DeAndre Hopkins and Davante Adams and barely given up catches to either (zero catches on three targets against Adams this week). Taylor competes like hell on every rep and is always making plays on the ball. 

When Lattimore comes back he and Taylor will be a scary tandem on the outside if Taylor continues to play this way.

DA also has more of his starting players in the secondary back which appears to be helping massively, in previous weeks he’s not been able to be as aggressive as he planned with depth players playing meaningful snaps, even more, reinforcements should be in the way. P.J. Williams is expected to return from IR this week and Marson Lattimore is expected back this week or maybe the week after.

The D-Line Played Its Best Game Of The Season

The Saints defensive line was flat-out dominant yesterday against the Raiders, per PFF they had 22 total pressures on Sunday ( 5 sacks, 5 QB hits and 12 pressures) which is 6 more pressures than their season best and pressured Derek Carr on 41.4% of his dropbacks, that was largely due to stellar play up front.

This dominance was in large part due to some new faces stepping up. Payton Turner had 5 total pressures which included 2 sacks. one of those sacks is explained here, it was a really smart play from the second-year player, which is really encouraging to see. (https://twitter.com/dlinevids1/status/1586801847653703680?s=46&t=DaCVhJvxXdNAfvdEekywFA) 

David Onyemata had 3 pressures including 1 sack. Shy Tuttle chipped in with 2 pressures, Malcolm Roach had 1 although it seemed like he had more. These are all players that weren’t stepping up earlier in the season, especially Turner, fingers crossed this is a career-changing game that gives him the confidence to push on and show why the Saints drafted him in the first round a year ago.

Marcus Davenport looked to have one of his more dominant games with an emphatic TFL on 3rd and 1 to deny a jet sweep attempt to Adams.

(https://www.neworleanssaints.com/video/marcus-davenport-davante-adams-saints-raiders-2022-week-8-nfl-highlights) 

He also had a sack wiped away because of a defensive holding penalty and he looked like he was around Carr all day, somehow PFF only charted him with 1 pressure. We will agree to disagree on that one, Davenport looked dominant all game.

The D-line didn’t just dominate in rushing the passer, they also returned to their old ways against the run, Josh Jacobs rushed for 441 yards in the three games before Sunday. The Saints held him to 43 yards, apart from one rogue 16-yard run, that stat line would have looked even better, there were still some missed tackles which you saw on Jacobs 16-yard run, but for the most part, it looked much better this week. There seemed to be an emphasis on swarming to the ball, something the dominant Saints defenses in the previous year have prided themselves on.

If this version of the d-line turns up every week this defense will be one that strikes fear into every opponent and the Saints will win a lot more games than they lose down the stretch.

Andy Dalton Looks To Be The Right Choice At QB

Dalton isn’t perfect, he was lucky not to be picked off yesterday on a very strange pass down the right sideline, other than that throw Dalton does all the right things that this offense needs.

He gets the ball out quickly, he recognises the blitz and doesn’t let it beat him and most importantly he feeds the team’s playmakers with every opportunity. 

Alvin Kamara is back to old ways with Dalton at QB (More on Ak shortly) I firmly believe Dalton’s ability to distribute the ball to his playmakers on time in rhythm is the reason he stayed the starter. This is something Winston has still not proven to be able to do.

Dalton finished with a 73.3% completion percentage that would have been even better if not for 2 drops, on very catchable passes by Chris Olave and Taysom Hill.

Since Dalton has taken over as the starter in week 4 the Saints are sixth in the league in EPA per play, with the weapons the Saints have all they need from their QB is efficiency and limited mistakes, Dalton provided that in spades yesterday.

The Saints O-Line Is Really Really Good

In my matchups to watch article, I highlighted the need to keep Maxx Crosby in check, the Saints more than achieved that, the Saints held Crosby to zero pressures,. Crosby was still effective in the run game, and had 5 total stops per PFF (Defensive Stops – tackles that constitute a “failure” for the offense) . But those stats lines are a win for any o-line against a player like Crosby.

The Saints line only gave up 2 pressures all game and these were only pressures, Dalton was not touched at all.

The Saints running game was a focal point of the offense again and that was because of the offensive line. They bullied the Raiders up front, and the Saints ended the day with 32 rushes for 136 yards, averaging 4.3 YPC.  Those stats would have looked a lot better if not for some obvious runs at the end of the game going for very little as the Saints were running out the clock.

This line is a serious reason for optimism for years to come- more on that here https://whodathype.com/2022/10/26/saints-offensive-line-in-dark-season/ 

They were excellent again today, especially RG Cesar Ruiz and RT Ryan Ramczyk who like one of the best right sides of an o-line in the league.

Alvin Kamara Is The Best Player On The Team

Alvin Kamara Stepped up this week in more ways than one, not just with a vintage AK performance (158 total yards and three TDs) but he stepped up as the team’s leader in the locker room.

AK gave a spirited speech in the locker room after the loss to Arizona last Thursday and again spoke up throughout the week in the media. DA committed after the game that he stepped up as every great leader does with actions not just words.

He was the best player on the field on Sunday two his third touchdown (a 36-yard catch) was prime Kamara as he split the Raiders defense and he didn’t even look like he got out of third gear. 

All three of AK’s TDs here- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yGG3OyqzWq8

Kamara is the heartbeat of this team and he should stay that way for years to come.

Conclusion 

This was the best-case scenario for the Saints coming out of their ‘mini bye’ they didn’t get the players back they hoped but produced their best performance of the season which gives the team and their fans hope.

The Saints now have another long week, with the next game on Monday night Vs the Ravens, with the hope they will get more key players back and make a real push for the NFC South title.

For more Saints articles- https://www.full10yards.co.uk/saints/ 

Please let me know your feedback on this article and the others throughout the season, I’m always looking to improve and add things that people want to read about!

Follow me on Twitter and Instagram @SaintsReportUK, for much more Saints content and discussion.