Category: New Orleans Saints

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PICK SIX – Week 12

This week’s NFL action was nicely spread out over several days, due to the holiday season in the United States. But while our American cousins gorged on turkey and pumpkin pie – and football of course – Shaun Blundell and Sean Tyler set to work picking six more things to discuss from the Week 12 slate. This week, we expand on two players breaking records, the Steelers’ rejuvenated offense, our first Black Friday game, the sub-par NFC South and possibly the best game of the season so far.

DaRon sets Bland-new record

During his team’s annual Thanksgiving Day game on Thursday, Dallas Cowboys cornerback DaRon Bland snared his fifth pick-six of the year, setting a new single-season record in the process. He intercepted Washington Commanders quarterback Sam Howell and returned it 63 yards, eluding Howell, Brian Robinson and Terry McLaurin on his way to the paint.

The ensuing celebration lasted so long that Head Coach Mike McCarthy had to call a timeout before the extra point attempt. And the timing couldn’t have been better for the Californian, whose family was in town for the holidays. “It means everything to break the record in front of them,” Bland said postgame, “and do it on Thanksgiving Day is another thing to be thankful for.”

As well as sticking a cherry on the top of a comfortable 45-10 victory, the play vaulted the second-year cornerback above Eric Allen, Jim Kearny and Ken Houston in the NFL record books for the most defensive TDs in a season. Bland also becomes the leader in career pick-sixes in Cowboys franchise history.

Even last year, as a rookie drafted from Fresno State in Round 5, the promise of what was to come was evident in the five interceptions he made while filling in for an injured Jourdan Lewis. But this season, the step up has been exponential. The 24-year-old has transformed into a premier defensive playmaker, accumulating 48 tackles, 13 passes defensed and a league-leading seven interceptions.

This year, Bland has yet to go more than two consecutive games without a touchdown. His journey into the record books began even before he was thrust into the starting lineup when Trevon Diggs tore his ACL in practice ahead of Week 3. His 22-yard pick-six in an opening-day 40-0 rout of the Giants was soon followed by scores against the Patriots (54 yards), Rams (30 yards), Panthers (30 yards) and now the Commanders. His five defensive TDs are two more than any other team has accrued this season (the Colts and the Seahawks are the closest with three) and within the Cowboys camp, he only trails Cee Dee Lamb on either side of the ball. For added context, his tally is just one shy of the New York Jets’ entire offensive output.

With six more regular season games still to go, Dallas fans will be keen to see if Bland can extend his record yet further. But for now, his exceptional instincts and ability to read the game is something every Cowboys fan should be thankful for. [ST]

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Steelers win – with offense

The Pittsburgh Steelers finally ended the longest streak in the league for most games without 400 yards on offense in Week 12. They officially surpassed the 400-yard mark, in the fourth quarter of Sunday’s game against their divisional foes from Cincinnati, with a 13-yard run from Najee Harris.

The last time they put up 400 yards in a single game was way back, some 1,162 days ago — in Week 2 of the 2020 season. The 424 yards was also the most gained by their offense since the 429 posted against the New Orleans Saints in Week 16 of 2018. It was a welcome sight for an offense that ranked 28th in yards per game entering the pivotal AFC North matchup.

Despite only scoring 16 points in the victory over the Bengals, there’s little doubt that the Steelers offense looked as good as it has all season. The game came just five days after the firing of Matt Canada as the team’s offensive coordinator. Quarterbacks coach Mike Sullivan and running backs coach Eddie Faulkner are working in tandem as interim OCs, with Sullivan calling plays from the sideline and Faulkner handling the bulk of the other day-to-day responsibilities.

The obvious conclusion from the eye test was a more explosive attack. The opening play of the game saw a 24-yard connection to Pat Freiermuth – the first of six plays over 20 yards. The tight end went on to register over 100 yards receiving. Najee Harris also had his best game of the season as the Steelers dominated time of possession and outgained an opponent for the first time all season.

Now, the Green Bay Packers hold the longest active streak for most consecutive games without 400+ net yards, holding an 18-game streak dating back to Week 11 of the 2022 season. [SB]

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Another black day for the Jets

The NFL does like to hitch itself to traditional holidays and milk them for all they’re worth. It’s had games on Christmas Day for decades and Thanksgiving matchups since 1934, with the late night game becoming an annual thing in 2006. Now, amid the retail madness that is Black Friday, the NFL has jumped on the bandwagon again.

At 3pm ET on Friday, the New York Jets – in black uniforms, naturally – played host to the Miami Dolphins in an all-AFC East clash, mirroring the three divisional games from the previous day. The first-ever Black Friday match was aired exclusively by Amazon Prime Video for free (even for non-Prime members) and inevitably, money lies at the heart of the development. The Thanksgiving Day games have separate TV rights and after CBS, Fox and NBC took their noses out of the trough, there was none of the $1 billion pie left. Undeterred, Amazon proposed an annual game the day after, to coincide with its biggest shopping event of the year, and shelled out $100 million to the NFL for the privilege.

Through the 11-year deal, they should make a healthy return on their investment through interactive adverts and QR codes for viewers to scan before, during and after the game. The ads were even tailored to different audiences – depending on whether the viewer was already a Prime member, for example. This latest move in the battle for consumer dollars during the holiday season is designed to encourage millions of football fans to leave the malls early, head home for the game and continue shopping from the couch, smart phone in hand, via Amazon. Ker-ching!

On the field, as expected, it was a one-sided affair, with Miami sealing a 34-13 win in a fast-emptying stadium. Raheem Mostert (94 rushing yards) ran in for two scores, Jaylen Waddle led the receiving corps with 114 yards and Tyreek Hill (nine catches for 102 yards) handed the ball from his 7-yard TD reception to his new wife Keeta (Keeta and the Cheetah? Cute!). But for the Jets, things got ugly… and stayed that way. Tim Boyle’s Hail Mary attempt being returned for a 99-yard pick-six by Jevon Holland pretty much summed up their day.  

But what now for BFF (Black Friday Football)? Well, the fixture is already being talked about as an annual affair and franchises like the Cincinnati Bengals have already volunteered to be the regular host, much like the Cowboys and Lions are on Thanksgiving. Not surprisingly, the NFL politely declined Cincy’s offer and opted to go with New York, the country’s biggest retail market – at least for now. Lucrative though that may be, the league should think twice before agreeing to head back to MetLife Stadium for the next one because on the day after Thanksgiving, Americans have probably had enough turkeys. [ST]

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11k Kelce

It’s not been a bad few months for Travis Kelce. Super Bowl champion, tick. Dating pop megastar, tick. Fastest tight end to reach 11,000 career receiving yards, tick.

His latest feat was accomplished on the back of a 27-yard reception in the second quarter against the Las Vegas Raiders, which contributed towards his tally of 91 total yards on six receptions. It was a gorgeous connection and fitting that such a play would be the record breaker. Kelce bullied Divine Deablo off the line and broke towards the corner. Mahomes dropped a dime into his bucket with a safety closing in and a couple of other trailing defenders narrowing the window.

It was a much-needed contribution that helped the Chiefs rebound from an early 14-point deficit. The aforementioned 27-yard catch came on the pre-half-time drive where KC knotted up the scoreboard and they would not look back. Recent second-half struggles were nowhere to be seen as Kelce and co. moved the ball with ease, gaining 17 second-half points and a big division win just when things were starting to look a little tricky for the Chiefs.

Kelce’s new mark, reaching 11,000 yards in just 154 games, comfortably eclipses the previous record set by Tony Gonzalez (191 games). The question now becomes whether Kelce can hunt down the other record held by Gonzalez: most receiving yards in history for a tight end. That currently sits at 15,127 so there’s still some way to go. Having just turned 34, Kelce would realistically need a strong finish to this campaign and probably sustain at least three more seasons at this level. Antonio Gates is next on the list to surpass, followed by Jason Witten so they are the next two hurdles to overcome. And while he is Patrick Mahomes’ most reliable target, it would be foolish to bet against him.

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Falcons heading north in the South

On Sunday, Taylor Heinicke’s hamstring injury meant Desmond Ridder came back in from the cold after his Week 9 benching but with his proclivity for turnovers (six lost fumbles and six INTs), it won’t be QB play that takes Atlanta to the playoffs, should they get there. Indeed, it was their RBs and DBs who starred in a 25-14 win over the New Orleans Saints. Atlanta’s ground attack cranked out an impressive 228 yards, with rookie Bijan Robinson rumbling for 91 rushing yards and a score, backed by Tyler Allgeier (64), Cordarrelle Patterson (43) and Ridder himself (30). On the other side of the ball, Jessie Bates’ 92-yard pick six was the game’s highlight, while his timely punch-out to force a Taysom Hill fumble on the 9-yard line wasn’t far behind.

The win not only ends a three-game losing skid but also vaults Atlanta over their opponents and up into first place in the basket case that is the NFC South. Last year, all four teams posted losing records, with the 7-10 Saints, Panthers and Falcons all trailing the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, who snuck into the playoffs at 8-9. These things are often one-season anomalies but in the worst division in football (© everyone), history is repeating itself. Pre-season, this was ranked the weakest pool by every pundit who proffered an opinion. And sure enough, all the other divisional pacesetters are currently 8-3 or better but here, the Falcons head the pack at 5-6.

The Panthers, now 1-10 after Sunday’s loss to the Titans, are the worst team in football. To be fair, they’d been decimated by injuries even before this weekend, when Leviska Shenault, Vonn Bell and others joined the growing list of casualties. But even so, rookie QB Bryce Young just isn’t cutting it and after 11 games, their offense sits at or near the bottom of the pile in just about every metric. No wonder HC Franck Reich got the Order of the Boot yesterday, not even getting to one-and-done. No one here’s making the postseason via the Wild Card route but the fact that Carolina can still win this dumpster fire of a group is mindboggling.

Their next opponents are the Bucs (4-7). It seems the post-Tom Brady experiment with Baker Mayfield hasn’t worked and with the NFL’s worst rushing attack and the second-worst pass defense, they may also be in the market for a new head coach soon. After more erratic play in a 27-20 loss to the Colts this weekend, they’re stuck in third place, behind the Saints (5-6). In the Big Easy, star man Alvin Kamara isn’t exactly tearing up trees, Michael Thomas is back on IR and the red zone has become their kryptonite.

So, by default, that leaves the Falcons – a team that hasn’t bettered seven wins since 2017 – as the least-worst bet for the NFC South crown as we enter December. The Dirty Birds are 3-0 in the division and there’s no team with a winning record left on their schedule. Looking down the stretch in the NFC South, there’s only one week left without a divisional clash of some sort and the final one – the Falcons/Saints rematch – may yet decide which of these unworthy teams hosts a playoff game. I’m hardly sticking my neck out by predicting there’s more ugly football to come in the remaining weeks but however bad it is, at least it’ll be competitive! [ST]

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Game of the season… so far

What a game! Buffalo 34-37 Philadelphia. It was a game that ebbed and flowed, and ultimately came down to some more Jalen Hurts brilliance as the Eagles found a way to secure yet another win. 

It was rather baffling and stupid that the home crowd booed off the team at halftime despite their impressive record to date. Yes, the Bills had been good, dominant in fact. They left six costly points off the board with a field goal block and a field goal miss either side of the half-time whistle. Josh Allen had a great night, throwing for more than 330 yards, but he could only look on as Hurts and company took over in the second half.

The Philly QB had five total touchdowns including three through the air. They included one to DeVonta Smith, who continues to turn heads towards the business end of the campaign. AJ Brown and Olamide Zaccheaus caught the others. 

It was almost in vain, however, as the Bills edged ahead after the two-minute warning. The problem, however, was that Hurts still had time. The Eagles drove into field goal range and Jake Elliott booted a 59-yarder to force overtime. The Bills won the toss and Josh Allen got down to the Eagles’ 22 but Buffalo had to settle for another FG. That gave the Eagles yet another life. They grasped it with both hands and capped a nine-play drive with a Hurts 12-yard scramble for the win. The Eagles yet again found a way, and their quarterback proved yet again he can be the difference maker in the big moments. [SB]

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PICK SIX – Week 7

Week 7 of the 2023 NFL season didn’t disappoint when it came to talking points. So much so that our regular scribes, Shaun Blundell and Sean Tyler, were hard pressed to pick just six of them to unpack. But after some deliberation and cogitation, they settled on this little lot for your reading pleasure. Enjoy.

National Tight Ends Day

There are many awareness-raising and promotional days in the calendar and some are odder than others: National Talk Like a Pirate Day. National Men Make Dinner Day. Kiss A Ginger Day. National Cheese Toastie Day. And of course, National Tight Ends Day.

Yes, the fourth Sunday in October has been designated National Tight Ends Day by the NFL since 2o19, when a mic’d-up George Kittle joked that TEs should have their own holiday. This year, Kittle made a music video – featuring some Niners’ teammates, cameos from various TEs around the league and some historic footage of former greats – to celebrate the importance of the position.

So it was almost written in the stars that tight ends were going to play a big role in Week 7. Inevitably, the Chiefs’ Travis Kelce led the league in receiving (12 catches for 179 yards and a TD), as he and Patrick Mahomes celebrated their 50th scoring connection. And with his fifth game of 150-plus yards, Mr Taylor Swift is now only one behind the all-time leader, Hall of Famer Shannon Sharpe.

Not to be outdone, a tight end also led the league in receiving touchdowns. A drumroll for the Ravens’ Mark Andrews, please. Baltimore (more about them shortly, Ravens fans) destroyed the previously 5-1 Detroit Lions 38-6, thanks to an MVP-level performance from Lamar Jackson and a solid outing from Andrews. No.89 corralled four targets for 63 yards but two of them went for TDs: an 11-yarder and an 8-yarder either side of halftime.

We can’t move on without acknowledging that funny little dance that Mike Gesicki does when he scores. The Patriots tight end was entitled to his celebratory not-quite-a-griddy as he snagged the game-winning score against the Bills with just 12 seconds left on the clock – a tight end to a game if ever there was one (other dad jokes are available). The catch at the back of the end zone secured an unexpected 29-25 victory against their divisional rivals and keeps the AFC cauldron bubbling away nicely. [ST]

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Signs of life at Mile High?

It was only four short weeks ago that the Denver Broncos were on the wrong end of a 70-point drubbing at the hands of the Miami Dolphins. Fast forward a month and back-to-back decent defensive displays have allowed some small chunks of positivity to be found in the floundering franchise. After completing a 19-17 victory over the Packers, they have now kept their opponent under 20 points in consecutive games. Yes, Green Bay have their own issues but the other opponent in this mini revival was the Kansas City Chiefs.

Let’s not get carried away here though. Yes, the defense has improved but it is still not playing anywhere near Broncos units of years gone by. Too many penalties, not enough men on the field at times, missed tackles… you get the drill. Kareem Jackson was ejected for the second time this campaign after a vicious hit early in the fourth quarter. For those keeping score, he has already had four unnecessary roughness penalties with fines now close to $100,000. It’s hard to imagine that a suspension is not going to be forthcoming. It is systematic of the lack of discipline in the side.

Editor’s note: Jackson has indeed been suspended for four games for his consistent infringements of the unnecessary roughness rules.

Where the defense may offer some signs of life, the offense is really struggling badly. Russell Wilson was improved from last Thursday’s horror show, he couldn’t be much worse. However, it was another game with under 200 yards passing and only two receivers, Cortland Sutton and Jerry Jeudy, registered catches. There is a lack of commitment to the running game, even though individually Javonte Williams is running pretty well. A reverse play that netted the only stat of the day for rookie Marvin Mims Jr. went for minus 11 yards.

Sean Payton was brought in to turn around the franchise and “save” the Russell Wilson trade. As we approach the halfway point of the year, it’s fair to question if it’s a forlorn hope. [SB]

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D-fence!

Many of our favourite players make the highlight reel catches and the spectacular touchdowns. After all, that’s the aim of the game. But I do love a last-gasp defensive play that somehow prevents an all-but-guaranteed score. As they say, the guys on the other side of the ball get paid too and this weekend, two of them definitely earned their corn. As it was, neither play affected the final result but that shouldn’t take anything away from their efforts.

The first one was in the Falcons game in Tampa Bay. With six minutes left and the score nicely poised at 13-10, Atlanta had the ball at the Buccaneers’ 12-yard line on a 1st-and-goal. After a faked handoff, QB Desmond Ridder went left and took a direct line to the pylon, looking to run in his second score of the day. Holding the ball in his right hand, he was almost level with the line when Antoine Winfield Jr. swooped in from behind and punched the ball down, out of Ridder’s hands. The Atlanta players still celebrated, as the initial ruling on the field was that their guy had crossed the plane before losing the ball, but on review, that decision was overturned. In the end, the Falcons held on to win 16-13 but that amazing play from Winfield nearly cost them.

The other piece of phenomenal defending came in the Browns’ 39-38 win over the Colts in Indianapolis. In a thoroughly entertaining end-to-end game, every drive seemed to matter. With half a minute remaining, it looked like Cleveland – trailing 38-33 at the time – had got a vital go-ahead TD on a 1st-and-goal. PJ Walker, deputising for an injured Deshaun Watson, dinked an absolute dime to David Njoku, as he made his way to the front-left corner of the end zone. The 6’4” tight end jumped up, arms aloft, and literally had the ball between his hands when his blue-clad shadow, Rodney Thomas, reached in between his mitts and somehow knocked the ball away. Alas for Indy, Kareem Hunt managed to run in the crucial game-winner 15 seconds later but it was a hell of a play by Thomas nonetheless. [ST]

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Ravens offense joins the party

The Baltimore Ravens have been a tricky team to get a read on. A very good defense, certainly. The offense? Despite a 4-2 record heading into Sunday, it hadn’t been much to write home about. Then Sunday happened.

The Detroit Lions, full of praise and expectation after their own start to the campaign, were put to the sword by a first half offensive masterclass by the Ravens. They took their opening four drives for touchdowns as they opened up a 28-point cushion by the interval. Lamar Jackson rushed for one, threw for two more and Gus “The Bus” Edwards also crossed over. A four-play, 94-yard drive to open up the second half (after turning the Lions over on downs) was the final nail in an already pretty tightly sealed coffin.

The red zone, which had proved problematic recently for Baltimore, was also a big success this weekend. Those opening four touchdown drives all ended through a trip into the red zone. They would end the day with a five out of six touchdown conversion rate against such trips by the end of the day. The reliable Justin Tucker kicked a field goal on the other occasion. 

It was Jackson’s best performance of the season by some distance. He was decisive with his legs and more than efficient with his arm. His 357 passing yards were his most since way back in October of 2021. He has seemingly found himself a new favourite target alongside Mark Andrews in rookie Zay Flowers. With Odell Beckham Jr. and Rashod Bateman also getting back up to full fitness, it suddenly seems as though Baltimore has a slew of options with which to attack teams with. 

On their day, the Ravens are a match for anyone and must surely be considered in the Super Bowl conversation if the offensive output stays at this level. [SB]

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Maher culpa

Though it pains me to admit it (as a Bengals fan), there were plenty of positives on show as Pittsburgh travelled west and beat the LA Rams on their own patch. We should’ve seen it coming, as HC Mike Tomlin rarely loses when he’s given a bye week to prepare for his next opponents.

The highlights include an impressive return from IR for wide receiver Diontae Johnson, who gave his sleep-walking teammates – they’d only scored three points in the first half – a much-needed jolt with five catches for 79 yards. Kenny Pickett and George Pickens (107 receiving yards) seemed to click and Najee Harris caught the eye with some nifty hurdling down the sideline. On the other side of the ball, an interception from TJ Watt saw him become only the second player since 1982 with 70-plus sacks and seven-plus interceptions in their first seven seasons.

The Rams weren’t without notable moments of their own, not least a 154-yard performance from Puka Nacua, the backfield committee of Royce Freeman and Darrell Henderson gaining 127 yards between them and two sacks by Michael Hoecht. But on a night when Cooper Kupp was restricted to just two catches for a paltry 29 yards, they needed to lean on kicker Brett Maher. 

Alas, Maher – who signed just before the season started – got a case of the yips, much like he did last postseason for the Cowboys when he couldn’t kick an extra point for love nor money (he missed four of five in the Wild Card game against the Bucs). The wheels seem to come off again on Sunday, despite playing in the controlled conditions of SoFi Stadium. He doinked a 53-yard FG attempt off the left upright, missed a PAT and then missed another field goal, veering left again from 51. Maher did make a 41-yard kick but you don’t need to be a mathematics professor to calculate the importance of those seven missed points in a game that ended 24-17.

The failed extra point was his first such miss of the season but he’s now missed six of his 23 FG attempts. Sunday was his third game this season with multiple misses, leaving him ranked 29th out of 33 kickers. No wonder HC Sean McVay said “We’ll look at it and we’ll see, but he’s got to be better.” Maher himself coughed up a bit of post-match mea culpa, saying: “I’m just a little disappointed for the team. I feel like I could have made a very positive impact on that game and didn’t do my part today.” [ST]

Editor’s note: Maher was released by Rams HC Sean McVay on Tuesday. With no other kicker on the roster, the search for a replacement begins.

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Al Michaels, it’s time to go

I appreciate commentary is a matter of personal choice and opinion. For me, hearing the likes of Kevin Harlan on the play-by-play or the analysis of a recent player such as Greg Olsen doing the colour commentary job improves my enjoyment of the game. Put simply, a commentator should enhance your experience and not ruin it. You only have to look at the reported $165 million that ESPN paid out to bring Joe Buck and Troy Aikman to Monday Night Football for the broadcasters understanding of this too. Which leads me to Al Michaels.

It must have been quite the coup for Amazon when they were announced as the exclusive broadcaster for Thursday Night Football. Michaels had been the voice of Sunday Night Football for many years and, as such, had built himself a reputation for being the man for the big occasion. There have been signs of decline in his output over the past 18 months with the lack of enthusiasm in his voice being the real noticeable difference. Thursday Night saw a new low point.

With the Jaguars and Saints tied at 24 points each and time winding down, Michaels completely botched what turned out to be the game-winning play. Trevor Lawrence dropped back and found Christian Kirk, who ran an excellent whip route against Tyrann Mathieu. Kirk managed to sprint past and in-between multiple Saints defenders on his way to a 44-yard touchdown reception. 

“Christian Kirk, inside the 20, and he goes… and Christian Kirk takes the ball all the way… to about the 1-yard line,” the 78-year-old said while pausing during the play. Then, while Kirk celebrated the touchdown with his teammates, Michaels said: “They’re gonna spot it as [Kirk] thinks he scored the touchdown… And they’re gonna call it a touchdown now.”

He was nowhere near the sideline so I have no idea what Michaels was watching. In terms of enthusiasm, you would be forgiven for thinking Michaels was commentating on a chess game as opposed to an NFL contest. It’s no doubt hard to walk away from something that you love but I’m sorry Al, it’s time to go. [SB]

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PICK SIX – Week 5

We’re five weeks into the season and we – Shaun Blundell and Sean Tyler – are here to pick six more things that caught our eye in the last round of games. This week, our interest-o-meter was set off by the Bears waking up, the Bills going to sleep and the Steelers defying all logic, plus CJ Stroud, Brock Purdy and Bill Belichick. Let’s pick the meat off the bones.

Bears emerge from hibernation

It’s fair to say that Chicago have not been having any fun lately. They came into Thursday night on a run of 14 losses stretching back 350 days (the longest losing streak in their 104-year history). They had just squandered a 21-point lead to the Broncos. Their DC resigned in Week 2. Exiled WR Chase Claypool was shipped off to Miami. And before the game, the passing of franchise legend Dick Butkus was announced.

But, as the saying goes, it’s always darkest before the dawn and on TNF, they – one of the league’s two remaining winless teams – finally got the dub they’d been so desperate for. The Bears travelled to Washington to face a feisty Commanders team that took the Eagles to OT the previous week and despite starting as six-point underdogs, they got a deserved 40-20 victory. They shot out to a 27-3 halftime lead but unlike last week, the Bears didn’t buckle when injuries, not least to RB Khalil Herbert, started to bite. Indeed, they sacked Sam Howells five times.

But it was the connection between Justin Fields and DJ Moore that decided this matchup. Despite only completing 15 passes to just three different players – Moore, plus tight ends Cole Kmet and Robert Tonyan – Fields (282 passing yards/4 TDs) torched Emmanuel Forbes and Kendall Fuller all night. With 617 yards, eight TDs and one INT in his past two games, he suddenly seems to have found his groove.

Moore was the main beneficiary, with a career-high (and TNF-high) 230 receiving yards and 3 TDs from just eight catches. That haul makes him the first Bears player in the Super Bowl era with 200+ receiving yards and 3+ receiving TDs in a game. Moore’s numbers were boosted by chunk plays of 58, 56, 39, 32 and 20 yards, and he could’ve had another big TD had a fourth-quarter bomb not been overthrown.

So, after an entire year of losing every which way, the Bears – and HC Matt Eberflus – can finally enjoy a W. Which means you can drag that meme, which showed Chicago as the only franchise across the big four US sports leagues (NFL, MLB, NBA and NHL) that hadn’t won a game since Elon Musk bought Twitter in October 2022, off your desktop and into the recycle bin. [ST]

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Stroud and proud

It has been a record-breaking start to a career for Texans quarterback CJ Stroud and during the Week 5 21-19 loss to the Atlanta Falcons, he added more records to his name. He has now started his young NFL career with 186 passing attempts without throwing an interception. That mark eclipses the 176 attempts made by Dak Prescott when he started in the NFL and sets the new benchmark for 2024 and beyond.

It is one of those stats that could be meaningless, however. Essentially tossing the ball into the stands on every play would avoid an interception but wouldn’t be an ideal gameplan to win in the NFL. The fact is, Stroud has accomplished this feat while playing well and pumping much-needed life and optimism into the Texans franchise.

He may not have had his best game on Sunday but the big players show up in the big moments. Down by 6 with just under seven minutes to go, Stroud orchestrated an 11-play, 75-yard drive that culminated in a beautiful 18-yard touchdown strike to tight end Dalton Schultz. It moved the Texans in front but it would be the last time Stroud touched the football as the Falcons managed the clock, to kick a game-winning field goal as the clock hit zero.

It would not be an understatement to suggest that Stroud doesn’t have the most stellar of supporting casts. With that said, it seems as though the Texans have found the answer at the most important position on the field. Stroud is giving his team every opportunity to win, he is not turning the ball over and he will surely only continue to get better and better. Houston may have found a really good one. [SB]

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To err is human

These days, everything is ‘smart’: our TVs, our central heating, our phones, pretty much every piece of tech has gone beyond automation and is now seemingly capable of sentient thought. The robots will soon take over, believe me, and the revolution seems to have started, ever-so-quietly, in the most unexpected of places: among the ranks of NFL quarterbacks.

Last month, Chicago QB Justin Fields blamed his ‘robotic’ play on his coaches, who were feeding him too much information. That’s just what a robot would do, isn’t it – blame us unpredictable, flawed humans for making him look too mechanical. Not convinced? OK, fair enough. But how do you explain Niners quarterback Brock Purdy?

The last name picked in the 2022 NFL draft has now been at the helm of 10 straight regular season wins since starting for the 49ers. He is a machine – literally. The so-called Mr Irrelevant has yet to lose (other than the time he had to leave the field in the first quarter against the Eagles in the NFC Championship Game, presumably to have a circuit board resoldered or his mainframe rebooted). He had just one incompletion last week against Arizona and has yet to throw an interception five games into the new season. In his latest outing – Sunday’s 42-10 trouncing of Dallas – he went 17 of 24 for 252 yards and a career-high four TDs, three of them to George Kittle. He’s improving week by week without regression: that’s machine learning for you.

Broadcaster Kyle Brandt, the co-host of Good Morning Football, has this running joke that Purdy is an AI experiment. He’s had some fantastic rants about Purdy not bleeding, sweating or even blinking, and his conspiracy theory has even been picked up by the UK press. “I think there is a conspiracy that will certainly come out years from now that they wanted the first artificial intelligence player,” he told The Mirror. “They’re like: ‘We need to start introducing AI into the game.’”

It’s obviously just a bit of fun but what if he’s actually right? With someone (something?) this consistent, this dependable, you can’t rule it out. Maybe it’s a Truman-Show-style social experiment but until Purdy shows that he’s fallible – and I’m not talking about them programming an algorithm into the matrix to make him appear more human – I’m with Kyle. Brock Purdy’s a machine, the 49ers are going 17-0 and the day the robots take over is closer than you think. [ST]

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The GOAT keeps being slaughtered

It’s been a long time since we’ve heard the boo birds at Gillette Stadium but this Sunday, they were out in full force. It’s been a quiet three years post-Tom Brady, with most fans giving Bill Belichick plenty of time and grace to rebuild the powerhouse franchise of the first 20 years of the millennium. Those heady days of winning 17 out of 20 divisional titles, nine conference championships and six Super Bowls feel like a lifetime ago.

For New England, the head coach is still the face of the franchise, and therein lies the problem. Name a superstar on the New England roster. You can’t. They don’t have any that you could name. But they do have plenty of journeymen. Ezekiel Elliot last played quality football three or four years ago. JuJu Smith-Schuster was the Steelers’ number 1 receiver three or four years ago. Hunter Henry, the tight end, may have become something special in San Diego – and no, that isn’t a typo, that’s how long ago it was. And I haven’t even mentioned Brady’s ‘replacement’, Mac Jones, as that’s a whole other story.

Normally, a Belichick defense will at least keep things tight. How does shipping 72 points in two weeks sound? The Cowboys are a team that can rack up points on any given week but the Saints? New Orleans had scored less than 21 points in 10 straight games, yet they rocked up to Foxborough and put up the biggest shutout scoreline against the Patriots in their history (34-0). 

The quote from the press conference Belichick used after the game was: “So just plain and simply, we’ve got to find a way to play and coach better than that. So that’s what we are going to do: start all over and get back on a better track than we’re on right now.” Maybe the answer is that the Patriots truly start again and hand the keys over completely, as this current version of New England is a mirage of what once was. [SB]

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No jet lag for the Jags

On reflection, the second International Series game of the season, a 25-20 win for the Jaguars over the Bills at Tottenham Stadium, didn’t quite live up to the hype. The game only kicked into life midway through the fourth quarter, when the teams traded four TDs – two each. Until then though, it had all been rather attritional, with the defenses on top and offenses struggling to fill the highlight reel.

Sure, the Jags secured their second win on these shores in a week and deserved to move to 3-2. Trevor Lawrence threw for 315 yards but only one TD – the game’s opener to Zay Jones – leaving the bulk of the damage to be done by Travis Etienne (136 yards and 2 rushing TDs) and Calvin Ridley (seven catches for 122 yards). They did have some trouble with drops and fumbles, but their D stepped up when needed, forcing the Bills to punt six times and leaving them with under 22 minutes of possession.

Beforehand, this clash looked to be one of the better of the 35 contests to be staged in our capital, and many – me included – were expecting a shootout. Both teams are tipped for postseason action and the Bills, who had scored 123 points in their last three games, were arguably the hottest team in the league. Yet they rarely showed it. Josh Allen threw for just 23 yards in the first quarter, the Bills mustered 29 rushing yards all game and they committed 11 penalties for 109 yards. With Greg Rousseau, Tre’Davious White and Shaq Lawson already out, Matt Milano leaving early with a broken leg, DaQuan Jones also injuring a pec and the returning Von Miller on a snap count, it was mainly left to AJ Epenesa (with two of his team’s five sacks) to keep things competitive on the defensive side. A scoreless third quarter meant that theoretically, everything was still to play for but the Jags looked in control and always stayed a score or two ahead.

On Friday’s media day, Stefon Diggs called his QB ‘sleepyhead’ and Allen himself admitted to having “a few coffees” to stay awake, even though he doesn’t normally drink the stuff. Then in the post-match presser, he confessed “We never felt like we got into a rhythm until late in the game.” Which does make you wonder: how much of a factor is the international travel? The Buffalo team flew in to the UK overnight on Thursday and stayed up to practice on Friday, in an attempt to overcome the five-hour time dfference. But it didn’t seem to have the desired effect, with the Bills looking like they had yet to acclimatise or adjust to a game that kicked off at 9.30am Eastern time.

By contrast, Jacksonville had been in London for 10 days, having beaten Atlanta at Wembley the week before. I guess the success of the Jaguars’ extended stay makes back-to-back games in London more likely in the future, but it also raises the question as to whether it will give them a massive advantage. [ST]

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The Steelers top the North. How?

“The AFC North: toughest division in football” is a line often thrown around by commentators. But after five weeks of the season, the toughest thing about it is figuring out if any of the teams are actually any good. There is a solitary game between the four divisional rivals after the opening quarter of the season. The team at the top? The one with a minus 31 point differential: the Pittsburgh Steelers.

In an awful game full of mistakes and miscues from both sides, the Steelers somehow managed to conjure up 14 points in the 4th quarter to beat the Baltimore Ravens 17-10. It started with a safety on a blocked punt. The next drive resulted in a field goal so the Steelers were just two points behind. The final seven minutes of the game were simply bizarre.

The Ravens punted again but this time the Steelers muffed the return, setting up Baltimore at the Steelers 7-yard line. Lamar Jackson inexplicably threw an interception. The Steelers edged towards field goal territory when Kenny Pickett unleashed his best pass of the day, 41 yards to George Pickens, for a touchdown. It surprised everyone in the stadium and it also gave Lamar the ball back with 1:17 to go. He fumbled, and the ball was recovered by TJ Watt. Surely it was game over?

Even then, Pittsburgh seemingly didn’t want the win. They knelt twice, forcing the Ravens to use timeouts, and were going to kneel a third time. But on the play, there was an illegal procedure so it brought up 4th down after running just 13 seconds off the clock and going backwards 6 yards. They kicked an FG but that still left Lamar with one last chance of redemption… until a Watt sack on 4th down ended the game. Somehow, Pittsburgh improved to 3-2.

Surely the Steelers won’t win the division playing like this? They are, however, consistent in that they know the limitations of their offence and play behind a big play defence that has 11 turnovers through five games. The rest of the division needs to sort out their Jekyll and Hyde play because as always, Mike Tomlin will get the Steelers to at least .500 by hook or by crook. [SB]

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Rookies of the Preseason

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With the preseason now over, it’s time to introduce my new format for the rookie articles going forward. Rather than focusing in-depth on just three, I’m going to choose a top seven and post a shorter review, allowing for an easier-to-digest look at the rookies making their mark. So with that, let’s crown the seven rookies of the preseason!

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Aidan O’Connell, Quarterback – Las Vegas Raiders

A solid showing, playing in all three games and finishing with 43 completions on 62 attempts for 482 yards, three touchdowns, and no interceptions. He was rewarded for his outstanding preseason with a spot on the 53 man roster.

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Dorian Thompson-Robinson, Quarterback – Cleveland Browns

An impressive 37 completions on 58 attempts, 440 yards, two touchdowns, and no interceptions. Couple that with 96 yards and a rushing touchdown on five rushing attempts, and you see why DTR has jumped up from fourth on the depth chart to backup QB.

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Emanuel Wilson, Running Back – Green Bay Packers

An undrafted free agent topping the preseason rushing charts? Yep, that’s what happened with Wilson, who finished with 223 yards and two touchdowns on 38 carries. The 24-year-old made his case for a roster spot and got his wish on Tuesday.

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T.J. Bass, Offensive Guard – Dallas Cowboys

Another free agent who had a solid showing in his three games Bass played 130 snaps, allowing 0 pressures and 0 penalties across 80 pass-blocking snaps. That showing took him from buried on the depth chart to on the 53 man roster

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Nick Herbig, Outside Linebacker – Pittsburgh Steelers

Herbig had the NFL’s leading pass rush win rate in the preseason, as well as 3.5 sacks, eight stops, and one forced fumble. With T.J. Watt ahead on the depth chart, he’ll likely be a rotational option, but his speed and versatility will see him have opportunities this season.

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Steven Gilmore, Cornerback – Detroit Lions

You already have enough pressure when you are an undrafted rookie, but when your brother is Stephon Gilmore, you’ll get comparisons too. Luckily, Steven balled out! 131 snaps, two interceptions, four pass breakups, eight tackles, and a passer rating of 37.0 allowed. All stats that helped him get that roster spot

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Blake Grupe, Kicker – New Orleans Saints

Grupe, who has battled for the kicking job against Will Lutz, can hold his head high. One conversion from one attempt on extra points and five from six on field goals, with his only miss being a wide right on a 60-yarder He obviously impressed the Saints enough as Lutz was traded meaning Grupe is the new kicker.

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Most Crucial Matchups As The Saints Take On The Chargers

The Saints have joint practices with the Los Angeles Chargers this week, followed by a preseason game on Sunday. There are likely to be more important things to take from the practices than the game itself. As HC Dennis Allen has already stated he feels the joint practices are where they get their best work during training camp.

So what matchups are to most important to monitor? I’ve got 5 here that I think will tell us a lot regarding the development of some of the players most linked to the Saints success this season.

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Trevor Penning Vs Khalil Mack and Joey Bosa

Trevor Penning has been developing nicely so far this off-season, Hes only missed 1 practice so far after missing all of OTAs and minicamp recovering from the foot injury he sustained at the end of last season, and he saw extended snaps in the preseason opener. Per PFF Penning saw 23 snaps in the opener 11 as a run blocker and 12 as a pass blocker giving up zero pressures on those 12 pass blocking snaps.

He will have a stiffer test on his hands this week though, with Joey Bosa and Khalil Mack. Both rush from both sides of the line so Penning should see a lot of both players. Both are skilled, athletic and powerful rushers who have dominated the NFL in a multitude of ways for a number of years. They will give Penning a real test and it will be a good gauge of where Penning is with his development.

We do need to temper expectations on this. Penning is likely to take his lumps over the coming days against Mack and Bosa and the sign that he is developing is not that he wins every rep but that he holds his own in pass protection and gets some wins, at this stage Penning just needs reps and reps against this level of competition will only work in his favour.

Juwan Johnson Vs Derwin James

Derwin James is the Taysom Hill of defense, in 2022 he took snaps at FS, SS, Slot Cornerback, Outside Cornerback, Linebacker and as a pass rusher. Except he is slightly different to Taysom in that he might be elite at every single one of these spots. He is a matchup player in Brandon Staley’s defense and is used a lot due to his size to match up with athletic TEs.

Cometh Juwan Johnson who is soaring right now towards a pro bowl calibre season. He’s been excellent in camp and his chemistry with Carr looked to be fermenting along nicely, on the first drive vs the Chiefs on Sunday.  For him to continue this momentum and meet these lofty expectations that I and many other Saints fans are setting for him, he needs to be able to win these kinds of matchups. 

At times last season as a relatively unknown player, it felt like Johnson was a player the defense forgot, that will not be the case this season with more tape for teams to watch and the fact that teams (especially the Chargers) know that Derek Carr loves to throw to the TE.  Every opposing defense will be prepared for Johnson to be a focal point of the Saints’ attack and will plan for that accordingly. 

Carl Granderson/ Payton Turner Vs Rashawn Slater

Carl Granderson and Payton Turner have both had really strong training camps and have given media and fans hope that finally, the DE position opposite Cam Jordan will be in good hands. Both were solid in the preseason opener, especially Turner who hit a filthy spin move to clatter poor old Blaine Gabbert on Sunday.

This week though they will be facing a different animal in Rashawn Slater, who was a second-team all-pro as a rookie which is incredibly hard to do as usually O-linemen are not recognised that early in their careers. He missed most of last season with a triceps injury and has been reportedly dominating camp so far. 

If Granderson and Turner manage to have some success against Slater this week then that is an accurate indication that they are for real and that the Saints pass rush will be a force once again. If they are stonewalled it doesn’t necessarily mean that the promising camp has been a lie but it would just mean we need to bring our expectations back down a little.

Mike Thomas Vs Everyone 

This will be the first time we will see Mike Thomas for extended snaps against anyone other than the Saints CBs, specifically Marshon Lattimore.  Yes, Thomas played in the preseason opener but only 12 snaps, of those 12 snaps only 8 were passing plays. So an extended look at Thomas against a solid but not elite secondary like he’s been used to facing in Saints camp.

Thomas has had plenty of time to ramp up and build chemistry with Carr. now so it’s important that we start to see some results. There’s a lot riding on Thomas this year as the depth is quite behind him and doesn’t appear as strong as we suspected it would be. Shaheed’s injury and the other vets not really stepping up does put a bit more pressure on Thomas to be at least part of the player he used to be, if he’s going to be this week would be a great time to show it.

Adebo and Taylor Vs Chargers WRs

Paulson Adebo and Alontae Taylor are still in a close battle for CB2 spot opposite Marshon Lattimore. the next test comes in the shape of a pretty loaded Chargers WR room, led by Keenan Allen and Mike Williams, with 1st round rookie Quentin Johnston and Josh Palmer as explosive 3rd and 4th options. 

Adebo is still out in front currently but Taylor who was the pre-camp favourite has started to claw his way back in the race, some might look at his spotty performance against the Chiefs as a factor in this race but the only part that mattered was Taylor’s play on the outside (he tipped the pass that resulted in the interception whilst playing outside CB) the fact that he played poor in the slot does not factor in this battle.

Another reason it’s a bit week for this battle? quite often joint practices bring out the officials. This will help to decide if Adebo is being too physical and winning reps where in a game he would have been called for a hold.

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

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5 Key Storylines To Watch At Saints Training Camp

Whether you’ve kept yourself plugged in this offseason or you’re just now returning to the NFL media cycle this article has you covered with all the key storylines I’ll be watching (and you should be too) when the full Saints roster finally returns to the field on Wednesday 26th July.

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Is Michael Thomas Finally Healthy?

No, you have not transported back in time, sadly we are still talking about Michael Thomas’ health rather than his pure dominance on the field. At one point early this offseason I didn’t think I would be writing about Michael Thomas in Saints uniform again. With a hefty cap hit and still health in question it looked like Thomas’ time in New Orleans was over but, the arrival of Derek Carr (more on him shortly) and Thomas’ under-reported thirst to still play in the black and gold brought him back on a re-done incentive ladened 1-year contract. 

Meaning here we are again, with the question on the tip of everyone’s tongue is he healthy and back to his dominant best? Well, all signs are positive on that front Thomas unexpectedly was on the field during OTAs giving all Saints fans hope that he is finally back and can put together a full complement of offseason practices for the first time since before the 2020 season. 

Now let’s be measured with our expectations, does he need to be full go on day one? Ideally yes that would be great but we’ve seen what happens when Thomas has been rushed back on the field too soon before, he was lost for the whole 2021 season, so there’s no harm in the Saints bringing Thomas along slowly and if they do there shouldn’t be a huge amount of concern. However, if there isn’t positive progress being made throughout the first week it will feel a little too familiar for Saints fans.

Of course, him being on the field is huge for the Saints with no other true X WR on the roster. His Rapport with Carr already seems strong, according to multiple Saints media outlets he was working off to the side with Carr for a good deal of OTAs but we are yet to see him run full-speed routes against CBs. Therefore the enticing prospect of a three-receiver set of Thomas, Chris Olave and Rashid Shaheed is just that, a prospect, thats why this is the first storyline i will be watching in the first week of camp.

How does Derek Carr look?

The Saints did the right thing in my opinion making the first splash signing of the 2023 season by signing Carr to a 4 year deal, which I think was a really good deal for not only Carr but the Saints as well. He fits the Saints system perfectly as the Saints system shares a lot of DNA with Jon Gruden’s and Carr had some of the best years of his career during Gruden’s tenure as the Raiders HC.

Now we know the theory of the signing was good, now we need to see the results on the field. The early reports were great in OTAs, Carr was showing good command of the offense already making checks at the line of scrimmage to get the offense into more advantageous plays, which is something I’m sure will continue with more time to gel with the playbook, OC Pete Carmichael Jr AKA Sneaky Pete and the weaponry around him. 

It goes without saying how important Carr is to the success of the Saints season so it’s crucial that he gets off to a good start in training camp.

Is The D-Line Back?

Since 2017 we have become used to seeing the Saints dominate upfront, getting pressure regularly only sending four rushers and stifling run defense. Unfortunately, this changed in 2022. With no meaningful push from the d-line outside of Cam Jordan, the Saints relied mainly on their creative use of LBs Kaden Elliss and Demario Davis and other blitzers to get pressure and unusually struggled against the run. The former is no longer on the team and is playing for some team with a disgusting bird logo and the latter is the same as Cam is 34 years old. Meaning the Saints need to see significant improvements from the rest of the line.

The Saints clearly saw the drop in play too and made a concerted effort this offseason to bring in new faces. The Saints added DTs Khalen Saunders and Nathan Shepherd in free agency after losing both David Onyemata and Shy Tuttle to division rivals. Saunders has shown promise as a pass rusher but should fit more as the dominant run stuffer that the Saints have missed since Malcom Brown left a couple of seasons ago. Shepherd is more of an unknown and has looked really good for stretches, especially as a pass rusher but has only been a part-time player for most of his career so far.

These moves were followed up with the additions of DT Bryan Bresee and DE Isiah Foskey with their first two picks in this year’s draft. Add those to DE Carl Granderson who really came on strong to end the 2022 season and is pencilled in as the current starter opposite Jordan. Former 1st round pick Payton Turner who is nose-diving towards bust status but has shown a couple of flashes to keep you hoping. That gives puts this position group high on the list of things to keep an eye on during camp as this unit could easily end up being the Achilles heel that derails the Saints high hopes for the 2023 season.

The Health Of The O-Line

Speaking of Achilles heels, sadly the o-line also falls into this category too. However, unlike the D-line the question mark isn’t talent but health. Starting RG Cesar Ruiz has been present but has not yet participated in any of the Saints offseason programme neither has starting LT Trevor Penning after both suffered late season-ending foot injuries. 

Both are vital to the Saints success up front this season, Ruiz showed great promise last season and was really starting to live up to his first-round pick status. As for Penning he showed signs of dominance as a run blocker last season but work was still required as a pass blocker and without the time already missed this offseason that area of his game is unlikely to have improved so getting on the field and staying there throughout camp and the season is a must. Penning starting at LT would give the Saints such an upgrade in athleticism over last year’s starter James Hurst, which would immensely help the weirdly nonexistent screen game and outside runs.

All of this is without mentioning that Alll-Pro RT Ryan Ramczyk is playing with a degenerative knee condition and Andrus Peat is generally good for missed time. So this unit getting on the field together early and most importantly often to gel with new starting QB Derek Carr is without question something to monitor.

 Will The Saints Finally Just Use Taysom Hill Everywhere?

This maybe more of a personal key storyline but have the Saint finally worked out how to deploy Taysom Hill? And will they build on it to make him even harder to defend? Last season we finally saw them lean into the fact that nobody can stop Taysom running the ball ( at least not consistently). This in fact still wasn’t even done enough in my opinion, The Saints successfully sprinkled in the right amount of Hill passing to keep defenses honest, but now like with anything in the NFL what’s the next step? How does this evolve before finally the rest of the league catches up? That’s what I personally want to know.

Hill is, when used correctly my favourite Saints player to watch a ‘Quarterback’ with his size and speed barreling over linebackers and defenceless DBs will never get old for me. However, it’s time for Hill’s role to finally evolve. In my opinion, he should very rarely come off the field. His threat to run, pass and catch passes is a massive headache for defences to account for, so why make it easy for them by taking him off the field? I personally don’t know, thats a question for Pete Carmichael and the rest of the Saints offensive staff.

All of the offseason talk has been encouraging, Hill and the Saints staff have spoken about wanting his role to evolve especially as a pass catcher which is great but we’ve heard this before, with similar reports about Hill’s move to TE all of last offseason. Now is the time, to make all of the football nerds head’s explode every Sunday on Twitter. Hill should be everywhere, outside, in the slot, at QB and in the backfield. With the latter in my opinion being his most effective alignment, where he would be a threat to run, pass, catch passes and even block (just to add another layer of complexity for opposing defenses to work through). 

So please Saints you have one of, if not the most versatile offensive weapons in the league, if only for me bring out every trick you can think of and give this Taysom Hill fan a season to remember. For that to be possible the Saints have to got to start the work when camp opens on Wednesday, so at the very least I will be keeping a keen and close eye on any report I see on Taysom Hill’s usage and you should too!

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2023 New Orleans Saints 7 Round Mock Draft

The New Orleans Saints are one of the most unpredictable teams when it comes to working out who they will draft. Their thirst for trading up, strict prototypes and penchant for hulking small school DEs (said half in jest) makes it very difficult to pin down where they will go. Add to that, this year is not the same Saints squad we have become used to in the last 5 years, gone is the roster with very few holes and great depth. Now the Saints have an ageing roster with several holes to fill both as starters and key depth pieces.

You could make a case for the Saints to draft almost every position except Center (unless they are moving McCoy to Guard), Tackle (however if they do that shows that Ryan Ramczyk’s Knee is far worse than they are letting on, in which case a Tackle would make sense) and outside Corner, which I believe is the deepest position on the team.

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Using information picked up along the way from the media, looking at information on the draft prospects and keeping in mind the Saints prototypes at different positions this is my best guess and who the Saints will pick in this year’s draft.

Round 1 Pick 29

Players I see being available and being in the Saints cloud at pick 29 in no particular order:

Defensive options:

DE Myles Murphy, DE Lukas Van Ness, DT Bryan Bresee, DT Calijah Kancey, DT Mazi Smith, CB Cam Smith, LB Jack Campbell, LB Drew Sanders.

Offensive Options:

OG Steve Avila, TE Darnell Washington, TE Michael Mayer, WR Quinten Johnson, WR Jaxon Smith-Njigba, RB Jahmyr Gibbs.

Thoughts

There are likely to be several quality options at positions of need available when the Saints pick at 29. All the signs point to the Saints addressing the trenches either on the D-line or the O-line and only if the right options aren’t available when they are on the clock do I see them going elsewhere.

I’ve only included Murphy and Van Ness in the cloud as I see them as trade-up options rather than players who will be available at 29. However, if they start to slide to the late teens/early 20s I could totally see the Saints moving up for either. As I’m not going to be predicting any trades in this mock those players are now out of contention.

That leaves me with 4 options Bresee, Kancey, Smith and Avila. I’ve gone back and forth countless times, I’ve been set on Bresee being to pick here, but then I started to see Smith as a really viable option. Some news has come out over the last week or so that the Saints have been ‘burning the phonelines’ getting info on Kancey and they’ve also been listed as a team who loves Avila.

I struggle to see the Saints breaking their prototype enough for Kancey, the height and weight aren’t really the reasons in my opinion, I think it’s the arm length (30 5/8’’) there is barely anyone at this position in the NFL that have even made an NFL roster, let alone been successful (if you don’t believe me check for yourself). He is exactly the type of player they need ( a penetrating, 3-tech with elite pass-rushing skills) so if they went that way I could see the reasons why but I struggle to put him as the pick here.

Smith is a massive DT with freak athleticism which would put him firmly on the Saints radar, however, there is not a huge amount of pass rush production in college, but there is a belief that he can develop that part of his game once he gets with NFL coaches, but I feel like the Saints will want more proven pass rush skills at this point in the draft.

That leaves me with Bresee and Avila, Bresee fits the Saints 3 Tech DT prototype almost perfectly he would just need to add about 5-10 lbs of weight which with his 6ft 5″ frame wouldn’t be a problem. He struggled in his college career with injury (torn ACL)/ illness and a tragic off-the-field situation where his sister died of Cancer at the age of 15. This meant the former number 1 recruit in the country coming out of high school did not live up to that hype in college. However, he has all the moldable tools that the Saints would love at the position and it would fill a massive need on the roster.

Finally Avila, a rock-solid, scheme versatile mammoth at Guard that performed really well at the senior bowl ( which we know the Saints love) very athletic for his size and fits the Saints guard prototype from a physical standpoint. The Saints don’t necessarily have a crying need at OG currently with starting guards Andrus Peat and Cesar Ruiz both on the roster. However Peat is injury prone and a free agent after this season and Ruiz is coming off a season-ending foot injury and currently is also a free agent after this season (unless they pick up his 5th-year option, which seems unlikely due to 14mill price tag).

I’ve toiled over this choice a lot but I’m going with Bryan Bresee here I think the upside at a crying position of need will be too much for the Saints to ignore.

The pick- DT Bryan Bresee

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Round 2 Pick 40

Players I could see being available and in the Saints cloud at pick 40 in no particular order, also depending on who they go at 29.

Defensive options:

DT Calijah Kancey, DT Mazi Smith, DT/DE Adetomiwa Adebawore, DE/DT Keion White, DE Isaiah Foskey, CB Cam Smith, LB Jack Campbell, LB Drew Sanders

Offensive Options:

OG Steve Avila, TE Darnell Washington, TE Michael Mayer, TE Sam LaPorta, TE Tucker Kraft, RB Jahmyr Gibbs, WR Jonathan Mingo, WR Cedric Tillman

Thoughts

The Saints next pick is only 11 picks later, meaning a lot of the players in their cloud in round 1 are likely to still be there at pick 40. The rumours around what the Saints want to achieve early in this draft are varied, some have said they want to target the trenches early and others have said they are prioritising another weapon in the passing game (WR or TE).

Also, this seems like a spot value-wise to add at LB, the Saints need another player there with father time surely catching up with Demario Davis soon, Pete Werner’s injury history and losing Kaden Elliss in free agency, this could be the right time to add another LB with one eye on the future and one eye on the potential depth issues for this current year. If they were to add there Jack Campbell and Drew Sanders make a lot of sense. Campbell is a perfect long-term option to replace Davis, whereas Sanders has high upside as a pass rusher so could fill the Kaden Elliss role this year while he develops into an every-down LB.

As an Alvin Kamara clone Gibbs would make a lot of sense here as some who can start this year while Kamara is likely suspended and then he could replace Kamara in the long term, but I’m just not confident enough that they will spend this high of a pick in class with great depth at RB where you could find + starters in possibly the 4th or 5th round and the Saints signed Jamaal Williams in FA which also gives me pause at this stage.

I’d love the Saints to go DE (my pick would be Isaiah Foskey) early, unfortunately, I don’t think they will. Earlier in the off-season Nick Underhill ( a very trusted source on the Saints) mentioned on his podcast on a couple of occasions that he’s heard the Saints like their DEs and if anything they just want to add depth that makes me believe the Saints won’t go DE early unless someone they love falls unexpectedly.

Now for TE/WR, there could be some really good options here the Saints have been vocal about wanting to add players with contested catch ability and about wanting to add at TE. So players like Washington, Mayer (if still available) Kraft and LaPorta make a tonne of sense as big physical TEs with great pass-catching ability and value as blockers ( Washington, Mayer and Kraft more so than LaPorta in that area). Add to that two prototype X WRs in Tillman and Mingo both who are big and athletic who would provide great short-term and long-term Michael Thomas insurance. Pass catcher is definitely an avenue I could see them going here.

Finally, the elephant in the room, Steve Avila, a player I thought could easily be the pick at 29, if the Saints don’t pick him in the first there is a more reasonable chance that he could still be there only 11 picks later ( or they could even trade up to secure him) if they do like him how its been reported.

I’ve changed this pick several times, for a long time I was going Darnell Washington, then Jack Campbell, then a player like Mingo or Tillman made a lot of sense but finally I’ve settled on known of these players. The Saints love for the trenches is strong and the path for a long-term answer at OG with short-term depth upside made me finally settle on Steve Avila.

The pick- OG Steve Avila

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Round 3 Pick 71

Players I could see being available and in the Saints cloud at pick 71 in no particular order, also depending on who they go at 29 and 40.

Defensive Options

DT Gervon Dexter, DT Zacch Pickens, DE Isaiah McGuire, DE Zach Harrison, Safety/ Slot CB Jartavius Martin, LB DeMarvion Overshown, LB Yasir Abdullah, LB Nick Herbig, CB Cory Trice Jr,

Offensive Options:

WR A.T. Perry, WR Rashee Rice, WR Michael Wilson, TE Tucker Kraft, TE Luke Schoonmaker, TE Brenton Strange, RB Zach Charbonnet, RB Devon Achane, RB Tyjae Spears, RB Roschon Johnson, RB DeWayne McBride, RB Kendre Miller, OG Chandler Zavala, OG Anthony Bradford and OG Braeden Daniels.

Thoughts

I like some of DE options here, especially Zach Harrison (He’s so Saints it hurts with 36 1/4’’ arms) but after addressing the trenches twice already I don’t think the Saints will go D-line here.

Jartavius Martin is still available not only would I love the pick but it’s also a pick I think the Saints would make. He’s met with the Saint during the pre-draft process, and he fits their Slot prototype perfectly from a size and weight perspective perfectly, he’s played a lot at both safeties spots, outside corner and in the slot. Plus, currently, the starting slot CB on the roster is Bradley Roby who is 30 years old (will be 31 on May 1st) and is a free agent after this season. However, I just have a feeling he won’t be there by the time they pick in the third.

Despite nearly taking a LB earlier I don’t think the value would match at this stage of the draft with a fairly thin class at LB I think this is a position they wait on to add now.

Therefore, I think this pick goes on offense either RB or WR/TE and there are some great options here for the Saints to choose from. A.T. Perry and Rashee Rice would make total sense as big, athletic contested catch WRs. TE’s Kraft, Schoonmaker and Strange also make sense as freaky athletic TEs with blocking ability, giving the Saints the perfect compliment to Juwan Johnson, if Kraft were to be available I would pick him in a heartbeat as he’s one of my favourite players in the draft, but I think the Saints would need to trade up from 71 to secure Kraft.

I just have a feeling the Saints want to add an RB early having met with all of the RBs listed above and media reporting the Saints wanted to add an RB in the draft the past two years in the draft, I don’t think the Saints let the opportunity slip this time. Of all of the options I think Charbonnet fits the Saints the best my only worry is he may not be there at 71, Achane is too small for the Saints to take a risk on this early. Nick Underhill of neworleans.football also mentioned earlier in the off-season on one of the Neworleans.football podcasts that he had texted scouts on the thoughts between Miller and Spears as prospects the scouts came back with Miller being the one to go for over Spears due to cleaner medicals, I really like Spears as a prospect and would be a huge fan of the pick but if there are concerns about his medical situation I don’t think the Saints go for him at 71.

I think 71 is too early for McBride given his limitations in the passing game. So that leaves Charbonnet and Miller, I’m going swing that Charbonnet is still there at 71 and the Saints jump at the chance. Charbonnet would give the Saints another powerful runner, is a more proven receiver and blocker than Miller and Charbonnet hardly ever fumbles (only 2 fumbles on 565 career carries) which is another quality the Saints love.

The pick- RB Zach Charbonnet

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Round 4 Pick 115

Let’s fire through the day three selections, frankly, I would be guessing who would be in the Saints cloud at this stage of a very unpredictable draft. So I’m just going to throw a few players in the mix that I think the Saints might like at this stage.

This feels like a prime trade-up spot for one of the WRs if they are still there towards the end of round three same goes for the TEs. The Saints have 5 day three selections which if history is anything to go by is far too many for them to remain patient with. LB could start to make more sense here with players like DeMarvion Overshown, Yasir Abdullah, and Nick Herbig likely to still be on the board but I think some of those will still be there when the Saints pick again in the 5th. Possibly DE as well especially if Zach Harrison or Isaiah McGuire are still available.

I think the Saints go offense again here and take advantage of a very deep TE class, I’m almost 100% sure Kraft will not still be here and if he were I would sprint in the card. That leaves Strange and Schoonmaker both again may not be there but I’m relying on the depth of this historic TE class to push some players down.

I think Strange is more likely to be available at this stage than Schoonmaker, so I’m going Strange here. This pick would give the Saints an ascending TE prospect with + blocking ability and underrated pass-catching skills to play the perfect complimentary role to Juwan Johnson and be the long-term replacement for Adam Trautman.

The Pick- TE Brenton Strange

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Round 5 Pick 146

For me the biggest remaining needs for the Saints if the draft plays out this way DE, LB, WR, Safety and slot CB.

The Fifth round now brings some value at DE, WR and Safety that wasn’t there with some of the earlier selections. Players like DE Tavius Robinson and Ya Ya Diaby jump out as long and super athletic projects at DE that the Saints would usually go for. WRs Andrei Iosivas, Matt Landers, Xavier Hutchinson (the Saints were at his pro-day) and Bryce Ford-Wheaton are all height/weight/speed players they could take a stab at in this range.

I’m going LB here though and one player that jumps out is Nick Herbig, a name I haven’t heard much hype about during the pre-draft process who I think would make a lot of sense for what the Saints need. Herbig strikes a scary resemblance to, don’t shoot me, Zack Baun (not just because they both played at Wisconsin) but because they both showed great abilities to rush the passer. Herbig had 21 sacks and 36 TFLs in three seasons playing as an outside LB in a 3-4 scheme, which would project nicely into the SAM LB spot in the Saints base 4-3 defense and he would be the perfect player for the Saints put into the role they used Kaden Elliss in last season.

The pick- LB Nick Herbig

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Round 5 Pick 165

The pick the Saints got from the infamous Chauncey Gardner-Johnson trade with the Eagles. DE,WR and Safety are the most logical positions left for the Saints to target at this stage. I think DE is a prime post-draft veteran signing for the Saints (I wouldn’t be surprised if one were already in the pipeline similar to the Tyrann Mathieu signing a year ago) thus I think the Saints are going to wait on DE if they are going to draft one.

That leaves me with the WRs I mentioned in the last pick and a safety, Jason Taylor II the Saints have met with Taylor and he looks to fit their mould, having played all across the secondary (with 234 box snaps, 193 in the slot and 433 at FS), fits the size they look for when drafting the position. Jeff Ireland and Dennis Allen love adding to the secondary so adding a versatile Safety to an ageing position group makes a lot of sense here.

The pick- Safety Jason Taylor II

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Round 7 Pick 227

Your guess is as good as mine at this stage or the draft, but one thing is for sure the Saints love adding return specialists late in the draft or as UDFAs ( See Rashid Shaheed and Deonte Harty). Look no further than Kansas State WR Malik Knowles, he averaged 27.7 yards per kick return with 3 touchdowns. He didn’t test during the pre-draft process due to a knee injury but looks to have home run speed and upside as a receiver. This move would also allow Saints weapon Rashid Shaheed to focus more on his WR duties and take him out of harm’s way on punt and kick return duties.

The pick- WR/Returner Malik Knowles

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Round 7 Pick 257

With the Saints last pick I’m going with LSU DE Ali Gaye, a player the Saints have met with during the pre-draft process. At 6ft 6″ 263lbs and around 34″ arms, Gaye is a raw but physically gifted player that the Saints can try and develop. Gaye finished his career at LSU with 7 sacks and 18 TFLs in 27 games (26 starts) for the Tigers.

The pick- DE Ali Gaye

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Summary

Round 1- DT Bryan Bresee

Round 2- OG Steve Avila

Round 3- RB Zach Charbonnet

Round 4- TE Brenton Strange

Round 5- LB Nick Herbig

Round 5- Safety Jason Taylor II

Round 7- WR/Returner Malik Knowles

Round 7- DE Ali Gaye

That was my best effort at trying to work out what the Saints will do in the 2023 NFL draft, I’m sure this will all be wrong halfway through the first night of the draft when the Saints trade up into the teens for a small school DE. Let me know what you think! Also, follow me on Twitter and Instagram @saintsreportuk for more Saints discussion and news.

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There Is Only One Takeaway; The New Orleans Saints Season Is Over

There are plenty of things I could talk about from an analysis perspective from this game, about what went well and what clearly didn’t. How this team could be much better after their bye week as they will be getting more key players back. 

Honestly, none of it matters, the false hope of winning the putrid NFC South is now gone; the only thing left for this team is to try and win as many games as possible so the pick they gave to the Eagles is as far down the draft as possible.

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Overall Thoughts From Saints @ Bucs (and other ramblings)

In many ways, this was one of the Saints best games of the season. For 54 minutes of the game, the Saints looked in control and looked like they would win the game and go into the bye week with real hope of turning their season around.

Until an almighty collapse reminiscent of another NFC South rival. That’s right in a season that didn’t feel like it could get much worse, the Saints did what all us fans mock our division rival for doing, impossibly giving up a massive lead in the fourth quarter and losing a game that should have comfortably been a win. The collapse seemed almost impossible with six minutes to go in the fourth quarter. Until one crucial play, which switched a lot of jaded fans from hope to the realization despair was likely coming.

Mark Ingram had enough room to easily get the first down with six minutes left in the fourth quarter, all he needed to do was put the ball in his other hand and extend the ball past the marker. I would have been first and ten at the Tampa 43, instead Ingram, who had been injured a few minutes prior stepped one yard short of the first down because he re-aggravated the injury from a few minutes prior and couldn’t finish the play. This left third and one which the Saints couldn’t convert, sparking the Bucs comeback.

That play shouldn’t have cost the Saints the game. After the punt, the Bucs needed to go 91 yards to reduce the deficit to six points. As the defense had been dominating Brady and the Bucs again throughout the game to minimal gains, 91 yards should have taken the Bucs so long that a second scoring drive should have been out of the realms of possibility. Have you noticed I’m using the word should a lot here? That’s because the Saints defense crumbled at the worst time possible, aided by a massive DPI penalty on Paulson Adebo the Bucs went 91 yards in ten plays in only two minutes and 21 seconds.

From this point on the loss felt inevitable the Saints despite wanting to be a run-first offense have proven incapable of being able to sustain drives to ice a game and that’s exactly what happened, immediately going three and out, even this drive had a chance for the Saints to pull off a remarkable game-saving play, facing third and 17 Andy Dalton delivered one of the most perfect passes downfield to Taysom Hill you will see, Hill caught it but couldn’t hold on to it after a hard hit, this play perfectly sums up the Saints season, plenty of chances to win but ultimately shooting themselves in the foot.

The Saints punted, giving the Bucs plenty of time to go down the field and win. It feels harsh to blame the defense holding Tom Brady to three points until deep in the third quarter and forcing two turnovers should be more than good enough but this team has no margin for error, especially as the offense struggles to score many touchdowns.

So that surely means the offense was the issue? It was but not how many might expect. Usually, when an offense only scores 16 and can’t close out a game in the fourth quarter it’s the QBs fault, again similar to last week against the 49ers I truly don’t believe that to be the case here. 

This was arguably Andy Dalton’s best game as a Saint, he made some incredible throws in big moments but his receivers couldn’t make the plays. Dalton finished 20 of 28 with three of those incompletions being drops from his receivers, the Hill drop I mentioned earlier. Olave dropped one in the second quarter on third down which would have put the Saints near the Bucs RedZone. Conservatively this took three points off the board possibly more. Jarvis Landry dropped a pass in the RedZone that would have been a touchdown, granted it was a tough catch but it’s a catch a player of his calibre needs to make.

There were plays in this game that if they were made and they should have been and the Saints would have been home and dry. Unfrotunelty this has been the case in several games this year (Vikings, Bengals, 49ers) there’s a clear path despite the mountain of significant injuries this team has dealt with that they could easily be leading the division if everything went their way they would be sitting pretty at 8-5. 

Ultimately they are not and now they are left with many more questions than answers about the team’s future. No first-round pick, no future at QB, no salary cap space to work with, ageing stars, and the most pressingly massive questions at HC and OC.

There’s no question in many Saints fan’s minds that Dennis Allen should not be the HC next season, I’ve not been so quick to jump to that conclusion to justify some of the results and games this season with what I’ve spoken about above. But my hesitancy is long gone, as an HC during his tenure with the Raiders and now the Saints have the second worse winning percentage all time out of the 17 coaches to have coached between 48 and 50 games. At some point, excuses can’t come into it anymore and you need to look at the simple facts that Dennis Allen-led teams don’t win football games,  it’s that simple.

OC Pete Carmichael Jr. should not be far behind Allen, on his way out the door. Carmichael has proven to be a very good offensive game planner, but as a full-time OC without Drew Brees at QB he’s looked out of his depth on gamedays. Showing a lack of imagination through countless second and ten runs or in big moments calling plays to the wrong people. An easy example in this game is on the Saints penultimate offensive drive the Saints had second and ten, Carmichael called a pass play where his only WR on the field was Kirk Merritt, a practice squad WR that was playing his first regular-season NFL game. Where was Jarvis Landry or Chris Olave, where was Rashid Shaheed? The play ended in a seven yards sack.  Carmichael has served the Saints well for many years but his time as OC should not extend past this season.

Thankfully the Saints now go into their bye week, which means Saints fans can have a much-needed detox from this exhausting and infuriating season and the team can try to use the time to work out the future of this season and beyond. 

As for me, all that is left to care about in this season are two things:

Sweeping the Falcons and giving the Eagles as bad of a pick as possible.

Enjoy the bye week Saints fans! We need it.

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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Three Takeaways From A Gruesome New Orleans Saints Shutout Defeat

The Saints had not been shoutout in a game since week 17 of the 2001 season against none other than the San Franciso 49ers. 332 games have passed since then, which was the longest streak in the NFL. Yesterday, that streak ended as the Saints lost 13-0. Again they were buried by self-inflicted wounds. Without them, in true Saints fashion, the result of this game is totally different.

Three things stood out to me from truly one of the most frustrating Saints games I’ve had the displeasure of watching.

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Andy Dalton Was Not The Problem

As the game progressed, Saints Twitter was lighting up with comments about how enough is enough with Andy Dalton and how Jameis Winston should start going forward. Honestly, I don’t see how Andy Dalton was the problem in this game and how Winston would have done anything different to change the result.

Dalton moved the ball well and did more than enough for the Saints to win this game. The key to victory throughout Dalton’s run as the starter has been the running game, and when that hasn’t worked, he’s crumbled. I don’t think he crumbled yesterday. The offense around him did.

Of course, it’s reasonable when an offense scores zero points that some of the blame has to fall on the QB, and in other games where an offense is shutout, the blame would fall solely on the QB. Dalton did all he could, and there’s a clear path to where his play leads the Saints to multiple touchdowns and possibly a season-changing win.

The Saints moved the ball really well against one of the best defenses in the league. They were inside the 49ers ten-yard line twice and drove to the edge of the RedZone on another occasion. The result of those drives? A missed 48-yard field goal after veteran tackle Ryan Ramczyk’s false start pushed them back. An Alvin Kamara fumble at the one-yard line (the Saints had driven 87 yards in 12 plays)  and a turnover on downs after four pass attempts inside the five.

On the final drive, Dalton threw two balls that hit Juwan Johnson and Taysom Hill in the hands/face, but they couldn’t make the play. Both plays would have resulted in a touchdown. If the two earlier drives had gone differently, it would have been a 10-10 game on the Saints final offensive position, and instead of a turnover on downs, they could have kicked a chip-shot field goal to tie the game at 13. Giving the 49ers the ball back with six minutes left and a chance to win.

Was Dalton perfect? No, he wasn’t. He didn’t see Kamara on at least two plays where he looked to be wide open, where he would have walked in for a TD, but pressure forced Dalton to look to the other side of the field. He also threw Kamara into trouble on a few other plays that could have gotten the star RB hurt. However, is Winston perfect? At this stage, we know he is not, and one of Winston’s fatal flaws in the Saints offense is missed checkdown options to Kamara, so would he have seen him? It’s reasonable to think he wouldn’t have.

I understand the fans who think at this stage, with the Saints sitting 4-8, does it hurt to see what Winston is once and for all in this offense, given he’s the only QB under contract after this year? For what it’s worth, I agree with this argument. What I don’t agree with is those saying that because of this game, Dalton’s performance was so poor that he should be benched for Winston. I just don’t see that from what we saw yesterday.

This Might Have Been The Defense’s Best Game Of The Season

What’s even more frustrating about the Saints inability to score points yesterday was that the defense showed up in a big way. They tackled well and pressured Garoppolo constantly. They held the 49ers to three points on two drives where they were inside the Saints 10-yard line. One of those being a goal line stand turning over the 49ers at the one-yard line. For the most part, they shut down, on paper, an offense that does everything the Saints haven’t been able to defend all year.

The linebacker play was excellent. Kaden Ellis was great again and led the team with 14 tackles. He also forced a holding call rushing the passer. Ellis is starting to really look like the real deal. He wasn’t alone. Zack Baun had probably his best game as a Saint (outside of preseason games). He was involved in multiple positive plays in the run game and showed good ability as a Blitzer with a QB hit, which should have been a sack if not for Jimmy G’s quick trigger.

The secondary was excellent (except for one player more on him in a minute), especially Paulson Adebo, who had two PBUs on the day,(three if you count a play that was called back by penalty) and was sticky in coverage all day. Alontae Taylor should have had his first NFL interception, which again would have changed the game in the Saints favor if not for said player, and the safeties looked solid and did what they needed to do to limit a challenging 49ers offense.

Enough positivity. I’ve mentioned a player twice above who frankly cost the Saints dearly in this game and who should not have been in the game. Veteran CB Chris Harris. Harris has filled in admirably whilst the Saints dealt with a huge number of injuries at CB in recent weeks, considering he is one of the oldest starting DBs in the league. 

Yesterday there was no reason for him to be on the field. On the 49ers TD drive, he committed a ridiculous personal foul penalty for a late hit out of bounds, which was completely unnecessary, and gifted the 49ers first and goal at five. Frankly, he should not have been in the game after that, but of course, Dennis Allen left him in because he left him in. He then committed the illegal contact penalty that cost the Saints the turnover they desperately needed when Alontae Taylor picked off Jimmy G and returned it to the 49ers eight-yard line. 

With the Saints expected to get Marshon Lattimore back this week and Roby returning in this game, Harris should not be on the field anymore, and if he does, it is coaching malpractice.

What Is A Catch In The NFL?

The Saints took over on the 49ers 38, down three, with a real chance to change the game’s momentum. Taysom Hill threw a dart to Chris Olave for 30 yards, setting them up with first and goal at the 49ers eight-yard line. Or so we thought. Olave caught the ball, took two steps, hit the ground, and the ball came out.

The 49ers challenged much to Twitter’s confusion. Nobody that I saw could understand why Olave clearly secured the ball, completed a football move ( two steps after securing possession), and then his knee hit the ground, he still had possession, and then the ball came out. The ground can’t cause a fumble; therefore, this was a pointless challenge, and the Saints should have had first and goal. Wrong for some reason, none that are clear to me or anyone else ( apart from FOX NFL rules analyst Dean Blandino). The refs overturned the call to an incomplete pass.

The drive ended in a punt. This was another point of frustration in this game. The Saints likely score at least three points here, changing the whole complexion of those late-game drives. Maybe they even score a TD, which would have really given the Saints the momentum. Maybe the Saints completely balls it up and don’t score at all, but we should be able to speak in definitives because we should have been able to see how it played out because there’s no way it should have been ruled how it was.

This isn’t news to anyone, but the NFL has a huge officiating issue that needs to be addressed because I’m getting sick of it, and fans will start to switch off the way this is going.

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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Key Matchups For The New Orleans Saints Vs. The Goliath 49ers

A matchup that has previously brought some incredibly close offensive shootouts. Now looks like a real David vs. Goliath situation for the Saints to overcome. For them to do so, they need to find a way not to get dominated in these three matchups.

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Saints Tackles Vs Nick Bosa

The Saints should be back to full strength on the o-line minus starting center Erik McCoy who is still on IR. After starting a completely makeshift left side of the line against the Rams.  With the makeshift line, the Saints proved they could scheme a great game plan to stop one of the league’s best, Aaron Donald.

They need to do the same this week against a ferocious 49ers pass rush, led again but one of the best in the league Nick Bosa. Bosa has rushed the passer 279 times which ranks as only the 46th most in the league, but he is still ranked tied for third in the league with 50 QB pressures per PFF. for perspective, his 50 QB pressures is more than the Saints leading pass rushers combined, Cam Jordan (24) and Marcus Davenport (23).

Those stats should illustrate Bosa’s sheer dominance against the pass, and he can be just a disruptive against the run, which does not bode well for the Saints offense. The game plan and execution of the offense is going to need to be perfect this week for the Saints to have the success required to win this game.

Saints Defense Vs YAC

Anyone who’s been watching the Saints defense this year knows that one of the biggest problems with this unit is missed tackles. The Saints defense, per PFF, has missed a massive 99 tackles so far this season. For comparison, the Saints defense a year ago missed 133 tackles. Extrapolate the 99 missed tackles so far over 17 games would equal  153 missed tackles on the year. 

I highlight these missed tackles so significantly because if they can’t tackle well in this game, the 49ers’ offense will punish that more than other teams might. San Fran’s strength in the passing game is yards after the catch (YAC). See the YAC stats for the 49ers top five reception leaders.

  • Brandon Aiyuk; 46 receptions, averaging 5.3 YAC per reception. 
  • Deebo Samuel; 40 receptions, averaging 8.9 YAC per reception (wow).
  • George Kittle; 33 receptions, averaging 6.8 YAC per reception.
  • Christian McCaffrey; 21 receptions, averaging 8.7 YAC per reception.
  • Jauan Jennings; 18 receptions, averaging 6.3 YAC per reception.

It’s not unusual for stud pass-catching backs to have high YAC numbers, but for players like Deebo and Kittle to be averaging what they are is flat-out scary for this Saints defense.  For context of how good these numbers are. Here are the Saints three leaders in receptions outside of RBs. (Chris Olave,  Juwan Johnson, and Jarvis Landry) YAC per reception. 

  • Chris Olave; 51 receptions, averaging 2.7 YAC per reception.
  • Juwan Johnson; 31 receptions, averaging 3.6 YAC per reception.
  • Jarvis Landry; 21 receptions, averaging 2.3 YAC per reception.

The 49ers offense is built around this ability and is part of the reason they acquire certain players to fit this kind of passing offense. Deebo Samuel alone nearly gets an extra first down’s worth of yardage per catch.

The Saints improved slightly last week but still missed far too many tackles, and if that continues this week, then it’s likely to be a long day for the Saints.

Taysom Hill Vs The 49ers Stingy Defense 

The 49ers have the best defense in the league; if they aren’t first, it’s pretty close. They have allowed the fewest rushing yards and allowed the lowest yards per carry in the league. They rank seventh in the league in passing yards allowed.

I already detailed Nick Bosa’s dominance earlier. Unfortunately for the Saints he’s not alone. The 49ers boast one of the best pass rushes in the league, have two excellent linebackers ( Warner and Greenlaw), and a stellar secondary led by standout CB Charvarius Ward who’s played at a pro-bowl level, so far this year and second-year breakout safety Talanoa Hufanga.

The 49ers have all the tools to make it very difficult for the Saints to use the ‘Taysom Hill’ package effectively. For the Saints to have a chance to win this game, that package needs to be effective, and Taysom needs to be on the field making plays.

I discussed the link between Hill’s success and the Saints in my recap of the Saints win Vs. the Rams. 

https://www.full10yards.co.uk/four-takeaways-from-a-much-needed-new-orleans-saints-victory-vs-the-rams/.

So I won’t rehash that here, but in essence, the Saints are 3-1 in games where Hill has had 10+ snaps at QB and 3-0 when he’s had nine or more rushing attempts in the game. So Hill’s success/usage this season is directly linked to how the Saints perform.

Therefore, the Saints have to make sure not to abandon plays with Taysom if they fall behind like we’ve seen plenty of times this season, and make sure to have a varied and creative gameplan in place to keep the defense from loading the box as soon as Taysom is in at QB because that will not result in success for the Saints against a defense as talented as the 49ers.

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.