We're back again, and here I am wondering why I thought it was a good idea to write a stock up, stock down column every week.
At this point in the season we already know all the bad stuff. The 25-10 loss to the Raiders was a case study in all the things that went wrong. There aren't many good things to highlight. What else is new?
Still, we're gonna do it. So with all that in mind, here are my stock up and stock down players from a brutally frustrating afternoon at the Superdome.
Stock down
1. Run defense
The book is out on the Saints, and it has been for a while now. The Saints can't stop the run, and it doesn't seem to matter who's toting the rock.
In this game it was Ameer Abdullah, yes, that Ameer Abdullah. It's not a lookalike, it's the same player drafted by the Lions in the second round of 2015.
10 years in the NFL, 140 games. That's a lot of opportunities. It wasn't until he ran into the Saints this week that he ever -- let me emphasize this ... EVER -- ran for 100 yards in a game. He did it easily this time around. 115 yards on 20 carries (5.8 YPC), and he missed a touchdown by a matter of inches. He also caught four passes for 32 yards.
Related
For the second week in a row the Saints allowed an opponent to run 17 plays on a single drive. For the second consecutive week the Saints allowed an opponent to drive more than 95 yards for a touchdown.
For a long time the Saints run defense was where they set the tone. It wasn't that long ago that the Saints went 3 full years without allowing a single 100-yard rusher. This season alone they've seen it happen six times.
Saints defenders have been expressing frustration all year, and it's boiling over these days.
“If all we care about at the beginning of the year is sacks, pressures and you see the yards per carry go up, we’re getting away from what made us good the last 5 or 6 years," said Cam Jordan after the loss. "You get back to it and see success and then, you know, we start missing tackles. … It’s always been about us, so I don’t really care about what the world thinks.”
What the world thinks is that they can run the ball on the Saints, and more often than not, they're correct.
2. Mistake, mistake, mistake
Drops, penalties, turnovers, missed opportunities. You name it, it happened to the Saints in this game, and it happened.
Rather than write any more, I'll just list the penalties (and what they negated).
1. Carl Granderson: Q1, 3rd & 2, offsides, -5, automatic first down
2. Oli Udoh: Q1, 4th & 6, false start, -5 (lined up to go, punt instead)
3. Foster Moreau: Q2, 1st & 10, holding, -10 (negates 3 yard Kendre Miller run)
4. Cedrick Wilson Jr.: Q2, illegal shift, -5 (negates 7 yard Jamaal Williams run)
5. Taliese Fuaga: Q2, holding, -10 (negates 39 yard pass to Juwan Johnson)
6. Q2, 1st & 10, Illegal formation, -5
7. Oli Udoh: Q4, 2nd & 6, holding, -10 (negates 16 yard pass to Cedrick Wilson)
8. 4th & 16: Q4, delay of game
9. Juwan Johnson: Q4, 3rd & 2, OPI, -10 (negates 16 yard pass to Johnson)
10. Trevor Penning: Q4, 3rd & 12, unnecessary roughness, -15
If you combine the penalty yardage and the yards negated, those 10 penalties cost the Saints 166 yards and a potential 4th down opportunity. There are NFL teams who can overcome those types of mistakes, this team isn't one of them.
3. The status quo
l wrote about this last week so I don't need to hammer it too hard, but what these last few weeks were going to show is just how deep the cuts and changes need to go.
A loss to the Packers, as ugly as it was, you could at least explain away as an injured and overmatched squad starting a rookie QB that got taken to task by a playoff team in as inhospitable environment as you'll find in the NFL. This week wasn't that.
A 3-win Raiders squad who got to its hotel past midnight the night before walked into the Superdome and, let's face it, dominated. The 15-point margin doesn't necessarily reflect a blowout, but there was a point in this game that the Saints started calling timeout in the 4th quarter to get the ball back and I was legitimately surprised. It was a two-score game, and you don't just give up on a two-score game, but getting into the end zone twice felt impossible at that point.
The feeling is all I have, and it wasn't good. If this Saints squad could've bounced back and won their final two games, I'd have at least heard out the argument. This group looked defeated from the opening kickoff.
It's time for a fresh start, long past time.
Stock up
1. Rattler's best day
I've waffled a bit on Spencer Rattler the last few weeks, and his performance in Week 17 won't send any shockwaves across the NFL. That said, I thought there was a good bit to like.
It primarily occurred in the first half, which I thought was Rattler's best as a starter by far. At one point he completed 11 consecutive passes and looked calm and in control. He led the offense down the field with a touchdown on a trick play that involved a double pass from Kendre Miller, and he laid it out perfectly for Foster Moreau. He led another 2-minute drive for a field goal before halftime to make it 13-10 at the break.
If we could've just frozen time there, we'd all be talking about the quarterback of the future and what could be in store down the road for a talented young QB. Unfortunately we can't, and the second half was another frustrating 30 minutes of football littered with ugly pass protection, penalties, drops and turnovers. Frustrating to say the least.
Still, I can't be mad about the young QB. I've been very critical over his first four starts, because even with the circumstances and injuries I felt like frazzled QB play was as big a culprit as any for the lack of offense and general competitiveness in losses to the Bucs, Broncos, Chargers and Packers. There have been a lot of excuses made, many of them valid, for why we shouldn't be overly harsh on the kid's performance. I still was. He had to be better.
Perhaps it was a step down in competition, but today's game didn't show that way for me. I saw a young QB who looked a lot more comfortable and got the ball out of his hands. He made plays with his legs and was the team's leading rusher for a second consecutive week. I could see him getting frustrated as the game wore on and he forced things a bit too much in the second half. The snowball started rolling and he couldn't stop it. Still, if just three plays went differently I think we'd be having a different conversation:
- Q2, 3rd & 10 (5:28): Rattler rolls out and completes a pass to Juwan Johnson 39 yards to 1 ... negated by hold (Foster Moreau) ... 3rd and 10, followed by a punt
- Q4, 2nd & 6 (11:45): Rattler escapes pressure and completes a pass 16 yards to Cedrick Wilson to LV 34 ... negated by hold (Oli Udoh) ... 2nd & 16, next play interception
- Q4, 3rd & 2 (1:12): Rattler rifles a pass up the seam 16 yards to Juwan Johnson to LV 4 ... negated by OPI (Johnson) ... 3rd & 12, next play interception
When you start a rookie QB, you have to play well around him. If the Saints played clean on those three plays alone you can likely chalk up 13 points, if not more, and this is a different game. That doesn't factor in the drops or balls that got punched out in critical situations. It also doesn't factor in a few of the rough moments that he got away with, such as when he completely missed a sinking linebacker and threw it directly into his arms.
In the end the line was 20 of 36 for 218 yards, a touchdown and two interceptions. He was sacked four times and ran for 46 yards, 28 of which came on the first play of the game.
The word I used is solid, and I'm sticking with it. If the offense played clean around him, I think Rattler was good enough on this day to win a game. They didn't and we'll never find out. Still, in such a rough season I'll take the positives where I can get them. I don't think it's a performance that really moves the needle all that much in terms of the draft and whether you pull the trigger on a QB if one you love is on the board when the Saints go on the clock, but I still think we need to give the kid the context he deserves after what was one of his better days as a pro.
2. Clyde has some juice
I don't have a lot of positive things to say about this Saints game in general, but I did think the new guy had some juice.
I say the new guy, but Clyde Edwards-Helaire is anything but an unknown to Louisiana or even the Superdome, where he won a national championship with LSU in early 2020.
I don't think Clyde really knows the offense yet. How could he, having arrived less than 2 weeks ago. His package of plays was limited, and he was probably asked to do more than the team initially wanted after Kendre Miller went out of the game. But when you consider that the guy hadn't appeared in a game this season and was walking in with a group brutalized by injuries, I thought the return was positive. He even broke out one of those nifty spin moves I remember so well from his days starring up the road in Baton Rouge.
We'll have to see if Kendre can clear the concussion protocol ahead of Week 18 and/or if Alvin Kamara can get on the field, but Clyde looks like a guy who could potentially be in the mix going into next season. I mean, why the heck not?
3. Cam's impact
To be clear, this isn't even really about the game -- although Cam Jordan was the only Saints player to get Aidan O'Connell to the ground in the game.
No, I'm talking about his impact on the Saints and the city of New Orleans. Most Saints fans had already left the building by the time the clock mercifully struck zero in another day of frustration, but seemingly every Who Dat was who left got down to the edge of the stands to show love to the 14-year vet who, if nothing else, faces an uncertain future.
Cam took the time, because he always find the time, to go around and sign as many autographs as humanly possible. He loves the fans, and the fans love him, as they should. He's singular in Saints history from a defensive perspective and a personal perspective.
The Saints' all-time leader in sacks wants to play a 15th season. When you ask him why, he'll say look at the tape, because it tells the story, even in a frustrating season. He'd love for that 15th season to come in New Orleans, and he really doesn't want to play anywhere else.
We'll have to wait and see what happens on that front. There are a lot of unknowns up and down this Saints roster. What we don't have to wonder about is the impact Cam has had on this team and fanbase, because it's as clear as his love for the city.