The New Orleans Saints turned an unwatchable first half into a nailbiter, but they came just a few plays shy (a few different times).
In the end there were familiar struggles and a 21-17 loss to the Dolphins in Week 13.
With all that in mind, here's my stock up and stock down for the uneven Week 13 loss to the Dolphins, and since I'm tired of focusing on the negatives...
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STOCK UP
Big play Vele
OK, so the term "big play" requires a bit of interpretation. His longest grab of the day went for 15 yards, but situationally there was a lot more. It seemed like every time the Saints needed a catch on a hard down in the second half, it was Tyler Shough looking Vele's way and Vele delivered.
The final line was 8 catches for 93 yards and a touchdown, but more impressively was that it came on just 8 targets. When the ball was sent his way, he caught it, every time. That included a diving catch on the sideline that set up the Saints first touchdown of the day (and might've benefitted from a generous call stands). It included a few off-target balls that Vele hauled in using his wide frame and catch radius. It included a clutch touchdown from Shough on the run that, at least for the moment, looked like it set up the Saints to complete a wild comeback.
“He has a great feel with his routes. I think he does a really good job. I mean, he’s catching everything," Shough said. "Some of the ball placements I would like to have it be better and he’s making some really big-time catches. So I was really proud of him and I think there’s stuff to kind of continue to grow off all those guys.”
It was the first time this season that we've seen Vele be a focal point of the passing attack and it didn't disappoint. It also showed a vision for why the Saints were so aggressive in going to get Vele by trade late in the offseason.
I'll also say ... I like the way the man operates. He's older and more mature than a typical second-year WR, but what truly stood out to me from his comments post-game was what he said when asked to assess his career day.
“I feel like there was a lot of ups and downs," He said. "Early on i gave up a strip sack, obviously that killed the momentum of the offense but, you know, we fought our way back. Give credit to a lot of the guys, fighting through.”
After the best game of his young career, he was the first to bring up a critical mistake (and it was a mistake) earlier in the game. A lot of folks will talk about how that accountability mindset is important. That's the type of player you want to build your program with.
Oh, and he recovered the onside kick, too, because ... why not?
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Charlie Boy
There was a point in this game where I was wondering if Charlie Smyth's family made the last-second trip from Ireland -- a 23-hour journey due to a delay in Chicago -- for nothing. Smyth's parents and two sisters arrived in Miami just after 1 a.m. and sat through three quarters of football while only seeing their son kick off to start the game and again after a score in the third quarter.
The Saints ended up down 16, so there would be no PATs. It was wait, wait, wait ... until he was needed in a critical spot. Perhaps there was no more fitting way to greet the cannon-legged kicker than with a 56-yard attempt. A casual onlooker might not have even realized how monumental a moment it was, considering how calmly and easily he split the uprights with a kick that might've been good from 66.
But the Saints certainly appreciated the moment for Smyth, who beat out Cade York in a kicking competition this week to succeed Blake Grupe, who was cut earlier in the week. The kick brought the Saints back within one score and gave the team hope. It also wasn't lost on the assembled onlookers in pubs throughout Ireland, including Smyth's hometown of Mayobridge, where free pints were promised for every time he scored in the game.
The kick was so pure that Smyth started celebrating when it was only about halfway to the uprights. It was the Saints' longest field goal make this season.
“I blacked out. I can’t remember," Smyth said, laughing. "I think I looked up and saw it was going down the middle. I knew it had enough power on it anyway, just the way it felt off the foot.”
The shame was that a failed 2-point conversion that was returned for 2 points for the Dolphins robbed what could've been a game-winning attempt in the closing seconds. That became apparent after Smyth's helicopter onside kick was recovered by Devaughn Vele -- a fitting thing to happen during the Saints' first game inside Hard Rock Stadium since the Super Bowl in 2010.
"It was ice cold, man, ice cold in his veins," Shough said. "I think that’s tough, whenever you're sitting around the whole game and you’re not, you’re kind of trying to stay warm. I think he did a really good job just coming in. I think the team saw that, just his neutrality, even in the kicking competition throughout the whole week, he came in there and made a really tough kick because we’ve got to be able to convert on that and we knew we had to get points, so I was just really proud of him stepping up there.”
There will be a lot more to prove for Smyth down the line. We already knew about the cannon leg. The biggest question will be consistency, particularly inside of 50 yards where we've seen him struggle throughout camp. At some point he'll even be asked to kick a PAT, that is if the Saints can get the ball in the end zone.
But, if nothing else, the big kick likely ensures Smyth will hold onto the job for the time being. Let's see what he can do with it.
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Kool-Aid stops
It was an up-and-down day for the defense on the whole, but this was your typical bend-but-don't-break game. The Saints surrendered yards, but outside of a touchdown on the opening possession it was all field goals and a 2-point runback.
The Saints held for field goals on four possessions that the Dolphins drove inside the New Orleans 30, twice doing so in the red zone where Miami had been among the league's most efficient teams to this stage in the season. Coverage was a big part of that. So were critical stops.
Kool-Aid was responsible for two of those, including a momentum-swinging interception immediately following that sack fumble Vele was referring to above. Tua threw the ball up for grabs, as he is wont to do, and Kool-Aid played it perfectly to get the ball back to his offense. They didn't do anything with it, but hey, that's not Kool-Aid's fault.
Later in the game it was the Saints needing a stop on 4th and 1 and it was Kool-Aid looping around a block to take down Ollie Gordon for a loss that set up the Saints' late touchdown drive.
The Saints need impact plays from their secondary and it was good to see Kool-Aid providing them.
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Honorable mention
I get on Kai Kroeger a lot, and if I didn't want to devote an entire category to Mr. Smyth I'd probably have the punter here. The dude punted six times with an average of 48.8. Here's how those kicks went in terms of net yards: 47, 40, 38, 46, 54, 43. The 38-yarder pinned Miami at their 11, and the 54-yarder was downed at the 4. Strong day. ... Cam Jordan had two sacks today. That makes it four sacks in his past three games. It also brings his total on the year to 6.5. With the escalators in his contract, the two sacks meant Cam effectively made $600K in the first quarter. He's got more escalators in his contract up to 9. The word ageless comes to mind. ... Devin Neal was bottled up early on but started to assert himself in the third quarter for the second consecutive week, and the offense followed suit. He finished the game with 47 yards on 14 carries and another 22 yards on 3 catches. ... Juwan Johnson has now set career highs in targets (75), catches (54) and yards (576) on the season. He's got five more games to really jog out those numbers. ... Danny Stutsman had one of the more impressive tackles you'll ever see. It feels like only a matter of time before he gets a full run on this defense. ... I wasn't a huge fan of how Tyler Shough started this game, but I did like how he finished it. What you can say about him is he stays composed even in difficult situations. There aren't the type of drastic highs and lows you'll see with rookies. He works through problems, keeps his feet under him and plays from the pocket when he can -- extends when he has to. He had some really nice moments in the second half of this game to give the team a chance. Looked like a leader out there. Final line was 26-38 for 239 yards, 2 TDs and an INT. ... Dillon Radunz gets credit for a 4-point play in this game when he chased down Rasul Douglas after the second quarter INT. The Dolphins settled for a field goal, but that really should've been a pick-six. Pretty sure Douglas is getting fined for that.
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STOCK DOWN
Fixing the slow starts
The Saints have the worst first quarter offense in the NFL, and it's not particularly close. They've been outscored 92-19 in the opening frame this season. Their 1.6 points per game in the first quarter ranks 32nd in the NFL, nearly a full point behind Washington (2.3).
The Saints were shut out in the first quarter today, and that's been the case in five of their past six games. Two of the games the Saints did score in the first quarter this season? Giants and Panthers, which happen to be the two wins.
But this game was about more than just points, it was sheer futility. The Saints went 3 and out on their first three possessions, and it would've been their first five if not for a four-play drive that ended in a sack fumble. The Saints ran 16 total plays over their first five possessions before an 11-play drive that ended in an interception prior to halftime.
I felt like at times today this was about Shough not trusting his eyes. There were a few throwaways that felt like they could've been aggressive reads, and at least one sack where I fully expect to be yelling "pull the trigger" when I watch it back on tape.
What's frustrating is the Saints know this is their biggest problem and they've been unable to fix it through three months of an NFL games. They even went through a stretch where they were taking the ball first in hopes of manufacturing faster starts (that didn't work).
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OL execution
I'll start by saying that I think Taliese Fuaga is still battling a tender ankle, and that's been the story of this season for him. It's always something or the other. But man, the OL performances have been frustrating the past several weeks.
The Saints can't get push in the run game and it crops up at the most frustrating moments. Short yardage at times feels impossible. When the Saints have moved the ball the past two weeks it's been by stubbornly sticking with the run, which can be difficult to do when it's simply not working.
But this game also featured some frustrating mistakes that seemed to crop up at the most critical times. Dillon Radunz had a false start in the red zone that Shough and Chris Olave made up for with a nifty, off-schedule touchdown on the next play. Still, a 1st and 15 in the red zone for the least efficient red zone team in the NFL isn't what you want.
On the next drive it was a Kelvin Banks false start that put the Saints in a 2nd and 15. Next play sack and 3rd and 17. Drive torpedoed.
On the gotta-have-it touchdown drive it was Taliese Fuaga getting called for a hold that the offense overcame. Then it was Fuaga again on a false start ahead of a 2-point try, forcing the Saints to run the play from the 7. That five yards changes things significantly for an offense, and not only was the play unsuccessful, but Minkah Fitzpatrick intercepted the pass intended for Vele and took it all the way back for what proved to be a critical 2 points the other way.
In the end, this is not a good enough offense to make up for repeated errors up front. That group has to execute better.
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Effort tackles?
It's tough to get on the defense too much in this game, but it certainly felt like at points in the first half there was something to be desired. The most obvious case came for Alontae Taylor on the opening possession who made ... let's call it a less-than-spirited attempt to stop De'Von Achane on his 29-yard touchdown run on the game's opening possession.
But he wasn't alone. There were several missed tackles and mistakes on the edges of the field that gave a scuffling Dolphins offense easy yards. Achane went for 134 yards on the day and averaged 6.1 yards per attempt, though he was largely bottled up in the second half.
What I found most frustrating were the two drives that the Saints defense was set up in perfect position (Dolphins at their 11 and their 4), and they were unable to take advantage. The former went for 68 yards and a field goal, the latter a 39-yard drive that ended in a punt, but the Dolphins were able to flip the field.
Again, it's tough to pile on the defense too much when the offense basically did nothing the entire first half. But you never want to come out of a game questioning effort and there were definitely some tough examples you'll spot on tape.
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A few more
Chris Olave gutted through back issues this week and made some big plays, but I still came away frustrated. He and Shough had a miscommunication on an interception prior to halftime that took points off the board. He also had a potential go-ahead touchdown go right through his hands on the Saints' final drive. WR1s have to be difference-makers in the critical moments. Olave had a chance today and he didn't deliver. ... Not prioritizing a first down earlier on that final set of downs was a mistake and the Saints paid for it. You don't have to wait until 4th and 1 to try to pick up the hard yard. The Saints did and it cost them. Chalk up another entry on the WTF Kellen list, IMO. ... It seems like the Saints overcorrected with the Taysom Hill offense this week. For some reason it seems to be all or nothing with him. I'm not sure I understand it.