The New Orleans Saints shipped up to Buffalo this week with a lot to prove after a blowout loss in Week 3. They proved a lot, but not enough to win in a 31-19 loss to the heavily favored Bills.
It was a game that featured impressive rushing attacks from both sides, with the Saints leaning on their run game in way we hadn't seen yet this season. It was the first time all year they finished a game with more rushing attempts (34) than passing attempts (28).
But it was Josh Allen and the Bills who got the last laugh. The Bills are 4-0 and the Saints are 0-4 as they head back to New Orleans for two (dare I say winnable?) home games.
With all that in mind, here's what stood out and who fell flat in the Week 4 loss. I typically start with the bad after losses, but I'm feeling more optimistic today. So let's kick things off with...
STOCK UP
The run game
I was a broken record going into this game: The Bills were statistically the worst run defense in the NFL, and the Saints gameplan simply had to be attacking that at every opportunity. It was the only way they would have a chance to win this game, and I’d argue it’s the primary reason they had as good a chance to spring the upset as they did.
The final numbers were mighty impressive:
- Alvin Kamara: 15 for 75 (4.7 ypc)
- Kendre Miller: 11 for 65 (5.9 ypc), TD
- Spencer Rattler: 6 for 49 (8.2 ypc)
- Rashid Shaheed: 2 for 5 (2.5 ypc)
“I think whenever you’ve got a solid run game, when you’re hitting for 5-6 a pop, you’ve got some splashes in there … it’s easier to kind of settle down and get to what you want to offensively,” Kamara said.
It’s true. The Saints created opportunities they could attack early and often and it’s something to build confidence from. That’s true for not only the RB room, but also the offensive line. The Saints got their five starters on the field for the first time all season, though that only lasted until late in the second quarter when Cesar Ruiz went out with an ankle injury and was replaced by UDFA Torricelli Simpkins III. Still, the debut of Trevor Penning at LG was impressive and that group asserted its will in a very positive way.
"I feel like that’s something we can build off of,” Simpkins told me. "We came in the game wanting to show our physicality and I felt like that’s what we were doing this game. We made sure we dominated the line of scrimmage, trying to move them off the ball, move those guys off the ball and that's just a mental thing, something you’ve got to have the mentality to do.”
Not all teams are as susceptible as the Bills in that area, but I think if the Saints can continue to be effective and efficient on the ground, the wins will follow.
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Young DBs
I’ll have to go back and watch the all-22 to get the full story of exactly how rookies Jonas Sanker and Quincy Riley played, but they certainly passed the eye test in this game.
Sanker got his third start and he’s really settling in well. He’s got much better range in coverage than I thought he did after watching him in camp, and we already knew he could get downhill and lay the wood. His interception of Josh Allen in the first half was a classic centerfielder type play, and if you know anything about playing centerfield, the play is almost almost made in the first step. A quick reaction without false steps can turn what looked like an open window into a critical takeaway. That's what happened in this game for what was Josh Allen’s first interception of the season, and also the Bills first giveaway on the year. Impressive stuff. He finished the game with five tackles and three passes defended. Sanker's got a lot of development ahead, but I think the Saints have found a player there.
Then there’s Riley, who is a bit of an enigma in terms of how the Saints are incoporating him. In this game he first got on the field in place of Kool-Aid McKinstry midway through the second quarter, who struggled to start the game. When the Saints defense returned for the next possession it was Riley and McKinstry as the outside corners, with Isaac Yiadom on the bench. Kellen Moore told me after the game that it was the same type of rotation they’ve been incorporating with Riley, but it sure looked to me like a change. We’ll have to wait until next week, but I think he’s going to move up to the starting line. He’s sticky in coverage and plays the ball well. He won’t be perfect, but the Bills passing windows seemed to get a lot smaller once he took over.
One way or another it should be clear to everyone watching what this season is for the Saints, and it’s one that has to build to something in the future. Losses piling up is frustrating enough, but if that’s happening, you have to at least figure out what you’ve got in young players. To this point it would seem that the Saints agree.
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The procedure
A lot has been made of the Saints’ penalty issues, and for good reason. They came into this game with 31 accepted penalties against, which was tied for the most in the NFL. They’ve had refs at their practices for the last three weeks and it sure looked to pay off in this game.
The Saints finished the day with four penalties. Three were on special teams, while the other was intentional grounding. There were no procedural penalties and that was an important element in keeping the Saints in this game. That wasn’t for a lack of noise, either. The crowd at Highmark Stadium was fired up for one of their rare 1 p.m. starts and they made themselves heard, impacting at least a few plays.
“I think the guys are really just tired of having those things, so that’s personal for everybody. ... That’s something we know you can’t play football and be offsides and have the stupid penalties, so guys did a good job today,” Kamara said. "I’ll just give kudos to everyone, just knowing that we can’t play football if we can’t stay onsides with the procedure stuff.”
Interestingly it was the Bills who came in as the least penalized team in the NFL but finished with 11 flags for 55 yards.
Being consistently on point in that part of the game will go a long way to finally finishing off one of these close games.
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Honorable mention
I was all set to have Blake Grupe as one of my full stock up players, then he goes and kicks a ball short of the landing zone in a critical moment to spoil what otherwise had been a perfect day for him. Giving the Bills the ball at the 40 in a 21-19 game didn’t lose it for the Saints, but it sure made life easier on the Bills. Still, Blake made both of his kicks and both PATs, including one from 50-plus. This team needs Grupe to be rock-steady on his kicks and this is a game to build off, even with the annoying kickoff flub (which is his second of the season after not doing it once last year). … Not a perfect day for Kai Kroeger, but he did have a perfect punt that checked up at the 3 and another that should’ve been fielded inside the 5. After a special teams catastrophe in Seattle it was good to see that unit have some positivity. … The Saints didn’t generate as much pressure as I’d like, but that’s the case every week. But we did see Cam Jordan and Carl Granderson make impact plays and the Saints had 3 sacks on the day, Chris Rumph impacted a Josh Allen pass that should’ve been picked off and the big boys also picked up a key 4th down stop that gave the Saints a prime chance to potentially take the lead. At some point you expect Chase Young to add teeth to the pass rush, but it’s good to see those guys make an impact in the process.
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STOCK DOWN
Consistent Olave
I appreciate the way Chris Olave bounced back to finish the game strong with a few tough catches and his first touchdown of the season.
That said, I need Olave to be a star and he simply wasn’t that today. There was obviously the trick play that went for an interception. Like Spencer Rattler said after the game, he’s not a quarterback so it’s tough to blame him for an imperfect throw and Bills DB Cole Bishop made a pretty incredible play on the ball. Either way 3 points before the break would’ve been huge and it's a letdown he was at the center of. It also didn't help that at this point he had one more interceptions thrown than receptions in the game.
It was the two drops — one that might be called an off-target pass — that really irked me. The first was a third down on a perfect throw to the sideline that he simply juggled. There was another ball coming out of halftime that was behind him, but well within his ability to haul in.
I don’t know, at the end of this season we’ll be talking about whether it makes sense to pay Olave on a big-money extension and he simply hasn’t done enough to stand out to this stage. He’s capable of a lot more and I expect a lot more.
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Tackling/missed opportunities
This section speaks for itself and encompasses a lot. But let’s list a few just to get started:
- Pete Werner’s dropped INT
- INT on the Philly Special/no points before halftime
- Olave drops listed above
- Missed tackle on Shakir’s 43-yard TD
- Missed tackle on Josh Allen for long third down run
- Roughing the kicker penalty on a punt for a last gasp comeback attempt
- four drives that started inside Buffalo territory and resulted in 6 total points
- QB power on failed 2-point conversion … with Spencer Rattler
Take your pick ... I'd argue that if any 3 of those 8 things go differently, the Saints might win this game.
That last one is less a missed opportunity as it was just a strange play call. Regardless, the Saints needed to run the ball, control the clock and basically play a perfect game to come back from Buffalo with a win. They did that first part and had the opportunities for that second part to come through, they just couldn’t deliver. I’m generally complimentary of Rattler’s day, but the ball being left that far behind Cooks on an open throw for a go-ahead touchdown in the 4th quarter is inexcusable. I do think he was trying to backshoulder the ball to an extent to protect the receiver, but that doesn’t excuse how low it came in. That’s when the game ended, in my opinion.
I don’t know how much this is a stock down more than it’s an observation about the margins this team will be playing with the rest of the way. You can’t miss those types of opportunities and win games regularly. That is, of course, unless you have a field-tilting player like Josh Allen to make up the difference. That Saints don’t have that right now, and that’s not exactly breaking news. s
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Veteran DBs
Let me start by saying I think Justin Reid is a critical piece of this roster from a leadership perspective, but I can’t be the only one waiting to see him make an impact play on the field?
I do think Sanker’s development will allow him to play more free. It’s also probably not fair for me to compare him to Tyrann Mathieu, but I think this team really misses the Honey Badger's nose for takeaways in critical moments. I also think we saw Isaac Yiadom lose his starting job this week. We’ll have to wait and see. It’s not really a stock down so much as it’s just the reality, but I do still think it’s a situation where if he’s the backup you’re happy about it. When he's the starter, you could do better. I think the Saints have arrived at the same conclusion.
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A few more
I don't know if it's play-calling or just poor execution, but the Saints red zone offense just hasn't been good enough enough of the time. If Rattler ends up losing the starting job, that's most likely going to be the culprit. Saints were 2-of-4 in this game, but Kendre Miller's 18-yard TD run makes that sound a lot better than it was. ... I can't really fault Nephi Sewell for going all out for a punt block given the situation in the game, but it was still a rough moment so he deserves a mention. ... Saints run defense got torn up all day. It's a tough assignment to try to slow down James Cook and also account for Josh Allen, but even by those standards there were too many chunk runs surrendered in this game and he finished with 117 yards and a touchdown on 22 carries. The Saints did get a key run stuff when they desperately needed it, though.