What went right in Week 5’s much-needed New Orleans Saints win? What went wrong against the Seattle Seahawks? And what’s the bottom line from this game? We’ll answer each of those questions in our instant analysis from Sunday afternoon:
What went right?
Let’s start with the positives. Cameron Jordan spearheaded a Saints pass rush that got after Geno Smith throughout the afternoon, forcing him to throw from a variety of different platforms and angles and often on the run. They sacked him three times (Jordan was credited with 1.5 sacks), raising the season total to 10 sacks as a team and putting them on pace to log 34 snaps on the season. That’s well beneath their standards, so while the pass rush is improving — Demario Davis and Pete Werner were both effective on blitzes — it’s not where it needs to be, but it’s close.
Offensively you’ve got to shout out the smart usage of Taysom Hill, who seemed to provide a spark every time he got on the field. Whether he was running the ball himself or throwing a touchdown pass or lead blocking for Alvin Kamara on the final possession, he always seemed to be in the right place at the right time. Hill’s presence isn’t always positive (and there are real injury concerns at work here given his history), but on Sunday the day was his.
And let’s round out with Alvin Kamara, who finally made an impact as a receiver. Andy Dalton completed more passes to him in this game (6 for 91 yards) than Jameis Winston did in two games earlier this year (5 for 19 yards), and Kamara’s 54-yard gain on a screen pass would have been the play of the day had Hill not ripped off a 60-yard touchdown run a few minutes later. There’s an argument to make that Dalton should remain the starter even once Winston is healthy if it only means that he’ll weaponize Kamara. Whether or not that’s a strong argument is up to you.
Okay, one last word of praise, for the Saints’ third-down defense. They came up huge on critical downs: Seattle came into this game with the NFL’s fourth-best third down offense, having converted 26 of 47 attempts (55.3%, also going 2-of-4 on fourth down) and New Orleans had their number. The Seahawks only went 1-of-10 on third downs and failed to convert their lone fourth down try. Seattle punter Michael Dickson punted 5 times on Sunday after trotting out for just 9 punts through the first four weeks.
What went wrong?
Alright. Okay. The secondary is showing some serious cause for concern. Injuries have whittled the unit down so badly that Chris Harris Jr. got signed off the street this week and was running with the starters in the fourth quarter. Star cornerback Marshon Lattimore exited this game with an abdomen injury, and they were already playing without starting safety Marcus Maye (rib) and his backup P.J. Williams (quadriceps), putting rarely-seen reserves like J.T. Gray in a bad spot.
The Seahawks only gained 268 yards through the air in this game, but it felt like every completion was a big gain — and it nearly was. Four different receivers had catches of 15 or more yards. Smith threw touchdown passes of 35, 32, and 40 yards, and the lack of long speed on the back end was exposed when rookie running back Ken Walker took off for a 69-yard rushing touchdown. The Saints are missing Maye, but they’re missing the player he’s replacing, too. Marcus Williams caught too much flak for his rare missed tackles and didn’t get enough credit for all the big-play opportunities he erased over the years.
And things weren’t all perfect on offense. The Saints struggled to throw the ball well with consistency. Dalton threw an off-target pass that was intercepted and had some other opportunities to make a play fall incomplete. The offensive line has maybe drawn more criticism than was warranted, but an early rep by left tackle James Hurst stands out — he was caught looking over his shoulder at the snap, allowing his opponent to rush by untouched and pressure Dalton into a throwaway. The veteran needs to show better awareness of the cadence in that situation.
Special teams continued to be a weakness. The kicking unit was penalized twice (once for a J.T. Gray false state, and again on a Juwan Johnson false start) and two of Blake Gillikin’s punts ended with touchbacks. Taysom Hill’s heroics were nearly squandered by a fumble at the end of his first kick return. It’s kind of baffling that such an experienced unit led by a well-established coordinator is making these kinds of mistakes.
And what's the bottom line?
Look, the Saints deserved this win. They made enough plays in enough high-stakes situations to win the day. They played cleaner football than Seattle (who were fouled a dozen times) and finally found a rhythm on offense based on the run game. They converted 14 first downs on the ground. It was a nice compliment to the quick passing game and helped New Orleans control the clock and pace of play. It freed up Kamara and Hill to attack the defense from a variety of angles.
Is it a sustainable style of play? Maybe, maybe not. A lot of it hinges on the quarterback. Dalton isn’t a special passer but he’s competent enough — and most importantly, decisive enough — to get the ball out quickly and let his weapons go to work. He did a great job keeping Kamara involved and setting him up for run-after-catch opportunities. With all of the injuries at receiver, it was probably their only path towards finding success through the air.
But you’ve got to be able to take a kill shot every now and then. Just not as frequently as Jameis Winston would like. Those risky plays end up snuffing out your own drives prematurely and put the ball in dangerous spots where the opposing squad can take it away. Maybe he’s learned enough from watching Dalton operate the offense these two weeks to adjust his game and keep things on the tracks if he returns to take the wheel next week. Maybe.
It’s a long season. The Saints are beginning to clean up the self-inflicted wounds and generate a stronger pass rush and run with more consistency. They’ve still got a long way to go before they’ll be challenging some of the NFL’s better teams. They need to cut down on the explosive plays allowed on the back end and, though it feels annoying to put it so bluntly, get healthier. They need Chris Olave and Michael Thomas and Jarvis Landry out there to keep the offense afloat. What’s unclear is how badly they need Winston.
