The Saints beat the Seahawks 13-10 in a rainy Monday Night game and advanced to 4-2. It wasn’t the prettiest win, but a win is a win; the Saints won and got out. The Saints are finding ways to win games and that’s all that matters, but at some point adjustments need to be made. Lots of things to take away from this game and I’m here to give my full insight on the game.
Game Ball
This week I would say three guys deserve the game ball for various or different reasons, but these guys definitely stood out, were reliable, and could be counted on in any given situation.
Demario Davis, by far the best performance from Davis all season and he showed the rest of the NFL world why he should be talked about as a top three linebacker if not the best linebacker in the league right now. He was all over the field making hits, forcing incompletions, using offensive linemen to make tackles, he is just a menace and dominated the Seahawks offense.
Alvin Kamara, this man continues to be the best player on offense while getting about 25 touches a game on average. He puts up points and yards and is always available in all aspects of the game. He is five players in one. It took two guys to stop Kamara in the pass game which shows the high respect teams have for him.
Brian Johnson, the kicker may have only had two short range field goals but they were big ones. Johnson stepped up and became reliable for the Saints in an unwelcoming environment and in terrible weather conditions. His first ever kick and game was in Seattle, so props to him.
Game Ball: Demario Davis
Initial thoughts:
- The Saints have a championship worthy defense
- Winston needs another target, a trade needs to happen
- Offensive line looked solid
- Pass rush finally pulled through with the return of Davenport
- Brian Johnson is ready to step up in Wil Lutz shoes
- Blake Gillikin is a stud
- Alvin Kamara needs another back to step up, he can’t do the whole workload by himself
Areas of improvement
Pass rush, going into Monday night the Saints had 8 sacks and finished the game with 5 sacks. The return of Marcus Davenport really boosted the overall play of the whole front four/front seven. Dennis Allen did a great job as well designing blitzes and getting pressure on Geno Smith all game.
Short passing game, Winston hasn’t been dumping it off to Kamara as often as Drew did, but last night Winston definitely relied on him a lot and was able to get the ball to Kamara for simple short gains. He wasn’t trying to force the ball downfield and took what the defense gave him.
Winston’s decision making, Jamie’s hasn’t struggled with turnovers too much this season and Monday he had a lot of good decisions. One play that stood out in particular was when he three the ball away immediately on a screen when he noticed that Bobby Wagner was reading the play. That shows improvement and development.
Paulson Adebo, Adebo was on Lockett all game and after the performance he had against the Giants speedy receivers I was concerned a little bit, but he held his own and was able to keep Lockett to two catches for 12 yards. Adebo is playing outstanding as a rookie.
Areas that need improvement
Skill positions, tight end and recovers are holding this offense back. They can’t create separation, make contested catches, or a big play aside from Deonte Harris. Trautman is having an ugly year and honestly Juwan should get more reps at tight end.
Everything else on the team looked absolutely solid, but the skill positions are preventing Winston from putting points on the board and will ultimately play the biggest role in Sunday’s game vs Tampa.
Player stocks going up
- Marcus Davenport, looked like one of the best players on the field
- Paulson Adebo, had a great game in coverage and tackling
- Brian Johnson, stepping mnf up in big time situations
Player stocks going down
- Adam Trautman
- WR Corps
Written By Kadin Janisch
Images used under section 107 of the Copyright Act 1976 allowance are made for “fair use” for purposes such as criticism, comment, news reporting, teaching, scholarship, education and research.
If you own the rights to an image being used and would like it taken down, please email me (whodattnation@gmail.com) and I will kindly do so.
Related articles here
