I already did a writeup for the dline before so I only have a few things to add. Melton and Crawfords quickness gave the interior line of NO fits. This was especially true with the line games they played. Their ability to stunt two gaps away had interior oline lunging across the formation and left gaps for their teammates to exploit.
This brings me to Hayden and Bishop both of which did not play as well as I had thought. The Saints did not respect Hayden at all and on running plays were content to have their injured center single block him down in and down out. Now he won some of those battles but it allowed Grubbs or Evans free to the second level and our LB had a a tough time getting through the chaff. The Saints were clearly more concerned about McClain and sloughed off Hayden. Now Hayden won those battles a time or two but not nearly enough. He still tended to get washed and sealed off.
Bishop was good on some snaps but far too inconsistent. He had two major issues. First was one that plagued the defense in the first half. They looked confused lining up, got set late and were poor off the ball. Bishop didn't clean it up as much as the others in the second half. Poor off the ball almost always meant a poor snap for anyone. The second issue was getting off blocks. His get off contributed to this but he had trouble getting away to make a tackle when he let blockers get inside and into his pads. He allowed a big run up the middle because of this in the second half. Hand work will continue to be a work in progress. He didn't get pushed around and turned at all. Have not seen that since the preseason. He is getting better but he still has a long way to go.
Both of these guys got pressure but it was the stunting of their linemates and the attention that it drew that sprung them loose. The hit that Hayden got saw the C abandon the block on Hayden to lunge at Melton going across the formation. Evans never picked him up. It was much more about poor execution on the Saints part than anything else. We are getting better at the line games; the Saints were not able to adjust to it until the fourth quarter.
Jack Crawfords burst upfield is impressive and his effort in pursuit is outstanding but his strength at the point of attack leaves something to be desired.
Selvie was better able to extend and stack as opposed to the last few weeks. Strief couldn't block him in the run game.
Spencer is rusty as hell. You can watch him trying out pass rush moves and counters and they seem a bit slow. He is far too upright especially out of that two point stance. He was much better with his hand in the dirt.
Selvie was pretty inconsequential.
Durant ran well but that is to be expected. He will react poorly to a route ran into his zone occasionally but nothing like what I saw last year. What I found really impressive was his ability to take on blocks from the free OG in the run game. I was surprised at how he was able to deliver a blow and dictate the flow. He also did a good job diagnosing and outflanking their path into the second level. His plays in the passing game were gravy great range and depth on his drops and nice awareness to make plays on the ball. He was all over the place.
McClain still had issues with his groin. He was very good going north south and watching a man that size get 15 yards downfield that quickly is impressive. He also did a good job flipping his hips as he dropped back to threaten routes. The issue with the groin manifest on stretch plays and other sideline playcalls. He was not nearly as explosive as before the injury. He was not bad mind you but he is still diagnosing plays quickly but simply not getting their laterally like he was before. He also had issues sidestepping the frequent OL visiting the second level.
I am loving Bruce Carters game. He takes on blocks from OG better than Henry Melton. He is incredibly strong at the poa. He will occasionally let a TE or OT get his hands inside him and steer him off balance but otuside of that his performance versus the run has been a nice plus. He like the others does a good job chasing from sideline to sideline. He clearly works with Sean Lee looking at tape. Him refusing to be looked off and defending routes they try to sneak up the backside is the spitting image of Sean Lee's performances against Brees and Manning. Being able to challenge and win against elite NFL QBs is what makes LB play elite. Huge step in that regard for him. Big blow him getting hurt like that but strains heal. Mend well Bruce.
Bruce did not go out until towards the end of the game and by that point NO was in comeback mode and we spent a lot of time in the nickel. Wilber only got a handful snaps but I have to say that he has been one of the bigger disappointments this year. I want to know what happened to that guy stacking defenders and looking physically dominant sloughing them against the Giants last year. i don't like this guy who does a poor job positioning outside and lunges as he gets flanked. Small sample size but very disappointing.
Carr is so deathly afraid of getting beat over the top that he gives up inside moves with the regular. He also is having issues transitioning and handing off receivers. You will see the other guys peel off and help in zone coverage regularly but not Carr; he gets locked onto guys. I think him missing the lionshsare of TC is a big factor in this. He is much better in man but if the WR has a good inside or outside release or otherwise he get in a poor jam it can be mean a high quality completion downfield. Carr dominates smaller WR but can struggle with those that can beat his jam. I don't seeing that fact changing but my hope is that continued coaching will help in zones where he still seems awkward. He has been very good at maintaining the edge and not letting plays get to the sideline. He does a good job diagnosing and attacking screen plays.
Scandrick and Moore are very similar players. Undersized but aggressive; good but not great speed and very good quickness. Both will fight through bigger receivers and make plays on the ball. Moore won a jump ball against Graham who is up there with Megatron and our own Dez Bryant in strength at the point of catch. Graham didn't have good position but that is kind of the point. Scandrick still lacks ball skills and he knows it. You can see him gesticulating after he stones the ball after driving on a route. Both guys are showing great recognition and jumping routes underneath. They are not throwing on Scandrick when he is over the top which is not very often. We have talked of Moore making plays downfield on Graham. Scandrick is built a bit leaner and Moore is stronger taking on blocks than Scandrick. For a man his size to shed like he does against bigger guys is impressive; then again it might be that Cooks cannot block worth a flip. Moore has elevated his game and looks to have a career in the league. Scandrick has been good for awhile.
The safeties for the most part are interchangeable but for one caveat: Wilcox gets all the man under calls. He's been decent in man only allowing separation a few times over the first 4 games of the season. For the most part he does a good job navigating through would be blockers but he has had issues shedding on man calls when he is forced to hand fight. That has been a reoccurring issue and might need a year in the weight room to correct. The other issues he has had have not been reoccurring but he has been exploited as teams try to St. Louis targeted him. They ran throws and runs to the outside trying to challenge him and force him to overrun the play as he had done earlier. Stacey cut inside of him once although he did get a hit on. After that he stoned the next 3 attempts they ran at his side. He didn't overrun a single one of the half dozen or so stretch runs NO ran. STL also targeted our guys with pick plays. They beat several of our guys with it. NO ran similar pick type routes of something up the field and a crossing route over it but our guys did a much better guy exchanging the routes.
NO also ran double routes targeting Moore Scandrick and Wilcox over the top. I think they were sick of our guys trying to jump routes. When Brees was able to get good protection he was able to make plays downfield. They attacked Wilcox in particular with Cook running up on his drop and running outside-in jukes like Beasley is so fond of. He took a step on the out but recovered and drove back in on the inside cut. It was a bad throw by Brees but I would have been interested if Wilcox could have made a play on the ball. As it was it skipped off the turf, 10 or so yards short as both guys pulled up. If I had to guess it would have been a TD as the route was run in EZ but who knows.
Wilcox issues are a result of two things. He is late to react to routes and mind you it's not that he doesn't see he is just a bit slow. He does this most when he is in underneath coverage which along with man, he has the least experience at. He does look inept when he allows himself to get looked off and tries to recover too late or he gets picked off by a pick play. That being said, he is getting quicker on the uptake as time goes by and this is something all young players have to go through. I hope for the future of our country that people are more patient with their kids than they are with Cowboys prospects. I have a suspicion that most of this type of angst comes from teens or those fresh out of them.
The rest of it is him being overaggressive overrunning things. The old adage goes that is is much easier to rein guys in as opposed to getting them to play aggressively and Wilcox shows the ability to improve upon his mistakes.
Church is competent to good in everthing he does. Shade to adjust to routes run at his deep zone then make breaks on the ball in the air? Check. Pick up and transition receivers coming through his zone? check. Come up and fill a gap on an inside run? Check. Beat plays to the sideline? Check. Make open field tackles? Check.
He does it down after down after down. He is quicker than fast the coaches do not ask him to cover in man but when he gets a ball carrier in his reach they go down even if he has to catch the tiger by his toe. He is a very good player if limited athletically the coaching staff knows how to use him to his full potential.
Overall the team has done pretty well with defensive depth this year. We have absorbed injuries to Claiborne, Spencer, Coleman, Melton, Selvie, McClain, McClain, and Durant as well as suspensions to Scandrick and Durant and we have been able to function as a coherent unit. Last year when the front line guys went down particularly on the DL we had nothing. The development of Moore, Wilcox, Bishop, Coleman, and both Crawfords has been huge. They are all playing the best football of their lives and it's a joy to watch.
