saintsfan1976

Nice recap. Hicks deserves more credit, he played one of his best games IMO

No mention of Ingram? C'mon man... 122yds and 5.3 ypc.

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New Orleans Saints film review: Defense - ESPN

The New Orleans Saints defense partied like it was 2013 in Sunday’s 35-32 victory over the Pittsburgh Steelers.

They followed the same formula that led to so much success last season -- getting good, consistent pressure from their four-man pass rush and holding up well in pass coverage. Sure, it helped that Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger was so off-target. But it’s hard to say which is the chicken and which is the egg in that scenario.

I was also even more impressed by the Saints’ run defense after watching the tape. Although they gave up three long runs to Pittsburgh’s dynamic Le'Veon Bell, he didn’t have any other carries longer than six yards.

And the Saints threw in two huge, game-changing interceptions for good measure (one by end Cameron Jordan, who had a monster day, and one by safety Kenny Vaccaro).

Just imagine how dominant the performance would have been if New Orleans’ defensive backs didn’t drop five other chances at interceptions.
Here are some more thoughts after watching the tape:

Jordan's best yet: The Saints got exactly what they’ve been needing from Jordan. He abused backup right tackle Mike Adams throughout the game, most notably in the third quarter when he drove him forward, batted a pass by Roethlisberger and intercepted it himself. Jordan later added a sack and another batted pass. He also helped collapse the pocket all day as Roethlisberger only scrambled for positive yards once.

Fellow bookend Junior Galette also got some great pressure, though he didn’t have an official sack. He once grabbed a fistful of jersey to force a third-down incompletion -- even though he was reaching around left tackle Kelvin Beachum at the time. Galette later forced a holding penalty on Beachum.

Interior linemen Tyrunn Walker, Brandon Deaderick and Akiem Hicks also got a great push up the middle at least once to help force some incompletions in big moments. Walker did it during each of the first two third-down stops.

Good coverage plan: The Saints went back to the coverage plan that they used in Week 1 against the Atlanta Falcons. They put their best cornerback, Keenan Lewis, in single coverage against the Steelers' No. 2 receiver (usually Markus Wheaton, sometimes Martavis Bryant). Meanwhile, they covered Pittsburgh’s dynamic No. 1 receiver Antonio Brown with a combination of cornerback Patrick Robinson and safety help from Pierre Warren, among others.

It worked great with Brown having a quiet day until he scored two meaningless touchdowns in the final minutes. It also helped to frustrate Roethlisberger, who had trouble finding open men, completing just 9 of his first 24 passes with no touchdowns and two interceptions in the first 35 minutes.

Robinson’s impressive resurgence continued. His day should have been even better if he hadn’t dropped three possible interceptions (including an easy pick-six opportunity right in his breadbasket in the first quarter). But he played with aggression and confidence, and his two pass break-ups in the end zone late in the game were his two best.

Lewis and White were also good for most of the game, though they each got beat for a short TD pass in those final minutes. And Vaccaro made a great play on Roethlisberger's overthrown deep ball for his interception.

Run highs/lows: The Saints allowed Bell to break off gains of 12, 18 and 16 in the first quarter before settling in and playing great against the run. On the first one, Vaccaro got stiff-armed and Warren and linebacker Ramon Humber missed the tackle. The second one was well blocked, with Galette being sealed off by tight end Heath Miller. The third was a draw play from a pass formation that found a hole in the middle of the Saints’ zone defense.

After that, the run game was practically a non-factor, with Lofton, linebacker David Hawthorne and nose tackle John Jenkins among those standing out at least twice.

Late breakdowns: The Steelers’ final touchdown drives of 95 and 98 yards were disturbing, but neither was horrendous since Pittsburgh didn’t break off any huge gains over the top like we saw earlier this season.

The two biggest issues were missed tackles on dump-off passes to Bell (Lofton and Warren were each guilty twice) and personal foul penalties. None of those was egregious (Vaccaro got flagged for a late hit out of bounds, but it started in bounds; Vaccaro got flagged for roughing the passer when he was trying to bat a pass and wound up hitting Roethlisberger’s helmet; and White got flagged for a face mask while trying to make an open-field tackle). All three will serve as valuable teaching points, though, since they would have been absolute killers in a closer game.

saintsfan1976

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foreverfan

It is obvious... Roethlisberger threw the game.

hagan714

Hicks deserves more credit I agree

he is on pace to equal or get more tackles this year though 1 sack does jump out at you.

It jumps out at you because if the others do not do their jobs it directly effects his play.

Jordan blocked by one player?
Jr blocked by one player?

sorry till these two demand more attentions teams are free to dbl team Hicks and/or the NT all game long with a running back to spare.

Last week was signings of life

Mardigras9

VERY disturbing!

Danno

I like it. I hope we continue that strategy.

saintsfan1976

That covers Roddy and Julio. Douglas and Hester could cause problems (again).

dizzle88

I liked that Pierre and Vaccaro looked like they knew what they were doing coverage wise

Specifically on Vaccaros INT, Pierre warren let's Antonio Brown go expecting Vaccaro to be there for the play, and he actually was!!

P-rob didn't get beat badly and they gave him safety help over the top, he just needs to learn how to catch now

Mardigras9

Vaccaro still found himself in no mans land, one that stands out was inside the red zone on one drive. Luckily Big Ben overthrew his reciever and they had to settle for a FG.
And giving up that many points inside of 5 minutes will hopefully serve as a lesson learned.

blackangold

Hicks has been disappointing this year. Not sure who you guys are watching but I have seen him get blocked 5 yds down the field 1v1. He has been awful rushing the passer this year and hasn't pushed the pocket. JG even mentioned they are having trouble getting more pressure because QBs can step up in the pocket, and guess who he singled out... Hicks lol.

We thought this year was going to be a pro-bowl year for him, but Ill tell you if he got a better push Cam and JG would be getting sacks and our DBs would look better. It's not all his fault that we don't get interior pressure but he is a mainstay at the position.