Invisible Defensive Line

With three 300+ pound linemen who see regular playing time, it’s not very easy for the Saints’ defensive line to go unnoticed, but that’s exactly what happened. Far too often large bodies were pushed around by a single offensive lineman, making the Saints’ weak linebacker unit look even worse as Carolina blockers routinely got to the second level on running plays. Sedrick Ellis and Aubrayo Frankin were completely missing on the stat sheet, but neither of them played more than 19 snaps. More concerning was Shaun Rogers’ (-1.2) performance as his sole contribution to the stat sheet in 26 snaps was a missed tackle. Tom Johnson (-1.2) was the only defensive tackle to even make a tackle. On the edges, Cameron Jordan got his first career sack and should have had two, but on the other side Will Smith (-3.4) struggled. Smith got pressure only once in 27 snaps rushing the passer and was either forced out of position or took himself out of position on a few run plays. The Saints are already lacking in pass rush and need Smith to be in better form against Detroit.