ChrisXVI

— This was a busy off-season of rebuilding for the Saints, and their top two draft picks on defense stood out with strong performances, particularly against the run last night. Hau’oli Kikaha (+3.1) and Stephone Anthony (+2.5) both earned the highest grades of their young NFL careers last night, and led the New Orleans’ defense with a combined 11 stops. Each of them added a sack, taking down Brandon Weeden (+0.1) after he was moved out of the pocket by other pressure.

— Sometimes as a quarterback, you have to take advantage of your good fortune in having bad plays nullified—that’s exactly what Drew Brees (+0.9) did last night. An interception, a dropped interception and another miss were all nullified by penalties last night, leaving Brees’ passing grade on non-nullified plays at +3.8. When the plays stood, Brees was on point; particularly on intermediate and deep throws, compiling a stat line of five-of-seven, 167 yards and the game-winning touchdown (+4.7 PFF passing grade) on passes aimed 10 or more yards in the air.

— Playing corner in the NFL is a tough gig, and the difficulties in terms of performance and perception were highlighted very well by the night Delvin Breaux (+1.1) had in coverage. Targeted nine times by Brandon Weeden, Breaux surrendered only two catches, but one of those was the game-tying touchdown at the end of regulation. Prior to that, Breaux stood up to a barrage of deep throws, winning more than he lost, cutting off routes and preventing the receiver from reaching the target point; but his eventual loss in coverage will be what sticks in the mind.

Top performers:

OLB Hau’oli Kikaha (+3.1)

WR Willie Snead (+3.1)

HB C.J. Spiller (+2.9)

LB Stephone Anthony (+2.5)

DT John Jenkins (+2.4)

My takeaway: I believe we might just have us some bada$$ linebackers!

"When you get into one of these groups, there's only a couple of ways you can get out. One, is death; the other, is mental institutions."