Danno

SEA-NO GRADES: DREW BREES CARVES UP SEATTLE PASS DEFENSE IN WIN
New Orleans Saints 25, Seattle Seahawks 20

Here are the highest-graded players and top takeaways from New Orleans’ 25-20 Week 8 win over Seattle:

New Orleans Saints

Quarterback grade: Drew Brees, 79.4

Brees and Co. push through Seahawks’ stout defense

The exploits of the “undersized” future Hall-of-Fame QB Drew Brees have become an expectation, and this matchup against the Seattle secondary proved to be another notch in the belt of a great career. Brees was able to pepper the defense with 27 completions on 33 aimed passes, distributing the payload between his trio of talented receivers (Brandin Cooks, Willie Snead and Michael Thomas).

Top offensive grades:

LG Andrus Peat, 81.0

WR Willie Snead, 79.5

QB Drew Brees, 79.4

LT Terron Armstead, 78.9

WR Michael Thomas, 76.9

The Saints’ offense doesn’t miss a beat

With wins in three of their last four games, New Orleans could be on the verge of a playoff push. A big key to the victory proved to be the ability of Saints playmakers to work after the catch. Willie Snead led the way with 6.8 yards after the catch and rookie second-round pick Michael Thomas continued to display first-round talent by collecting all six of his targeted passes for a team-high 63 receiving yards. After RB Mark Ingram was benched following a fumble, RB Tim Hightower stepped in to collect 102 rushing yards and posted a 2.6 yard-after-contact per-carry average.

Top defensive grades:

DL Cameron Jordan, 83.8

LB Craig Robertson, 76.6

CB B.W. Webb, 73.9

SS Kenny Vaccaro, 73.6

FS Vonn Bell, 71.1

Surprising performance from Saints’ secondary

A top-five graded performer at 4-3 defensive end, Cameron Jordan continued his magnificent season with the game’s highest grade. He earned one hit on Russell Wilson as part of his six total pressures, a batted pass and a pair of run stops.
The secondary played a huge role in stunting the Seahawks’ passing offense, led by the efforts of CB B.W. Webb, SS Kenny Vaccaro and FS Vonn Bell. Webb (0.30), Vaccaro (0.67) and Bell (0.78) each limited their total coverage responsibilities to average less than one yard per coverage snap.

PFF Game-Ball Winner: Saints D-lineman Cameron Jordan

Entire story: https://www.profootballfocus.com/pro...l-week-8-game/

K Major

Hell yeah on PEAT.




FWIW, Jairus Byrd's numbers vs Seattle:

8 tackles and 2 assists. I know we would prefer pick 6's but he did his job yesterday.

K Major

jeanpierre

Like the idea of what PFF is trying to do in so far as grading players, would like to know how they grade as their grades don't sync with what I'm seeing...

Cam Jordan played much better this week containing the edge and applying pressure rather than knifing through and allow the opposition to either geaux underneath or get outside of him...

Robertson and Stupar deserve better grades - their play was outstanding...

Andrus Peat is really coming on and if Armstead continues to be fragile, have no problem with him as our Left Tackle...

Michael Thomas is not only the top rookie wide receiver, but is a top ten wide receiver in this league...

Tim Hightower deserves more love as well...

It's not that my way is the right way, I just make the right way my way...

Danno

HOW WE GRADE
Our patent-pending approach to rating is thorough, one of a kind, and goes beyond the surface of the game. View details of PFF’s partnership with the Pro Coach Network, which reviews every PFF grade, here.

STEP 1
We grade. An analyst grades every single player and every single play on a scale of -2 to +2.

STEP 2
We grade again. A second analyst grades every single player and every single play on a scale of -2 to +2.

STEP 3
We grade a third time. A third analyst rules on any differences between the first two.

STEP 4
We verify. Our grades are verified by the Pro Coach Network and their 400 years of combined NFL and college coaching experience.

STEP 5
Advanced Normalization: The raw grades are normalized to better account for the situation; this ranges from where the player lined up to the drop-back depth of the quarterback, to everything in between.

STEP 6
We set the grade. Convert to 1-100 scale.

https://www.profootballfocus.com/about/how-we-grade/

jeanpierre

Thanks Danno, for posting; I've read that before on PFF, but the devil is in the details...

I'd like to see the score and notes sheets; I'd like to see their "objectivity scales"...

jlaw8920

Does anyone know how many of those catches for Thomas were against Sherman? I remember thinking that Thomas was definitely holding his own against him in the first half.

K Major

From the stats I saw: Michael went 2-2 for 19 yards lined up against Sherman. My understanding is that Sherman always lines up on the left side though.

Crusader

Did you guys notice that play where Peat just flattened his guy?

dizzle88

Which play was it? I'll go back and watch!