Danno

New Orleans Saints
Quarterback grades: Drew Brees, 78.2

Brees does enough to grab win

Was it a classic Drew Brees divisional performance? No. He was lucky to get away with a dropped interception courtesy of Brent Grimes and nearly threw two more picks while targeting Vernon Hargreaves. But the Saints, with Brees running the show, moved up and down the field with relative ease and Brews was exceptional on his intermediate and deep throwing, going 9-of-13 for 166 yards.

Top offensive grades:

FB John Kuhn, 92.4
LT Andrus Peat, 91.7
RT Zach Strief, 83.6
LG Senio Kelemete, 82.8
C Max Unger, 82.7

Line shows up to lead saints to win

That was the kind of Saints performance we’ve gotten used to over the years, with Brees given time in the pocket and Mark Ingram given plenty of space to get a head of steam up at second-level defenders. The tone was set early on with the Saints running power to the right side of their line on the first two plays, and it was a play they continued to go to, having a lot of success caving in DaVonte Lambert while John Kuhn cleared out Daryl Smith.

It’s telling that of the starters, the line only gave up one sack, one hit and three hurries.

Top defensive grades:

S Jairus Byrd, 91.7
DE Cameron Jordan, 85.1
CB B.W. Webb, 83.2
S Roman Harper, 75.8
DT Nick Fairley, 74.4

Byrd makes the big plays to ruin Bucs Christmas

It may have finished a two-score game, but this was a closer game than the scoreboard suggested. It came down to key moments, and where the Bucs failed to make the most of them, the Saints did not. In particular it was Jairus Byrd who made the biggest difference, and his fourth-quarter pick was the play of the day. With Winston zeroing in on his receiver he made a great break on the ball to pick him off. That forced the Bucs to chase the game and that saw the previously quiet Cameron Jordan really let rip with a sack, hit and two hurries in the fourth quarter.

PFF Game-Ball Winner: Saints S Jairus Byrd, 91.7
https://www.profootballfocus.com/pro...ts-to-victory/