Bengals vs. Saints: Full Report Card Grades for New Orleans
The New Orleans Saints were soundly defeated on Sunday by the Cincinnati Bengals, 27-10, as they dropped their second straight contest in front of their home crowd.
With the loss, the Saints, who led the NFC South going in, fell to 4-6 on the season.
Cincinnati dominated New Orleans on both sides of the ball, as coach Sean Payton’s reeling squad appeared lethargic and uninspired for the majority of the game.
After getting on the board with a field goal on the game’s opening drive, New Orleans didn’t reach the end zone until early in the fourth quarter.
The Saints offense rang up over 300 yards on the day, but as a group, the unit seemed to lack the aggressive mindset that Payton’s offenses have become known for.
Cincinnati, meanwhile, reached paydirt on its first offensive possession, and it never trailed after that in the contest. The Bengals carved up the Saints defense with a balanced offensive attack led by quarterback Andy Dalton and rookie running back Jeremy Hill.
With the loss, the Saints have now relinquished the divisional lead to the 4-6 Atlanta Falcons, who defeated New Orleans in Week 1.
Continue reading for full report card grades for each New Orleans positional unit.
Quarterback
1 of 10
Drew Brees didn’t throw an interception on Sunday. If that was his only goal, then the New Orleans quarterback should kick back and bask in the glory of his successful outing.
Unfortunately for the Saints, however, Brees rarely did what his team needed him to do most of all: Push the ball down the field and into the end zone.
With two interceptions a week ago, the Saints’ star signal-caller ran his total up to 10 picks on the season. While turnovers are certainly costly, they don’t call for an elite quarterback to play as passively as Brees did on Sunday.
Simply put, the Saints’ team captain didn’t go for it, and the rest of the team followed his lead. Granted, the Bengals often played with two deep safeties to prevent the deep ball, but Brees too often settled for the underneath throws the Cincinnati defense was giving him, and he rarely attempted to advance the ball down the field vertically.
He completed 33 passes but totaled only 255 yards on the day. On the downfield throws he did attempt, he was often inaccurate, as he missed open receivers throughout the contest.
Brees didn’t make the costly errors he had been making in recent weeks, but the Saints needed more from their leader than for him to sit on the bench and gaze at his tablet.
The New Orleans offense runs almost exclusively through Brees, and the group goes as far as he takes it. On Sunday, that wasn't far at all. His numbers didn't necessarily call for a failing grade, but his lack of competitive fire and overall lack of production did.
Grade: F
Running Back
2 of 10
Mark Ingram entered the contest with three straight 100-yard rushing performances to his credit, but he hit a wall on Sunday in the form of the Cincinnati defense.
The Saints fed the ball to Ingram often, just like they have in each of the last three games, but there simply wasn’t much running room against the Bengals and their highly active linebacking corps.
Ingram, to his credit, ran hard at times, especially in the second half, and he probably displayed more competitive spirit than anyone on the field wearing a black jersey. His 67-yard rushing total on 23 carries speaks for itself, however, as does his 2.9 yards per carry.
Ingram can’t be criticized too harshly when he didn’t have much running room, but his performance can hardly be praised, either.
He did account for 30 yards receiving on seven receptions, but he was often the safety valve on those plays, and Brees was all too eager to dump the ball off to him.
Travaris Cadet again filled in for the injured Pierre Thomas, and he contributed 31 yards receiving on four catches. He helped to keep the chains moving a few times, but his performance was far from spectacular.
Fullback Erik Lorig had a lackluster performance as a receiver with four catches for just five yards, while newly signed running back Brian Leonard chipped in with a first-down catch for 15 yards.
Grade: C-
Wide Receiver and Tight End
3 of 10
The Saints wide receivers and tight ends showed up, dressed out and took the field on Sunday, but like most other players wearing black and gold, they didn't do a whole lot.
Star tight end Jimmy Graham snagged three balls for 29 yards, but he was largely a non-factor.
Marques Colston received the most targets on the day, and he hauled in five receptions, but he couldn't come down with a catchable ball in the end zone on a 1st-and-goal play early in the second quarter.
Speedsters Brandin Cooks and Kenny Stills tallied nine catches between them, but most of their receptions were short catches for minimal yards, as the duo barely cracked 80 combined receiving yards on the afternoon.
Reserve wideout Joe Morgan made a second-half appearance and registered a seven-yard grab, while backup tight end Josh Hill just missed on an overthrown ball on a seam route on the game's first possession.
Grade: C-
.jpg?w=256 "Colts Jaguars Football")
Offensive Line
4 of 10
New Orleans' offensive line, which lost right tackle Zach Strief early on in the contest, turned in an unsatisfactory showing against the Bengals.
The unit struggled to generate an effective ground game for much of the contest, as Ingram was headed off time and time again by Cincinnati's prowling linebackers.
To say that Jahri Evans and Co. were dominated would be a stretch, but the group lost more plays than it won. The biggest problem with the line's performance was a general lack of intensity, which seemed to be the prevailing issue with the entire team.
The Saints had a particularly tough time with Bengals defensive tackle Domata Peko, who racked up eight tackles in the middle of the Cincinnati defense.
On the pass-blocking front, Brees wasn't sacked in the game, but he was hit four times while being pressured on a consistent basis.
New Orleans managed to pound out 75 tough yards on the ground, but it took the Saints 26 carries to do it, which suggests a big win for the Bengals defense.
Grade: D
Defensive Line
5 of 10
Falling in line with the rest of the team's general lack of competitive fire, the New Orleans defensive front was flat-out bad against Cincinnati.
The Bengals hammered away at Akiem Hicks, Cam Jordan, Brodrick Bunkley and John Jenkins for the entire game with little to no resistance, and the result was 186 rushing yards and an average of 5.2 yards per carry.
In his return to his home state, Bengals rookie Jeremy Hill delivered an outstanding performance, as the Superdome crowd helplessly watched the Louisiana native repeatedly wiggle past Saints defensive linemen to the tune of 156 yards on the ground.
New Orleans generated a weak imitation of a pass rush, as ends Hicks and Jordan rarely even got a decent look at Dalton. The Saints registered three hits on the quarterback, but none of them were by a lineman.
Grade: F
Linebacker
6 of 10
While Hill raced past the New Orleans defensive linemen, he ran around and over the Saints linebackers.
For this group, the theme of the day was missed tackles, and although inside 'backers Curtis Lofton and David Hawthorne led the Saints with 11 and seven tackles, respectively, they had a tough time corralling the 238-pound Hill.
The unit wasn't good in coverage, either, as the Bengals did an excellent job of getting their wideouts matched up on the Saints linebackers. Dalton repeatedly took advantage of these matchups, and New Orleans struggled to get off the field on third down as a result.
On the outside, Parys Haralson recorded the Saints' only sack of the game, while Junior Galette was barely heard from with two tackles and no hits on the quarterback.
This group has seen better days, and that's putting things mildly.
Grade: F
Secondary
7 of 10
A.J. Green is widely known as one of the most explosive receivers in all of football, and he demonstrated why against an outmatched New Orleans secondary.
He finished with 127 receiving yards and a touchdown against the Saints, and he picked on a number of New Orleans corners throughout the game.
Saints No. 1 corner Keenan Lewis played on a bum knee that he injured last week, but he was still New Orleans' best cover man. Lewis was beaten by Green for a touchdown, although his injury provides him with a reasonable excuse.
For Corey White, Patrick Robinson and Brian Dixon, however, there are no excuses, and they were consistently victimized by Green and his fellow wideouts.
At safety, Rafael Bush was late getting to the ball on deep throws on a number of occasions, while Kenny Vaccaro failed to make much of an impact again, which is becoming rather habitual for him.
Grade: F
Special Teams
8 of 10
Even the usually salty Saints kick coverage units had a lazy look about them on Sunday, as Pacman Jones ripped off 74 yards on two kickoffs, including a 43-yarder.
Saints kicker Shayne Graham nailed his only field-goal attempt, a 31-yard effort on the game's first drive.
Punter Thomas Morstead didn't play up to his usual lofty standards, as he botched a punt that totaled 25 yards. He did manage to boom a 54-yarder, however, and he twice pinned the Bengals inside their own 20.
The Saints still haven't found a way to get Brandin Cooks going as a punt returner, and he only managed four yards on one return.
Grade: D
Coaching
9 of 10
While one could spend time analyzing the flaws in Sean Payton's game plan, there was a bigger issue at hand in Sunday's contest.
New Orleans put forth a lackadaisical, apathetic effort, and while the Saints players may not agree, the blame for this ultimately falls on their head coach.
One of Payton's primary duties is to have his team motivated to compete, and against the Bengals, the Saints were not competitive by any stretch of the imagination.
They also seemed ill-prepared for the looks the Bengals gave them on both sides of the ball, and this also falls on the head man.
Payton's decision to punt the ball down three scores with eight minutes remaining revealed a defeated mentality, and it mirrored the way his team performed throughout the game.
The Saints looked like a team ready to hit the showers from the moment it took the field, and for that, the head coach and his staff must be held accountable.
Grade: F
Final Grade
10 of 10
All season long, the Saints have had issues closing out games in the final moments. They've also been on the wrong side of a blowout in which everything seemed to magically fall in place for the opposition.
What happened on Sunday, however, was different. The Saints simply didn't compete.
The Bengals had balance on offense and discipline on defense, and they did whatever they wanted to the Saints in their own house. This shouldn't sit well with anyone who donned black and gold on Sunday.
With the entire NFC South struggling, the Saints could have seized a significant amount of momentum in the race for what's likely the lowly division's lone playoff spot. Instead, they lagged through an utterly lifeless performance.
Final Grade: F
.jpg?w=480 "Colts Jaguars Football")
.png?w=480)
