New Orleans Saints Week 6 Report Card: Grading Each Unit

Though I was rather close to harsh regarding Sunday's loss in my column following the loss I desire to be both honest and realistic in grading each unit from Sunday's loss. 

And I also desire to show just how each unit can improve this week, and for the remainder of the 2011 season. My hope is to prove that each unit has a long way to improve, but also that they are quite capable of doing so. And when they do this team will grow to the point that they are a championship-caliber team. 

It should be noted that many championship teams face some serious issues at one point in the season, or another.

QB Drew Brees: B-

I don't want to labor this point too much but Drew Brees' interception numbers are starting to mount, and that is not a good thing. 

One could blame receivers for not catching the ball—and on many of the picks it truly isn't Brees' fault—but the numbers are still scary. Three interceptions in a game is a number that no quarterback should ever to have answer questions about, especially one as good as Brees. 

That being said, Brees played Sunday's game against Tampa Bay like the only guy on the team who came ready to play. He was facing an uphill battle, and his 383 yards are pretty commendable against a defense which thrives on a lack of balance. 

Despite Brees' sour numbers he still earns a B- due to his tremendous effort—heck he was the most impactful runner for the Saints offense. Brees' leadership is the reason I'm not worried about him or this team.

Running Backs Darren Sproles, Pierre Thomas, and Mark Ingram: C+

I don't fault the effort of any of these players. They are all high character guys who truly work as hard as they can, and really do prove the age-old cliche' "give 110 percent" true. But there is still something missing. 

Occasionally the unit gets in the end zone—Ingram did Sunday—and Thomas and Ingram provided a lot of extra forward lean on their runs, but the yardage simply didn't add up to much. 

Forty-nine yards on 17 carries between them, the trio was slightly more effective catching the ball. Certainly one cannot dismiss Darren Sproles' effort in the passing game, but the unit's production must increase. 

It can, and likely will, with improved offensive line play. It also would help if there was a greater commitment to the running game from the top down.

The Receivers (You Know Their Names): C

I believe Sunday's game makes three weeks in a row in which a Saints receiver had a throw go off their hands into the arms of a defender for an interception. Sunday it came when Drew Brees lofted a beautiful throw to Marques Colston a deep sideline route against tight coverage. Colston clearly should have caught the ball, which would have avoided a pick (which led to a Bucs score) and would have made this review less painful.

As it is, the unit combined for just 11 of Drew Brees' 29 completions. That's less than 40 percent of his completions. They were only targeted 18 times out of 45 attempts, which is 40 percent. For a receiving corps as good as this one, such statistics are unacceptable. 

But why is this unit only being targeted on 40 percent of Drew Brees' throws? 

Part of it is a lack of separation against man-to-man coverages, not finding holes against zone schemes, and defenses trying to avoid getting beat deep. 

But the production is still scant compared to where it should be. Sure, having studs in Jimmy Graham and Darren Sproles doesn't help, but those two players' number of attempts are added to because of check downs and progressions, not because plays are specifically designed just for them. 

In other words, it's not as if Sean Payton has decided he only wants to throw the ball to Darren Sproles and Jimmy Graham. Drew Brees gets the play and simply allows the progression to determine who gets the ball. 

More often than not Sunday, that progression told him to avoid his receivers. Going forward that cannot be the case. This group must step up in their production. If they do not, the Saints will stay stuck on 20 point games. 

Tight End Jimmy Graham: A-

It's hard to complain about a guy gaining 100-plus yards receiving in four consecutive weeks. And many of those yards have come on some amazingly spectacular athletic catches. 

I really have nothing to complain about Graham except that he took out his own head coach. Come on man! 

In all seriousness, he did drop at least one pass that I thought he should've caught, but considering his overall effort I'm not going to dock him too significantly for that. 

Offensive Line: C

One thing I have to commend the offensive line for is them giving Drew Brees a relatively clean pocket to throw from. From a pass protection perspective this was probably their best game. 

But from a running game perspective it is clear that they did not do a very good job. You don't need to watch the film to tell you that. Forty-nine yards on 17 carries is inexcusable, no matter how much of a finesse offense you may be. 

I think a stronger commitment to the run is the key to better overall production from the offensive line. "How so?," you may ask. 

Offensive linemen love to get out and hit people. It's in their DNA. When you come out as an offense and only pass the ball 17 times, it leads to the unit becoming passive—which ultimately doesn't help in pass protection or in the screen game either. 

In conclusion, greater commitment to the running game will help the offensive line play better overall.

Defensive Tackles: C-

On one of the initial plays of the game Aubrayo Franklin recorded a tackle. At that point in the game I thought this unit was headed to stopping the run and creating some significant pass rush. 

Unfortunately, it really didn't turn out that way. Tampa Bay ran for 122 yards on 19 runs by the running backs—the runs which defensive tackles hold great responsibility for stopping. 

Sure, the unit did a good job when Tampa gave the ball to receivers, but that simply is not good enough. Nor did they do a good job getting consistent pressure on Josh Freeman. 

Defensive Ends: C-

It is not only upon the defensive tackles to stop the run, especially off tackle runs. The defensive ends must also do their job by holding the point of attack and pushing the runner back to the inside for the linebackers. 

This group didn't do a good enough job of that against Tampa Bay. Earnest Graham broke a number of big runs off tackle, which is completely upon this unit. 

Fault is also upon them when it comes to the white jersey Josh Freeman maintained throughout the day. It isn't that the defense didn't try to get to Freeman—they blitzed seemingly every pass play—but they never got home partially because the defensive ends simply were too slow in their pursuit of Freeman. 

Linebackers: C-

On one of Graham's long runs I saw Jo-Lonn Dunbar take a horrible angle which allowed Graham to run through a huge hole on his way to an explosive run play. 

The unit wasn't much better in coverage, and overall had another poor day. It will take some time but the unit has potential. They need to live up to it.

Secondary: C-

Despite my insistence that Malcolm Jenkins is the finest safety in football, it is in fact true that Sunday neither he nor the rest of the secondary played their finest game. 

Josh Freeman recorded 303 passing yards and a 95.9 passer rating. Both those numbers are pretty incredible, especially given the way their offense played a week prior against San Francisco. 

That the Saints are getting beat deep and giving up big pass plays is concerning—especially against an offense that couldn't manage a big play if their life depended on it in the prior few weeks. 

It is absolutely true that this defensive unit—including the secondary—needs to make some major adjustments to become dominant. I remain optimistic that they will. 

Kicking Team: A

They were good as usual. Enough said.