New Orleans Saints Week 14 Report Card: Grading Every Defensive Player

No one would have ever expected the defensive slugfest fans were forced to watch most of the game Sunday between the Saints and Titans at LP Field in Nashville. 

But give plenty of credit to the New Orleans defense. If not for a Patrick Robinson missed tackle on a short third down completion to Damian Williams, the Saints defense would have likely posted a remarkable effort which would have yielded only three points. 

Of course, Robinson did miss that tackle, and the Titans went in for a go-ahead touchdown—at the time. From that point on, the Saints took full control. The defense gave up zero of anything from that point on—seemingly smelling blood with a rookie quarterback trying to lead a one-dimensional offense to a comeback effort. 

Give credit to Gregg Williams and his staff for fully committing to stopping Chris Johnson and the Titans' explosive running game going into the game. 

But then the Saints tried successfully to remake the nightmareish defensive meltdown against Atlanta, nearly yielding a winning touchdown in the final seconds with the opposing offense in a goal-to-go situation. 

But give credit to Drew Brees and the offense for playing a ball control offensive game which featured as much of a balanced attack as the Saints have ever shown under Sean Payton. 

As has been the case for the majority of this season, the Saints defense did enough to win the football game. In today's modern game of football, doing enough to win is all that's really expected of a defense. 

Defensive End Will Smith: B

Will Smith was active all game against the Titans. He was constantly getting pressure in the backfield, causing either Matt Hasselbeck or Jake Locker to step up and throw quicker than desired. 

Smith had a huge sack late in the game, which was due to good coverage perseverance on Smith's part to stay after the quarterback. 

Additionally, Smith did a good job of chasing plays across the line in the run game, creating more resistance and making it more difficult for Chris Johnson or Javon Ringer to cut back or simply get up the field. 

Defensive End Cameron Jordan: B

After getting to really watch the tape of this game, I was rather impressed with Cameron Jordan's play. I know most fans have grown weary of the rookie due to his lack of sack production. But he is by far the Saints' best defensive end against the run. 

Jordan does a wonderful job of holding the point of attack and chasing the ball with contain in mind when the play is run away from him. You could say Jordan was the primary reason the Saints were so effective against the run on Sunday. 

While Jordan may not be getting great pressure on the QB, he is quickly making his mark on the Saints defense, helping their rush defense to improve dramatically in recent weeks. And this is forcing opposing offenses to become one-dimensional. 

Defensive End Junior Galette: B

Junior Galette has become the Saints' pass-rush specialist to Jordan's run specialist, and Smith being the overall defensive end. Galette could be found unabated to the quarterback quite often. 

Though Galette never came up with a sack of his own, he many times forced the quarterback to step up and caused them to throw quickly or risk getting sacked. 

It was Galette who forced Jake Locker to step up and then scramble to his right searching for an open receiver before Jo-Lonn Dunbar came up to sack the rookie. 

Defensive Tackle Shaun Rogers: B+

Sunday's game may have been Shaun Rogers' best football game this season. Given the nature of the game—namely a starting opportunity minus Sedrick Ellis and the opportunity to clinch the division—it is no wonder Rogers stepped up. 

Nonetheless, Rogers still had to do it. He was getting great penetration in the run game, and even managed several times to get his arms up on the pass-rush, once causing a tipped ball (which indirectly led to Matt Hasselbeck's calf injury) and a few other times forcing the Titans' QB to hold onto the football a second longer. 

Defensive Tackle Aubrayo Franklin: B

Just as Rogers played his finest game of the season, it is very possible that his partner in crime Aubrayo Franklin did as well. 

Franklin was active all day—flying towards the football—even dropping into coverage on occasion—making open-field tackles and helping drive the ball-carrier to other tacklers. 

Similar to Rogers, he got his hands up a few times to cause quarterbacks to pull the ball down. 

Linebacker Will Herring: B

Will Herring was solid in coverage, made a number of open-field tackles and helped contribute to the cause of eliminating CJ2K from the running game. 

That Gregg Williams asked Herring to stick on receivers down the field is not Herring's fault. That, by nature, is a matchup nightmare. When going against running backs or tight ends, though, Herring did his job as well as he's done all year. 

He did get beat down the sideline by Craig Stevens one time, but aside from that, Herring played well.

Linebacker Ramon Humber: B-

Ramon Humber was nearly Johnny on the Spot when he picked up what was originally called a fumble on the Titans' final drive. Humber continues to show awareness and instincts in his play. 

His presence has helped the Saints linebacking core to improve dramatically in the past few weeks. Sunday, Humber was less spectacular than he'd been in recent weeks, but maintained a solid level of play. 

Humber really didn't make any noticeable mistakes and the Saints defense was as solid as they've been for the majority of the game Sunday.

Linebacker Jonathan Vilma: B

Though Jonathan Vilma recorded merely one assisted tackle, the stats were not indicative of how he actually played. Along with Jo-Lonn Dunbar, these middle linebackers did a wonderful job of filling the holes against the run. 

Vilma came up aggressively filling the holes, taking on other blockers, allowing other defenders to come up and make key tackles in the run game. 

Vilma was not particularly effective in coverage, though again didn't make any noticeable mistakes.

Linebacker Jo-Lonn Dunbar: B+

Jo-Lonn Dunbar played very physically all day in his efforts to fill holes in the rushing game and in chasing down ball-carriers. 

He missed some open-field tackles, but ultimately made the play of the day on the games final play. At the snap of the ball, Dunbar floated in coverage, prohibiting Chris Johnson from getting open in the end zone. 

As Junior Galette managed to chase Jake Locker out of the pocket, Dunbar read the rookie QB's eyes and flew up faster than a bat out of hell to eliminate Jake Locker's ability to throw the ball into the end zone. 

Though Dunbar didn't play a perfect game, he—like the rest of the Saints defense—did just enough in the end to hold on to a close lead and win the football game. 

CB Tracy Porter: B

Because the Titans were down much of the game, and the Saints' ability to flat out stop the Titans run game, Tracy Porter and the rest of the secondary had a ton of opportunities to make plays. 

Generally speaking, Porter stepped up. Yes, he whiffed on a tackle early in the second half when Chris Johnson had his longest run of the game, but aside from that, Porter was the most consistent defensive back for the Saints. 

His play on the football on the penultimate snap of the game was somewhat reminiscent of his play in the Super Bowl two seasons ago when he read the quick in-breaking route and housed it. In this game, he was only able to knock the football down. 

But Sunday, that was enough to maintain the Saints' smallest of small cushions. 

CB Jabari Greer: C

Though Jabari Greer continued to show elite tackling ability at the line of scrimmage and even in the open field, he did get beat a number of times running across the field by inferior receivers—most notably Nate Washington (a good receiver but not a guy who should be shredding Greer). 

And for some reason, Greer was in the Sky Tampa Two coverage both times Locker found big plays up the seam. Sure, Greer is capable of playing that coverage as safety-type player, but his strength is man-to-man coverage. 

Williams got too cute at the end, as he did a few weeks prior in Atlanta. Greer and his teammates only responded in spite of Williams when in the red zone. 

CB Patrick Robinson: C

Patrick Robinson has become a constant target of many fans when the opponents hit big plays on the Saints secondary. And such animosity is generally well-deserved. 

That being said, Robinson mostly held up in coverage Sunday. His biggest foible was the third-down play when Jake Locker hit Damian Williams on a quick slant. Patrick Robinson came up quickly and whiffed on the tackle, leading to a 54-yard gain. The next play Locker ran around the Saints defense for a six-yard touchdown run and the 10-9 lead.

Robinson did make a nice pass breakup on Williams (shown above) after getting beat deep on another third-down pass. 

S Roman Harper: C-

Perhaps it was the costly penalties, or the lack of plays he made, but Roman Harper had one of his weakest games of 2011 against Tennessee. Being called a dirty player afterward by the Titans' Nate Washington is one thing. 

Facing the wrath of his coaches in film Monday will be even less fun for Harper. He cost his team field position and managed to get beat on a few occasions. Even when he blitzed, he lacked any production or playmaking ability. 

It's not that Harper was at fault for the Titans' big plays Sunday (as he was not in deep coverage on the touchdown), but he didn't help stop the Titans' receiving threats much either. 

S Malcolm Jenkins: B+

For one of the first times all year, Malcolm Jenkins led the Saints in tackles. It's not unusual for that player to be safety, it's just usually his mate Roman Harper. 

Sunday, Jenkins was all over the field, making tackles and some big plays. On the second to last drive of the game, Jenkins came up and made an amazing one-on-one open field tackle that if he had not wrapped the Titan receiver up, he may have gone in for a touchdown. 

Jenkins was also solid playing man-to-man at the end of the game. While I wouldn't give Jenkins the defensive game ball, I would also say that among the secondary, Jenkins' play stood out Sunday against the Titans. 

That is the Jenkins I've come to expect for the Saints.