New Orleans Saints Week 16 Report Card: Grading Each Starter vs. the Falcons

It's rather unnecessary to review the film before handing out grades of the New Orleans Saints' NFC South Division clinching 45-16 victory over their arch-nemesis—the Atlanta Falcons.  

What does seem necessary is basking in the glory of the Saints' most lopsided victory over Atlanta under Sean Payton (all week, we talked about how the Saints have dominated the Atlanta Falcons under Sean Payton). 

It's not the Super Bowl, or even the NFC championship, but Monday night's victory was definitely worth celebrating. And there wasn't even much to complain about postgame.

That's about all a team can ask for when playing on Monday night. 

QB Drew Brees: A

There's not enough words in the English language to proclaim how amazing Drew Brees has been since he arrived in New Orleans six seasons ago. But for most common fans, Brees is just a good quarterback. 

Perhaps after Monday night's record-clinching performance, fans outside of New Orleans will actually recognize Drew Brees as the finest quarterback in the league—which of course Saints fans know he is. 

Brees was magical moving around in the pocket, avoiding the rush and throwing receivers open—especially on third down. 

He did make a few poor throws—neither of which resulted in interceptions. If they had, Brees may have had three or four, instead of the scary two he already had. 

Nonetheless, 23-of-39 for 307 yards and four touchdowns is a sturdy and solid performance if there ever was one. 

And the record, well you already know about it. Simply incredible!

RBs Chris Ivory, Darren Sproles and Pierre Thomas: A

Perhaps, the only negative one could say about the performance of the running backs on Monday night was the 15-yard penalty the Saints were assessed after Pierre Thomas' heart-warming, bow-wrapped touchdown football after he scored the game's initial touchdown. 

Aside from that, Thomas ran hard, quick, and efficiently—racking up 53 yards on just nine carries. Darren Sproles was slightly more explosive—finishing with 67 yards on only five carries. Chris Ivory was the Saints' bruiser at the position, though his numbers—eight carries for 35 yards—didn't equal his true production. 

In sum, the group accrued 155 yards rushing—Drew Brees added nine yards on one scramble early in the fourth quarter. 

The trio did not help much in the passing game—at least on the receiving end. That said, Darren Sproles had an incredibly important pickup of an oncoming pass-rusher which allowed Brees to step up and find an open man on a third down.

That play helped set the tone for the rest of the game. 

TE Jimmy Graham: A-

Jimmy Graham corralled an incredible rebound off a post-up in the second quarter which gave the New Orleans Saints a 21-10 lead. Of course that rebound was off an incredible scramble and jump ball Brees threw into the back right corner of the end zone. 

Other than that, Graham was as good running after the catch as he's been all year long. 

But one play bothers me when thinking of Graham. In the second quarter, the Saints were rolling along offensively. The Saints were in the red zone, again! Drew Brees threw a perfect seam pass to Graham.

But Graham seemed to have more butter on his hands than normal, as the ball somehow didn't end up in his grasp, ultimately being knocked away by William Moore, then backwards into the hands of an Atlanta corner. 

It cost Drew Brees an interception. More importantly, it cost the Saints seven points. That's the sort of play Graham must make to become great.

Until then, he's just really really good. 

WRs Marques Colston, Lance Moore, Robert Meachem and Devery Henderson: B+

This unit had its highest percentage of receptions and yards, relative to the rest of the team, that it's had all season. And it accounted for two of the team's four touchdown receptions. 

And the unit was outstanding blocking in the run game—which helped lead to 164 yards on the ground. 

Yet, Devery Henderson dropped a few passes in traffic, and Lance Moore left in the second quarter and didn't play in the second half due to an apparent leg injury.

It wasn't all good for the wide receivers on Monday night, though with 15 receptions and 239 yards, the unit contributed more to Drew Brees' record night than any other unit. 

Offensive Line: B+

The unit did help the Saints accumulate 164 yards on the ground. But they weren't quite as effective protecting Drew Brees as they were last week versus Minnesota or in the team's matchup in Week 10 in Atlanta. 

The unit only allowed one sack, but that was mostly due to the acrobatics and agility of the master Brees. 

Defensive Ends: B+

New Orleans managed to hold the Falcons to 35 rushing yards—which is mostly a testament to the play of the defensive tackles, but the ends did a wonderful job of keeping Michael Turner from getting to the edge and forcing him to cut back into other other defenders. 

As a pass-rushing unit, it has to be the best group in the league which doesn't record a high sack total. It seems like Will Smith or Junior Galette are always in the face of the opposing quarterback—forcing a quick throw, batting a pass down, or every now and then, actually bringing the QB down. 

Monday night, despite not getting Matt Ryan down on the ground, the unit did force Ryan to throw quickly multiple times, while also knocking down several passes. 

Defensive Tackles: B+

Sedrick Ellis made a play where he actually chased down Michael Turner and brought him down in open space. 

That play was indicative of the effort the line did in containing Michael Turner and the Falcons' running game.

And while the Falcons became one-dimensional, the tackles continued chasing and made life very difficult on Matt Ryan. 

Linebackers: A-

Between Jonathan Vilma, Jo-Lonn Dunbar and Scott Shanle, the linebackers were around the football all night making tackles, nearly intercepting passes and bringing down guys with the ball before they reached the first-down marker. 

Additionally, Ramon Humber came to knock the football out of Julio Jones' arms in the fourth quarter—a play that would lead to a scoop and score from safety Malcolm Jenkins. 

It's the kind of play the Saints have come to expect from their linebacking corps. 

Safeties Malcolm Jenkins and Roman Harper: B+

Both Roman Harper and Malcolm Jenkins came out of the football game due to injuries in the second half. In fact, on one series, both players were out of the game. Yet, the Saints defense still managed to hold the Falcons out of the end zone on that possession. 

It's a tribute to the other levels of the defense, and Gregg Williams' ability to adjust with certain members of his defense missing. 

Of course, Jenkins coming through with the big touchdown is easy to remember—and rightly so. But it was Jenkins' making key pass breakups and hits on receivers which were most important to this Saints' defensive effort. 

Harper didn't play his finest football game, but obviously did nothing to hurt the effort of the defense. 

Cornerbacks Jabari Greer and Tracy Porter: A-

Jabari Greer exhibited exceptional tackling ability on numerous occasions, registering eight tackles.

In fact, his effort to come up and tackle at the line of scrimmage rubbed off on the other corners, as Tracy Porter and Patrick Robinson both exhibited improved tackling ability. 

In coverage, Robinson played perhaps his most solid game of the season. Porter was OK, and Greer was his normal self—regularly coming up to make plays on the football. 

The yardage given up was nowhere near indicative of how the defense actually played.

Sixteen points and only one touchdown given up is much truer to the team's performance. 

Special Teams: A

Whether it was Darren Sproles' 92-yard kickoff return or Thomas' Morstead's consistent touchbacks, the special teams was great. 

It helped set up field position and put the offense and defense in good situations. And that's just one reason the Saints won so easily on Monday night.