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5 Takeaways From The Coffin Nailing Saints Loss

The New Orleans Saints are 2-5 after losing 42-34 to the Arizona Cardinals on Thursday night football.  Their hopes of making the playoffs are slim to none right now, so what is there to takeaway from last night’s monstrosity?

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Cesar Ruiz Is Much Improved

Let’s start with some good, the tales of Cesar Ruiz’s improvement are not just hopeful tales of the odd play here and there that show signs of improvement. Ruiz is playing excellently and looks like a player not only worth a first-round pick but, a player worth building around.

Ruiz was opening holes consistently last night in the running game and was an anchor in pass protection, this is something that has been evident all season, last night was a stiff test for him though with J.J Watt and Zach Allen (two very good interior rushers) across from him, a test previously we would have seen Ruiz fail, he passed with flying colours. 

If you are still sceptical given Ruiz’s first two seasons I could see why, well Ruiz even featured this week in Baldy’s breakdown see here-  Brian Baldinger on Twitter: “.@saints @_OverCees has to be one of the most i@proved players at any position in the NFL. From never playing OG, to becoming a force up front to rebuilding and reshaping his body….and it shows. This league will always be about player development #BaldysBreakdowns https://t.co/s5gggAtPRd” / Twitter 

If Ramczyk’s knee doesn’t derail the rest of his career the Saints have a potential elite right side of the offensive line to build around (including center Erik McCoy in this as well).

Add to Trevor Penning, if he comes back from his toe injury and continues to improve at the rate, he was prior to the injury then the Saints have excellent building pieces across the whole line.

Alontae Taylor Needs to Start Going Forward  

Second-round rookie Alontae Taylor saw his first prolonged game snaps last night and looked like the best player in the secondary, he provided sticky coverage and according to the Nick Underhill of NewOrleans.Football only gave up one catch on four/five targets.

The secondary outside of Marshon Lattimore has been a huge disappointment this season, leaving the door wide open for Taylor to win a starting job, he did more than enough last night to warrant more starting snaps going forward.

Once one of the youngest teams in the league, suddenly New Orleans is the second oldest in the league. So, hitting on the limited draft picks they have is even more essential. If Taylor continues to show what he did last night, then he will certainly be added to the hit column at a position that is vital in today’s NFL.

The Defense’s Tackling Is Still A Problem 

It’s got to the point where seeing a player get tackled straight away, without gaining extra yards is far more exciting than it should be.

PFF charted the Saints with 12 missed tackles yesterday, honestly, it felt even worse than that. Cardinal players seemed to be slipping past the first Saints tacklers constantly.

On one play that could have been stopped for a short gain, Cardinals’ sixth-round rookie Keontay Ingram forced 4/5 missed tackles and rumbled for 24 yards. It should have been third and medium around the Cardinals 30, instead, it was first and ten at the Cardinals 49.

This is a basic expectation of a defensive player, I fully appreciated it could tackle on high school football player let alone an NFL one, but this shouldn’t be this yard.

Of course, offensive players make incredible plays from time to time where they make the whole world miss, but these plays aren’t that they are normal plays that every other defense is making against the Saints offense and the fact this is still a problem seven weeks in is hugely worrying and simply put, is losing the Saints games.

Andy Dalton May Have Gifted The Starting Spot Back To Jameis

I really believe Dalton had a clear runway to win the Saints starting QB job, at the very least he had a chance to keep Jameis Winston off the field for longer.

I think that ended last night, at least for now.

Dalton could easily be 4-0 as the Saints starter if a few things broke the team’s way. The biggest reason being if the defense would have played anywhere near the expectations we all had for them. The offense has looked its best this season with Dalton under center. He’s managed to get Alvin Kamara fully involved, he’s been better at identifying and combating the blitz and he’s definitely had the offense in a better rhythm. 

Alas, Dalton now sits at 1-3 and was a massive contributing factor for the Saints losing last night. Dalton threw two awful interceptions one in the RedZone after the Saints had driven 65 yards in 15 plays, the Saints were up 7-3 at this stage. 

His second interception I wouldn’t put on him, he threw a perfectly fine and easy pass to Marquez Callaway, that the receiver bobbled allowing the trailing CB to intercept the pass and return it to the house. 

What was inexcusable was four plays later Dalton threw another pick-6 this time on a pass that was his fault, I could see what he was trying to do he was trying to fit the ball behind the LB to Chris Olave who had broken open behind him. But Dalton couldn’t execute it. 

These interceptions reasonably meant a 17-point swing in the Cardinal’s favour. Three of the board from the Redzone interception, and 14 from the pick-6s.

Instead of going into the half level or possibly up three or seven the Saints went into the half down 14. A gap that was too large to overcome in the second half.

Yes, Winston might not be better in fact, he could be worse. But at this stage you have to see what Winston is, if Dalton is going to turn the ball over, which is Winston’s biggest drawback, without Winston’s arm talent for upside, you might as well play Winston and see if that boom or bust potential can steal you some game down the stretch.

This Team Is So Frustrating 

 Last takeaway and this is more of a personal point, holy Sh*t this time is frustrating.

They have all the talent needed to be a contender in the NFC, probably not a Superbowl team but at the very least a competitive playoff team. 

This team has been completely incapable of playing complimentary football. Taking out the crazy win in week one.

The Saints offense failed them in weeks one and two, had they had merely a bang average offense they win both of those games. 

Then weeks four- seven if the defense played how did in weeks two and three they are 4-0 in that stretch as well.  There’s a perfectly plausible situation where you could argue this team could be 7-0, 5-2 worst 3-4. Instead, they sit 2-5, finding new ways to lose every week, struggling to execute basic fundamentals.

The worst part? normally In a bad season you can look ahead and say well at least we should get a high-end talent in the draft and try to rebuild from that, in this year’s draft possibly a new franchise QB to give the future some hope.

Instead, we have to hear about how great the Eagles front office is for pulling off one of the best draft-related trades in recent memory and what player they will be able to add to an already excellent team.

Is the door completely closed on the Saints turning this around? no, they have the talent and the leadership in the locker room to right the ship, but the task ahead is mammoth and will take a near-perfect run.

Rant over, 11 days now without Saints football I would normally hate it, but frankly, right now an 11-day Saints football detox Is what I need and probably the players do too.

For more Saints articles- https://www.full10yards.co.uk/saints/ 

Please let me know your feedback on this article and the others throughout the season, I’m always looking to improve and add things that people want to read about!

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Week 6: Rookie Standouts

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With this week marking the beginning of the bye weeks ruining many a fantasy football lineup, the NFL landscape remained unchanged as the low and close-scoring games continued. In week 6, these were the rookies that stood out.

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Bailey Zappe, Quarterback – New England Patriots

Bailey Zappe might well be starting to cause Bill Belichick a headache. In his two starts thus far for the Patriots, the 23-year-old rookie has looked impressive, which could put Mac Jones under pressure to ensure he performs when he returns from injury.

Zappe had a great day on Sunday, demonstrating his ability to go through his reads promptly and show good poise in the pocket, but most importantly, he didn’t turn the ball over. Although the young quarterback didn’t have a perfect day, he did become the first rookie in the Super Bowl era to win and record a QB rating of over 100 in each of his first two starts after finishing with 24 completions from 34 attempts for 309 yards and two touchdowns and an impressive 118.4 passer rating. It’ll be interesting to see who suits up next Monday against the Bears.

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Kayvon Thibodeaux, Edge – New York Giants

After missing out on the Giants’ first two games of the season, Thibodeaux has started to increase the pressure on opposing quarterbacks as his snap count has increased, and after multiple close calls last week against reigning MVP Aaron Rogers, this was the game where he was finally rewarded, and ironically, it’s the quarterback he revealed on Reddit in the preseason he most wanted to sack.

With the Giants having just taken the lead, the expectation was that Lamar Jackson would get one more drive to prevent the Ravens from blowing another 4th quarter lead, but Kayvon had other ideas. After blowing past tackle Patrick Mekari, he batted the ball out of Jackson’s hand to record his first sack and forced fumble. It meant a lot to the former duck, as shown by his emotional post-game video.

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Tariq Woolen, Cornerback – Seattle Seahawks

After making it into the honourable mentions list last week, it only felt right that Woolen made it onto this week’s, and it wouldn’t surprise me if the defensive rookie of the year conversations started. Fifth-rounder selections are normally a work in progress for a few seasons, and he was even labelled as a project pick, but Woolen is bucking that trend with dominant performances.

In this week’s outing against the Arizona Cardinals, he had five tackles, one stop, allowed four receptions on seven targets, snagged his fourth interception in his fourth straight game, and is now tied for the NFL lead with the Buffalo Bills’ Jordan Poyer. He also recovered a fumble after fellow rookie (and honourable mention) Coby Bryant stripped a scrambling Kyler Murray of the football in the redzone. Are we starting to see the emergence of a legion of boom 2.0? Time will tell.

Honourable Mentions

Sauce Gardner and Breece Hall (both New York Jets), Coby Bryant (Seattle Seahawks), Daniel Bellinger (New York Giants), and Arnold Ebiketie (Atlanta Falcons)

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Fantasy Recap – Week 6

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Welcome to the fantasy recap in what has been an upside down week. The NFL saw a bunch of underdog winners and with some of the up and down fantasy scores, a number of fantasy matchups probably went against the predictions as well. It’s time to wade through the week and look forward to week 7 where we are going to be missing some big names between the Bills, Rams, Vikings and undefeated Eagles.

NB: Scores based on PPR leagues

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Fantasy Stars:

Joe Burrow (CIN) – 28cmp/300yds/3td/0int + 4rsh/25yds/1td 33pts

Joe Burrow was top of the shop this week and Ja’Marr Chase with 7 receptions for 132yds and 2tds for 32pts was the main beneficiary.

Deon Jackson (IND) – 12rsh/42yds/1td + 10rec/79yds 28pts

With Jonathan Taylor missing once again, Jackson took the reins and the Colts got over their Jags curse. Jackson made a lot of his points in the receiving game but his one TD was on the ground. Matt Ryan and Michael Pittman also had 25+ PPR point games with Ryan having the most passing yards and Pittman the most receptions on the week.

Brandon Aiyuk (SF) – 8rec/83yds/2tds 28pts

Aiyuk is not the kind of player to have a monster game particularly often and in a game where the 49ers lost handily, it’s odd seeing him put up a top 5 WR score, but here we are. 2TDs on 8 receptions will do that for you. Some likely customers like Stefon Diggs and Tyreek Hill were up there too, but in reality, it was a bit of an odd week.

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Surprise Packages:

Marcus Mariota (ATL) – 13cmp/129yds/2td/0int + 6rsh/50yds/1td 24pts

Mariota had not topped 18 points all season until this week and against a top 5 defence and still without Cordarelle Patterson, I’m not quite sure anyone saw him being a QB1 this week. Then again, Teddy Bridgewater, Justin Fields and Bailey Zappe will also be in the top 12 this week…  

Chase Claypool (PIT) – 7rec/96yds/1td 23pts

Claypool had been poor all season but against the Bucs he decided to become unplayable. Mapletron caught all 7 of his targets and made some critical big plays with backup Mitchell Trubisky back in at QB. The Steelers had no right to be competitive in that game, but Trubsiky and Clapypool won it for them.

Mike Gesicki (MIA) – 6rec/69yds/2tds 25pts

If you take away the 2tds it’s a modest stat line but to outscore Andrews and Kelce is worthy of a spot on this list. Another fun note at Tight End was that 3 rookies made the top 12 in Bellinger, Ferguson and Woods, all scoring double digits too.

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Disappointments:

Zach Wilson (NYJ) – 10cmp/110yds/0td/0int + 5rsh/1yds 5pts

I was spoiled for choice this week when it came to disappointments. Rodgers, Brady, Stafford, Geno could all have fit here without having to factor in injuries and diminished weapons. Rodgers scored 10 fantasy points against the Jets but the fact Wilson scored half of that and won the game is extraordinary. Additionally there was a theme here that was too good to miss. Russell Wilson would have also been fitting here, just to give you a hint.

Jeff Wilson (SF) – 7rsh/25yds/1fumlost + 0rec/0yds -1pts

The 49ers looked to have a great matchup against Atlanta but their usual weapons did not perform. Wilson had a terrible time and Tevin Coleman didn’t fare much better. Kareem Hunt and CEH were also options here.

Garret Wilson (NYJ) – 1rec/8yds 2pts

In a game where your team wins 27-10 you’d think one of your best WRs must have had a decent game. Well, I mentioned earlier about Zach Wilson, he only passed for 110 yards and Elijah Moore got 0 of them and Wilson only 8. MVS also deserves to be here with 3 targets and no receptions for a goose egg. What a weird week, especially if you are a Wilson.

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Waiver Wire pickups:

BYE Weeks: BUF, LAR, PHI, MIN

QB – Ryan Tannehill (TEN) – With bye weeks in full force the ownership rates are somewhat woolly so I’ve dropped them here. Speaking of drops, with the Titans on bye last week a lot of teams dropped Tannehill and in week 7 he plays against a very leaky Colts DST. Maybe go grab Robert Woods while you’re at it if he’s available.

Other QB Options – Winston@ARI, Lawrence vsNYG, Garoppolo vsKC.

RB – Brian Robinson (WAS) – Robinson should be heavily owned but some leagues did not take the gamble and he may well be out there. It’s slim pickings otherwise with the likes of Jamaal Williams and Mike Boone potentially the best you can get.

WR – Wandale Robinson (NYG) – The Giants have needed a receiving option outside fo Saquon Barkley and if Robinson can stay fit he could be the guy to get the work. Against the Jags this week he has a shot to build upon the 3 for 37yds and a td he got against the Ravens.

TE – Cade Otton (TBB) – Cameron Brate may not be seen on a football field for a while and rookie Otton seems to have built himself up as the alternative. The next game is against the Carolina Tankers so there’s a chance to score some decent points. 

DST Options – Patriots vsCHI, Packers @WAS, Raiders vsHOU, Broncos vsNYJ.

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5 Takeaways From Another Brutal New Orleans Saints Loss

The Saints are on the doorstep of losing their season, there are plenty of games to go but sitting at 2-4 now leaves no margin for error, they need to win every game they should and a couple they shouldn’t if they are going to make the playoffs. Which a team with this much talent should be doing.

What is there to takeaway from this game from a positive and negative view?

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Saints Running Game is This Team’s Offensive Identity 

Gone are the days of the high-flying Saint’s passing offense led by Drew Brees (oh how we miss you). This Saints team is built to dominate on the ground and did just that yesterday against the Bengals.

The Saints ran for 228 yards on 34 attempts which averaged out at 6.7 yards per carry. That’s a recipe for winning the game nine times out of ten. This game was unfortunately that one.  To add to the frustration of this dominance on the ground not resulting in a win. It’s the first time since 2005 that the Saints lost a game where they ran for over 200 yards.

All three Saints runners were excellent, Kamara again saw the majority of the rushes with 19, and Ingram (9) ended up with more carries than Hill (5). The Bengals did a good job overall against Hill and ended with 39 yards rushing, 31 of those came on one run. 

But this running identity must include Taysom Hill more, his usage almost disappeared in the second half on Sunday, especially in the RedZone which is where he has been at his best this season.

Hill also managed to pick up two first downs throwing, this is why it was mystifying why he wasn’t used more in the RedZone and on the penultimate offensive drive. On that penultimate drive, the Saints needed a couple of first downs to run out the clock up 2 to win the game. 

There has been a lot of criticism of the playing calling on this drive, the Saints went three and out after a pair of three-yard runs and an incomplete pass. I understand the calls that the Saints were too conservative but, the running game had gotten them to this point and if they hadn’t tried to seal the game using the running game then that would have been malpractice as well.

My bigger issue was the lack of Taysom, on the two runs, they put eight defenders in the box on first down and nine on second down. Having Hill at QB would have allowed the Saints to still run if they wanted but crucially Hill could have exploited the packed box with a pass like he had done earlier in the game.

Saints Falter In The RedZone

This game was ultimately lost in the RedZone.

The Saints offense kicked too many field goals. The Saints defense couldn’t hold the Bengals to any.

It’s that simple. The Saints offense made six trips to the RedZone and scored points on all six trips however, only one of those scoring drives was a touchdown, and five were field goals.

Compare that to the Bengals offense who made three trips to the Saints RedZone and scored a TD on all three.  

Entering the game, the Saints were one of the best RedZone offenses at converting trips to touchdowns and the defense was one of the best at stopping touchdowns in the RedZone.

That all crumbled on Sunday and it completely changed the complexation of the game. If the Saints scored one more TD from their six RedZone trips, on the last drive they would have only required a field goal to win the game rather than a TD. The same goes for the defense, one field goal instead of TD.

The Baffling part of the Saints offensive struggles? Why didn’t they use their main offensive RedZone Weapon more? Taysom Hill has been lethal in this area of the field this year and other than a role out pass that didn’t work he didn’t have any touches in the RedZone. 

Dalton Has One More Chance

Seems almost 100% that Dalton will start again this week @ the Cardinals. It’s a short week and Winston still seems like he needs more time to get healthy.

Dalton could have easily shut the door on Winston returning as the starter. He’s been efficient and with some more competent defensive play, he could very easily be 3-0 as the starter if that were the case I don’t think the Saints turn back to Winston.

Now I’m not saying Dalton has been perfect he’s missed some throws, some that Winston might have made and has not done enough in crunch time to see out some games.  

Also adding QB Jameis Winston back into this team, with this running game is an enticing prospect. Winston is one of the best QBs on play-action, with this running game a credible threat, that only gives more credibility to a play-action fake.

If Dalton losses or doesn’t look hugely impressive on Thursday then I think the Saints return to Winston after their ‘mini bye’ for the game against the Raiders. Is that the right decision? only time will tell.

The Secondary Is A Problem

The Saints pass rush did a pretty good job yesterday yes they need to convert pressure into sacks but if Burrow didn’t get the ball out in rapid time the pass rush was there and would have had plenty of sacks. After the first drive it was clear that the Bengals committed to not letting their o-line lose them the game, by dialling up plays where the ball was out of Burrow’s hands fast.

That plan, in previous years, would have suited the Saints defense, this year it sliced them apart. Burrow diced the Saints defense up with quick game because the secondary couldn’t cover for more than a few seconds before someone was open. 

In theory, that should mean shorter gains, but this Saints secondary misses a tonne of tackles turning what should be short gains into first downs and even touchdowns. See Chase’s 60-yard TD for an example of that- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JSHcK9DKGNo .

Yes, they’re down their best cover corner (Marshon Lattimore) but this secondary and its depth were supposed to be the strength of this team. That’s why they basically gave Chauncey Gardner-Johnson away.  

Second-year CB Paulson Adebo was supposed to be taking the next step to becoming great number two corner, two games into his return from injury, he’s not that, he’s not even close, PFF has him chartered as giving up 8 catches from 10 targets for 74 yards and a TD.

Bradley Roby is doing okay but has a huge problem with missed tackles PFF have him missing three tackles in this game alone, one of those being the biggest miss of the game, again see Chase TD.

Then you have Tyrann Mathieu and this may be harsh, but currently looks like a liability. He’s missed his fair share of tackles but also always seems to be in the wrong position when a play could be made. Right now he does not look like the player everyone expected. Maybe he needs more time to acclimate to this defense he missed a fair amount of time in training camp. He may also need time to build chemistry with his safety partner Marcus Maye who’s missed the last three games. Either way, his play needs to improve.

There’s Still Some Room For Hope

Yes, even at 2-4 with all the injuries and that questionable and inconsistent play there is still a slimmer of hope. After the game this Thursday they should get many of their injured players back ( Winston, Thomas, Landry and Lattimore that’s why a win against AZ is essential.

The Saints have 3 winnable games coming up, this Thursday against Arizona (who have their own injury problems) after that its the 1-4 Raiders at home and then after a trip to Baltimore the Saints face either a Kenny Pickett or Mitch Trubisky lead Steelers team.

IF they can win three of those games that would put them 5-5 and that could be good enough to put them first or close to it in a currently poor NFC South.

The margin for error has now gone for the Saints, the loss to a dreadful Carolina team and two games they should have won against the Vikings and the Bengals have eroded that away. There can be no more excuses, a loss to the Cardinals this week ends the slither of hope I have left for this team.

For more Saints articles New Orleans Saints – https://www.full10yards.co.uk/saints/

Please let me know your feedback on this article and the others throughout the season, I’m always looking to improve and add things that people want to read about!

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Five Things: Week 6 – Baltimore Ravens at New York Giants

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The Giants’ confidence was sky high after coming off the massive high that was the shock win against the Green Bay Packers in London. Unfortunately, they once again started slowly and, although they walked away with the win here to take their record to 5-1 it wasn’t without drama. Let’s take a look at five things that stood out this week:

Convincing? No. Deserved? Yes.

Offensively, in the first half, the Giants looked largely off the pace as Balitmore constantly kept us from sustaining a drive. Aside from the touchdown drive, which was sparked by Gary Brightwell’s 47-yard kick-off return, the Giants had 14 plays across four drives, including two 3 and outs and one drive at the end of the half that ended with a fumble and recovery, albeit on a meaningless hail-mary attempt.

Continuing the recent trend, we were much better in the 2nd half of the game on both fronts, with the offence converting in the redzone when needed, but again it was the Wink Martindale-led defence that stepped up to the plate late in the 4th quarter. Time was running out after trailing for most of the second half. The breakthrough was made after the Giants secured their first interception of the season and a forced fumble plus recovery on the following Ravens drive, which ultimately stopped their potent attack from scoring again.

The Achilles Heel

As great as it was to get the win, we can’t ignore that for the majority of the game, the Ravens’ rushing attack and their tight ends were having a field day against our linebackers as they gave up chunk play after chunk play.

The Lamar to Mark Andrew connection was in full flow throughout the game, topped off as Andrews hauled in a touchdown early in the 4th quarter. He finished with 106 yards on 7 passes, for a ridiculous 15.1 yards per reception.

On the ground, both Lamar and Kenyan Drake had our number. The journeyman running back, Drake, sliced through our defensive front time and time again, finishing with 119 yards on 10 carries and a touchdown. Jackson had 77 yards himself on 7 carries, meaning they combined for almost 200 yards at a rate of 11.5 yards a carry.

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Rookies Show Up

It’s been a slow start for some of our rookies thanks to niggling injuries. First rounder Kayvon Thibodeaux only made his debut in week three, and second rounder Wan’Dale Robinson was returning to the line-up after suffering an MCL injury in week one.

Robinson was the first of the rookies to make an impact as he caught a dart from Daniel Jones to tie the game up at 7-7.

Next up was Bellinger, who ended the game as the Giants’ leading receiver with 38 yards on five receptions. He also added a touchdown in the middle of the fourth quarter, which took his touchdown streak up to two games in a row.

Lastly, Thibodeaux was a menace all game and consistently got within grasping distance of Lamar Jackson but couldn’t get that elusive first career sack. Just when it looked like it wasn’t going to be his day, he got himself a nice double towards the end of the game as he recorded not only a sack but his first forced fumble too. The icing on the cake for him will have been that it was essentially a game-sealing play.

Barkley and Jones Tough It Out

Both Barkley and Jones came into today’s game nursing slight ailments, with Barkley still feeling the effects of the shoulder injury he sustained in last week’s London game and Jones dealing with both a niggling ankle injury and a scabby turf injury on his hand. On the surface, it looked like Jones’s injury barely bothered him, though it was clear he didn’t have that burst of speed he’d shown in the weeks prior, as he failed to take advantage of some of the holes the Ravens’ defence afforded him.

Barkley, on the other hand, was clearly feeling the effects of his shoulder injury as he had a quiet day compared to the lofty standards he has set for himself so far this season. His longest rush of the game was only 8 yards, as although he carried the ball 22 times, he finished with 83 yards and a touchdown against what had previously this season been a porous Ravens run defence.

Love’ly Jubbly

As mentioned before, the Giants didn’t have a single interception coming into today’s game, and when Fabian Moreau dropped what looked like an easy interception after Mark Andrews’ drop/deflection of a Lamar Jackson pass, it looked like it would never come. Enter Julian Love.

The fourth-year safety from Notre Dame, who leads the Giants in tackles this season alongside cornerback Adoree Jackson, had already made an important play in the 1st quarter, denying what looked like a sure-fire touchdown to Demarcus Robinson by launching himself in front of the receiver. The most important play, though, came late in the fourth quarter, with the Giants still down by three points. Lamar Jackson fumbled a snap and after recovering it, he threw an ill-advised pass up into the air, which Love gratefully accepted and returned 27 yards to the Balitmore 13-yard line. Four plays later, the Giants took the lead, and after Saquon Barkley’s smart football play to slide down before the endzone, the Ravens never saw the ball again.

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5 things to look out for in Week 6

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Buffalo Bills, Kansas City Chiefs rematch and NFC East nail-biter standout in stacked Week 6 slate

1. Ravens travel to the big apple to play in-form Giants

The 4-1 New York Giants pulled off an impressive comeback win over the Packers in London last week, after Daniel Jones and Saquon Barkley came in clutch and Wink Martindale’s defense stepped up to shut down Rodgers and co when needed. 

Lamar Jackson’s Baltimore Ravens are in town and are hitting form at the right time, having just taken the lead of the AFC North after beating their divisional rival Bengals.

Contrary to their first two home games, the defense was able to eliminate big plays, more of that on Sunday will go a long way towards finding the consistency needed to contend in January.

2. Minnesota Vikings in Miami to play banged up Dolphins

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It’s perhaps the perfect time for Minnesota to play Mike McDaniel’s Dolphins, who could be missing multiple starters.

7th round rookie QB Skylar Thompson will make his first start for the Fins, after Teddy Bridgewater joined Tua Tagovailoa in concussion protocol this week, whilst Terron Armstead and Raheem Mostert are questionable and Austin Jackson and Byron Jones remain on IR.

The Vikings are looking hot right now, having won three close games in a row, righting last years wrongs as the team that lost the most games by one score in 2021.

3. Two LSU legends return to the state to face the New Orleans Saints

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LSU Tigers legends Joe Burrow and Jamarr Chase return to Louisiana on Sunday as their Cincinnati Bengals play the Saints at the Caesars Superdome, the very stadium where the Tigers became national champions.

New Orleans’ defensive line will be a tough test for a Bengals pass protection unit that has looked better in recent games, a great time to see where they’re at.

It’ll be intriguing to see what Dennis Allen does with Marshon Lattimore, will he shadow Chase, like he did Jefferson in London, or cover one of Higgins and Boyd, with the superstar WR being double covered. 

4. Chiefs and Bills back to play in rematch of the greatest playoff game. 

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The Kansas City Chiefs welcome the Buffalo Bills to Arrowhead in the rematch of the 2021 Divisional Round game, potentially the greatest contest we’ve ever seen.

Buffalo beefed up their pass-rush with Von Miller to get to Patrick Mahomes this year, whilst the home team used the cap space left after trading Tyreek to upgrade their own defense, one that needs to contain Josh Allen.

This one could be the game of the year, certainly the game of the week, why wouldn’t it be when it features the two most complete teams in the league, it’s a shame they can’t meet in the Super Bowl.

5. Cooper Rush’s Dallas Cowboys out to give rival Philadelphia Eagles their first loss

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In what could be Dallas’ final game without Dak Prescott they have a chance to go 5-1 and end their bitter rivals unbeaten start.

NBC has what may turn out to be one of the better primetime games we’ve seen this year, who would’ve thought that when the Cowboys were forced to turn to their backup QB.

With Micah Parsons good to go, Dallas has certainly got the defense to hamper Jalen Hurts and co, he’s turning into one of the best players in the whole league. 

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Week Six- New Orleans Saints Vs Cincinnati Bengals Preview 

The Saints look to be walking into the dome badly wounded but, not dead. Let’s take a look at how this version of the Saints, down many starters, matchup to last season’s Superbowl runners-up the Cincinnati Bengals.

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Saints Offense Vs Bengals Defense

It’s expected that the Saints will give Andy Dalton at least one more start this week, Jameis Winston has been limited in practice this week and has looked healthier. It makes sense with how efficient the offense has been under Dalton to give Winston another game or two to make sure he’s as close to full health as possible before inserting him back into the line-up.

Dalton will need to continue his efficient play under center this week as he will almost definitely be without Michael Thomas and Jarvis Landry again, there is hope that Chris Olave will be available for the game after returning to practice on a limited basis following his concussion on Sunday Vs Seattle.

Adam Schefter who’s usually a reliable source tweeted last week that the Saints expected Thomas back this week and the fact he is still not practising is concerning, after the debacle of MT’s ankle injury this has shades of how that was reported, maybe it’s just the Saints preserving him going into a short week against Arizona next week on Thursday night, that’s what I’m hoping.

If the Saints have Olave available then that’s good enough for the passing offense to function with a healthy dose of Alvin Kamara mixed too. 

Speaking of Kamara this has to be another strong rushing game, the offense has to play complimentary football, shorten the game and keep a defense without Marshon Lattimore against Ja’Marr Chase fresh.

Kamara had his best game of the season last week and was running was more noticeable burst than he’s had recently, he did have another costly fumble, to continue the theme of the offense needing to play complimentary football that can’t happen this week, nor going forward. The Saints offense needs to be able to rely on its best player not to make killer mistakes so they can feed him because when you do that special things happen.

The Bengals defense has allowed 4.2 yards per carry so far this season, which ranks 10th best in the league. They are without arguably their best-run defender this week with DJ Reader on IR. They managed to bottle up Lamar Jackson last week for only 4.8 YPC last week, which is about as good as you can hope for. That was also a perfect matchup for them to help in the preparation for the Saints own mobile QB weapon.

Enter Taysom Hill, along with Kamara he needs plenty of touches early and often if the Saints are going to win this game. More on Taysom vs the Bengals here- Analysing Three Key Saints Matchups To Watch in Week Six – Full10Yards.

The Bengals defense enters the dome as one of the better units in the league and so far looks like the best defense in this game. Trey Hendrickson returns to New Orleans and leads a stout d-line, Hendrickson has been a force on the edge since his last season for the Saints, which has only continued for the Bengals.  The Saints o-line will have a handful this weekend with him and Sam Hubbard on the edge and B.J Hill on the inside.

The secondary for Cincinnatti is led by another former Saint Vonn Bell, the Saints chose to sign veteran Malcolm Jenkins over Bell in free agency a few years ago, something he hasn’t forgotten, he was quoted this week by Cincinnati media “ they drafted me, yeah, and I appreciate the opportunity. But they moved on from me. You never forget that.” 

Chidobe Awuzie leads the CBs, he’s only allowing 42.4% of the passes thrown his way to be completed with 4 PBUs and a 62.4 passer rating when targeted. He will give the Saints WRs all they can handle this weekend. Opposite him is Saints reject Eli Apple starting opposite, who has played well so far this year but expect New Orleans to target him frequently rather than Awuzie.

Saints Defense Vs Bengals Offense

The Saints defense is expected to be without their best cover CB on Sunday Marshon Lattimore is expected to be out after bruising his kidney against Seattle last week. Every week is a bad week to be without your best CB, this week hurts especially with Ja’Marr Chase making his return to the Superdome for the first time since his days at LSU.

Paulson Adebo will need to step up after a dier showing against Seattle last week. Hopes were high for  Adebo entering his second season, he was widely considered to be the training camp MVP and most improved player on the defense before suffering an ankle injury that sidelined up for the first 2 games of the regular season. 

It’s expected that Bradley Roby will start opposite him this week, Roby had been manning the slot since Adebo’s return. posing the question who starts in the slot? do the Saints return to Justin Evans? who started in the slot at the start of the year. Or do they go with Chris Harris Jr. who was an elite slot CB for most of his career but he is in the twilight of his career at this stage, so who knows how effective he will be at this stage?

Whoever mans the slot will have their hands full with one of the better slot WRs in the league Tyler Boyd. Outside of Boyd and Chase, the Bengals have their own question mark surrounding their number two WR Tee Higgins, an elite big play machine who will be questionable this week after missing practice at the start of the week with a knee injury, before some limited participation today.

The Saints should have safety Marcus Maye back this week which should help this Saints defense defend big plays. More on the secondary’s issues with big plays here- https://www.full10yards.co.uk/analysing-three-key-saints-matchups-to-watch-in-week-six/ .

Having Maye back should also allow HC/defensive coordinator Dennis Allen to use Tyrann Mathieu in the way he envisioned when Mathieu was signed, a more free-flowing playmaker at safety who can line up anywhere, without too many responsibilities. That’s the version of the Honey Badger the Saints need on Sunday.

The Saints also shouldn’t have to stack the box to defend the run this week. Despite having one of the better RBs in the league, the Bengals running game has been stagnant. Joe Mixon is averaging 3.1 yards per carry so far this season. Without having to stack the box the Saints can live in NICKEL (2LBs, 5DBs), which should also help against the pass.

Cam Jordan and the rest of the Saints d-line should have an advantageous matchup this week against a porous Bengals o-line. If the Saints d-line, especially Marcus Davenport doesn’t dominate this week and they need to help limit the big plays against this Bengals passing attack, then I don’t know when they will. More on Davenport and the Bengals o-line here- https://whodathype.com/2022/10/14/bold-saints-predictions-saints-bengals/ .

State Of The Rosters

No surprises for the Saints, Olave being upgraded to full is a huge development, but his status for the game is still up in the air. Fingers crossed he plays, with Michael Thomas and Jarvis Landry out the Saints need their standout rookie.

On the Bengals side Tee Higgins and Jonah Williams missed practice all week but practised on a limited basis on Friday, I’m sure they will play, there’s been no reporting on that its just big players, especially WRs always seem to find a way to play when the Saints are the opponent. If Higgins doesn’t play that would be a huge help to the Saints secondary.

Score Prediction 

I’ve predicted the Saints to win every game this season so far, but with the injuries, I don’t think I can this game. There’s a path for the Saints to win if the running game dominates and the defense limits big plays they can win. Of course, I hope they do win, but I think the injuries are just too much to overcome this week.

28-20 Bengals win.

For more Saints articles New Orleans Saints – Full10Yards 

Please let me know your feedback on this article and the others throughout the season, I’m always looking to improve and add things that people want to read about!

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Analysing Three Key Saints Matchups To Watch in Week Six

The Saints are wounded entering their Week Six matchup with the Cincinnati Bengals but there are still some matchups that if the Saints win should give them the edge on Sunday.

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Taysom Hill Vs Everybody

Taysom Hill is an incredible offensive weapon, not just because of his game last week Vs Seattle. Taysom has always been a weapon. Even before last week, he was averaging 5.6 yards per carry in his NFL career.

With the talent Hill has shown in his weapon role in the NFL, it’s confusing why Hill has not been a consistent weapon throughout his career week in and week out. Could It be Fumbles? (10 fumbles in 2020) injuries? he missed 8 games last season. Worried about the starting QB getting out of rhythm? truth is it could be a mixture of all. Either way, New Orleans needs to make him a focal point of what they do week in and week out.

Hill has had dominant games like last week in the past and then inexplicably the next week he’s barely used. At times it’s because he’s been the team’s primary backup at QB. Others the lack of usage has been a mystery.

That lack of consistent usage can’t happen again this week. The Saints have the makings of an offensive identity with a creative running game led by Taysom Hill and Alvin Kamara.

The Taysom Hill package is one of the more creative packages in the league and one of the biggest headaches for opposing defenses. What player can make four defenders stare solely at them? Allowing a TE a completely free release up the seam for a touchdown? See the evidence of that in the tweet below:

Sean FazendeFOX8 on Twitter: “Seahawks 6, 57, 56, 26 all staring down Taysom Perfect call at the perfect time by Pete Carmichael https://t.co/9e8bFIRAnx” / Twitter

That identity is even more important this week, as it stands the Saints will not have their top three WRs (Michael Thomas, Chris Olave and Jarvis Landry) available this weekend and the offense needs to continue its efficiency a lot of that efficiency has been built off the run, allowing the play-action passes to be particularly effective.

Since becoming the starter Dalton has had 11 completions from 12 attempts for 131 yards. That may not sound that exciting, but those throws are creating chunk plays in the passing game that are keeping drives alive. Without the top three WRs this weekend the need for play-action passes to be a creditable threat is even more important.

Saints Secondary Vs Big Plays

It’s looking very likely Marshon Lattimore will be out this weekend which is a huge blow for the Saints secondary, they lose their best cover CB and one of their better tacklers at the position as well.

Even with Lattimore available for the majority of last week, the Saints defense gave up a crazy amount of big plays (six plays of 32 yards or more) now one of those was a run however if you watch that I think the secondary is a big part as to why Kenneth Walker ran for 69 yards into the endzone.

This cannot continue to be a factor and this week on paper it shouldn’t, per Marcus Mosher on Twitter, the Bengals offense has the second least amount of big plays on offense so far this season with 21, (eight rushes of 10+ yards and 13 pass plays of more than 20 yards).

Traditionally the Bengals offense with Joe Burrow and Ja’Marr Chase has been a big play threat, they road this ability all the way to the Superbowl last season.

Marcus Mosher on Twitter: “Most big plays through Week 5: https://t.co/5eHcwylxkz” / Twitter

What makes the Saints defensive struggles so frustrating is they are dominating in three important metrics (third down percentage, fourth down percentage and red-zone percentage) as pointed out on Twitter by John Sigler (below)

John Sigler on Twitter: “Through 5 games, the Saints have the NFL’s 2nd-best defense on 3rd downs (29.9%, 20-for-67) 4th downs (25%, 1-for-4) Red zone (33.3%, 4-for-12) Winning where it matters most.” / Twitter

If the Saints can keep the big plays to a minimum this defense will dominate and ascend to where they belong (a top 5 unit in the league).

Saints Offense Vs Turnovers

Turnovers are still a massive problem for this Saints offense, even with Andy Dalton at the helm rather than Jameis Winston.

With Dalton starting the Saints offense has three turnovers, two of those have been Dalton (one Interception and a fumble) the other was Alvin Kamara lost fumble last week.

Yes, the offense has looked better and more in rhythm with Dalton leading the charge but they are still plagued with a problem that will cause them to lose a lot of games that they should win.

Kamara also has another fumble against Carolina and Week Three, I don’t bank on this continuing (Kamara has never lost more than two fumbles in a season since he entered the NFL but one of the players you want to give the ball to the most have two lost fumbles already is pause for concern.

The fumbles especially fall on the players of course but also the coaching staff, HC Dennis Allen needs to find a way to rectify one of the team’s biggest issues.

Former HC Sean Payton had some choice words for Mark Ingram on Kay Adams morning show, Up and Adams

With the possibility of being without many key players on Sunday, it’s going to be hard enough for the Saints to beat their opponent let alone having to beat themselves as well.

For more Saints articles New Orleans Saints – https://www.full10yards.co.uk/saints/

Please let me know your feedback on this article and the others throughout the season, I’m always looking to improve and add things that people want to read about!

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Week 5: Rookie Standouts

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As we now move into the second quarter of the season, we’re starting to see some rookies start to cement their place in the standings for Defensive and Offensive Rookie of the Year. In week 5, these were the rookies that stood out.

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Dameon Pierce, Running Back – Houston Texans

My first returning player to these rankings, and he’s done it back to back! After last week’s amazing effort against the Los Angeles Chargers, Pierce took a deserved spot on this list despite being on the losing side. This time, however, he drove the Texans to their first win of the season after a low-scoring close affair against the Jacksonville Jaguars.

Not only did Pierce punch in the go-ahead touchdown that gave the Texans their first win of the season, but he also had 3 receptions for 16 yards and 26 carries for 99 yards. These are not amazing numbers if you just look at the basic stats, but when you take into account that 97 of those yards were after contact, it’s just ridiculous. In fact, just watch this angry run below.

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Sauce Gardner, Cornerback – New York Jets

Sauce has been unlucky to not appear in these rankings yet, but there was no way I could ignore him as he helped the Jets defence dominate the Miami Dolphins from their very first play from scrimmage.

Teddy Bridgewater, who was playing in the place of the injured Tua Tagovailoa, lined up to take his first snap of the game and an unblocked Sauce unloaded on him, driving him to the dirt and forcing an intentional grounding penalty and subsequent safety as Bridgewater threw the ball in the endzone.

Sauce finished the game with 5 tackles, 1 pass defended, and his first career interception. He also finished with an allowed passer rating of 34.2, which is worse than if the Dolphins QB had just spiked it every play.

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Breece Hall, Running Back – New York Jets

So not only do I have my first returning player, but I also have two players from the same team for the first time this year. If Sauce helped the Jets dominate the Dolphins defensively, then Hall was the standout on offence as he displayed why he could be the next dual-threat running back weapon.

In what can be considered his breakout game, Hall had a monstrous day, picking up an incredible 100 yards on a measly 2 receptions, as well as having 18 carries for 97 yards and a touchdown, his first in the NFL. The twenty-one-year-old Hall, who was drafted in the second round by the Jets, is now leading all rookies in scrimmage yards and is on the verge of breaking into the top ten among all NFL players.

Honorable Mentions

For the first time this season, I wanted to give a couple of honorable mentions to a trio of cornerbacks who just missed out on a spot. Those are Tariq Woolen (Seattle Seahawks), Jack Jones (New England Patriots), and Derek Stingley (Houston Texans).

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Five Things: Week 5 – New York Giants at Green Bay Packers

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The Giants returned to our shores this week and shocked everyone with a 27-22 come-from-behind victory over the Green Bay Packers. Let’s take a look at five things that stood out from London:

London Calling

The Giants must really love coming to London. Not only is the team now 3-0 in the city, but they’re also the only team to win three games in three different London stadiums (Wembley in 2007, Twickenham in 2016 and Tottenham this past weekend).

Despite being 3-1, the Giants opened as 7.5-point underdogs against Aaron Rogers and his Green Bay Packers team, and looking at the rosters, it was totally understandable. The Giants were without multiple starters, including starting defensive player Leonard Williams, and after the first half of the game went the way of the cheeseheads (and their huge following), the Giants rallied at half time. After shutting out Green Bay in the second half despite more injury woes, Big Blue scored two unanswered touchdowns via running backs Gary Brightwell and Saquon Barkley before Oshane Ximines sacked Rogers on the final play of the game.

Box of Tricks

The Wildcat formation was obviously something that the Giants had in their back pocket after successfully running it a few times last week. Due to injuries to both quarterbacks, that was a necessity last week; this week, it was more of an option to unsettle the Packers, and it worked.

Barkley lined up on his own 22-yard line, took the snap and darted through for 40 yards. Suddenly, the tails were up, and Big Blue had started to string something together. A few plays later, they found themselves on the cusp of the endzone. In what looked like a failed Philly special, Daniel Jones tossed it to Barkley, who then did the same to tight end Daniel Bellinger. Bellinger looked like he was going to throw the ball but decided to just barrel into the endzone for the Giants’ first touchdown of the game.

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2nd Half Shutout

Wink Martindale seems to use the first half as a learning session before executing his masterplan in the second half, and this time it was Rogers who was in the crosshairs. After Adoree Jackson was ruled out at the half with a knee injury, he was down to Fabian Moreau, Nick McCloud, and Justin Layne, three players who weren’t even on the Giants roster until after the preseason, but all three excelled in their next man up roles.

After completing 18 of 24 for 146 yards and two touchdowns in the first half, he was held to a paltry 7 of 15 for 76 yards and no touchdowns. The amazing thing at the end of all of this is that the only points scored by the Packers in the second half were done so by the Giants, as punter Jamie Gillian got to play a little bit of chase in the endzone before stepping out for a safety.

Slayton Shows Up

The Giants’ receivers had been the most underwhelming unit this season, and after the majority of the so-called big names had been ruled out by injuries, the Giants turned to fourth-year outcast Darius Slayton.

Slayton has found himself on the outside looking in since Brian Daboll and Joe Schoen took over and was touted as being an almost certain cut or trade candidate before the season.

Though he saw a return to the line-up last week, again he didn’t start as practice squad elevation Marcus Johnson started the game, but by the end, Slayton showed why it should be him next week. He led the team in both targets and receptions and comfortably had double the receiving yards of any other Giant receiver. With Kenny Golladay, Kadarius Toney and Wan’Dale Robinson unlikely to take the field together for at least a few more weeks, the Giants won’t think twice next time about relying on Slayton.

Coach(es) of the Year Incoming?

In their first year leading the team, general manager Joe Schoen, head coach Brian Daboll, offensive coordinator Mike Kafka, and defensive coordinator Wink Martingdale have had quite an eventful start to the season as the team has exceeded expectations to earn their 4-1 start.

Daboll and Schoen have overhauled the culture at the Giants, building a team that not only does the dirty, gritty work but genuinely looks like they are playing for each other. The old cliché is “next man up,” but this is a mantra they are playing by and, to a man, it is working.

The coordinators, as mentioned before, both got the absolute best out of the personnel at their disposal, whether it was Kafka getting creative with his play calling to bamboozle the Green Bay defense or Wink, despite missing key pieces, stifling Rogers’ air attack and holding the Packers’ dangerous rushing tandem of Aaron Jones and A.J. Dillon to a combined 97 yards.