Saints Snap Counts and Observations from Week 12

The Saints did plenty of things to beat the 49ers on Sunday, but they ended up missing another opportunity this season.

Losses by the Saints have become increasingly frustrating to see, and Sunday's game against the 49ers was just another textbook example of the team letting another winnable game slip through their grasp. We close the book on the team's eighth loss of the season by looking over the snap counts from Week 12 with some observations from the game.

Offense

Nov 27, 2022; Santa Clara, California, USA; New Orleans Saints tight end Taysom Hill (7) runs past San Francisco 49ers linebacker Azeez Al-Shaair (51) in the third quarter at Levi's Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Cary Edmondson-USA TODAY Sports

• Andrus Peat, Cesar Ruiz, Ryan Ramczyk, James Hurst, Josh Andrews - 57 (100%)
  The Saints turned in 260 total yards of offense on the day, finishing with 63 on the ground and 197 in the air. They went 4-of-11 on 3rd Down, losing the time of possession battle 34:50-25:10. New Orleans had plenty of opportunities on offense, but were unable to capitalize. Needless to say, the offensive line was unable to help get much going on the ground, and Dalton was sacked just once on the day. It's crazy to think that the team couldn't get any points on the board in this game, but it's also been that kind of season.
• Andy Dalton - 49 (86%)
  Dalton finished 18-of-29 for 204 yards and ended up being the team's leading rusher with 21 yards on 4 carries. Dalton shouldn't carry much blame on why the Saints lost. The real lone criticism for his day was missing Kamara near the goal line on a play where he was wide open. He just didn't see him. It'd be hard to see any quarterback changes for the rest of the season, but these next two games are crucial for the Saints and count for double.
• Alvin Kamara, Chris Olave - 38 (67%)
  Kamara had two costly fumbles in the game, which included a big one near the goal line. Kamara was ineffective in the run game, carrying the ball 7 times for 13 yards, while catching 6 passes for 37 yards on 7 targets. Seeing your big players make big mistakes is not a good sign. He has to bounce back against the Bucs. As for Olave, he finished with 5 catches for 62 yards on 9 targets and should have had a big catch that ended up being overturned after originally being called a reception. There was another play where he could have caught a pass, but just couldn't find it.
• Adam Trautman - 36 (61%)
  He caught his lone target for 17 yards on a play where Dalton wanted something bigger. The Saints will take those plays all day, however.
• Jarvis Landry - 32 (56%)
  Landry was targeted 4 times and caught 2 passes for 20 yards. There was a play in the end zone he was calling for interference, but the officials didn't call it.
• Rashid Shaheed - 30 (53%)
  Shaheed caught 2 of his 3 targets for 53 yards, which were both big hookups. 
• Taysom Hill - 28 (49%)
  Hill had 6 carries for 13 yards, catching 1 of his 2 targets for 7 yards while missing his lone pass. The run game wasn't working with him in the mix, and New Orleans ran a play where he was subbed in for Landry and saw his number called in the end zone on a catch he didn't make.
• Juwan Johnson - 27 (47%)
  Johnson was targeted twice, but didn't register anything on the stat sheet in this game.
• Kevin White - 18 (32%)
• Mark Ingram - 17 (30%)
  Ingram's return saw him carry the ball 4 times for 10 yards while being targeted once with no catches.
• Tre'Quan Smith - 15 (26%)
• Adam Prentice - 8 (14%)
• Trevor Penning - 6 (11%)
  Penning was used in jumbo sets, and had a costly face mask penalty that wiped out a big pass interference call on Chris Olave. There was another play where he was lined up on the right side of the formation when the Saints were deep inside their own territory where he got beat badly in pass protection. He'll be better, but it's good he knocked some rust off.
• Dwayne Washington - 1 (2%)

Defense

• Kaden Elliss, Marcus Maye, Demario Davis, Paulson Adebo - 70 (100%)
  New Orleans did everything imaginable on defense to limit the 49ers offense. They finished with 317 total yards of offense (96 rushing, 221 passing), going 5-of-13 on 3rd Down. They came up with some key stops overall, including a big 4th-and-Goal play. Elliss led the way for the defense with 14 total tackles (12 solo, 2 assisted), playing well again in relief of Pete Werner. Again, when Werner gets back to the field, it's going to be hard to keep Elliss away. Davis had a pass breakup to go along with 7 total tackles (2 solo, 5 assisted). Adebo had a tremendous outing, getting 6 tackles (2 solo, 4 assisted) to go along with 2 pass breakups. He would have had a third, but the team benefitted from a penalty. That performance was looking more like the player we saw in training camp.
• Tyrann Mathieu - 69 (99%)
  Mathieu finished with just 3 solo tackles, one being a tackle for loss.
• Cam Jordan - 48 (69%)
  Jordan's return to action saw him finish with just one tackle, but it was for a loss and was a big impact play for the Saints defense.
• Alontae Taylor - 45 (64%)
  Taylor had 4 total tackles (3 solo, 1 assisted) and would have his first career interception on the opening drive of the third quarter, but it was called back due to a questionable penalty on Chris Harris. It was a big moment and momentum altering play. Regardless, he had a solid game.
• David Onyemata - 41 (59%)
• Kentavius Street - 35 (50%)
• Marcus Davenport - 34 (49%)
• Chris Harris Jr. - 33 (47%)
  Harris Jr. finished second the team with 7 total tackles (5 solo, 2 assisted). He certainly didn't agree with the penalty that was called against him that wiped out Taylor's first interception. It seemed a little weak.
• Zack Baun, Carl Granderson, Malcolm Roach - 32 (46%)
  Baun made several plays on the day and was involved a good bit in this game. He finished with 4 solo tackles, having a tackle for loss and QB hit in the process. After a strong game last week, Granderson was relatively quiet. Roach got hit with a bad roughing the passer penalty for going low, but there's not much he could have done on the play.
• Shy Tuttle, Tanoh Kpassagnon - 26 (37%)
  Tuttle finished with a sack to go along with his 5 total tackles (4 solo, 1 assisted). He finished with a QB hit and tackle for loss.
• Bradley Roby - 25 (36%)
  Roby got the start and ended up rotating with Alontae Taylor, but a concussion forced him out of action early.
• Justin Evans - 11 (16%)
  Evans saw some time with Williams getting injured.
• P.J. Williams - 1 (1%)
  Williams left with a knee injury and did not return. We'll see where things land with him this week.

Special Teams (Top Reps)

• Dwayne Washington, Zack Baun, Andrew Dowell - 16
• Isaac Yiadom - 13
• Daniel Sorensen - 12
• Carl Granderson - 10

---

Read More Saints News

• Positions the Saints Need to Address in 2023
• Saints' Chris Olave Eyeing Up a Historic Rookie Season
• Saints Playoff Hopes Are Alive
• Woeful NFC South Keeps Saints in Contention
• Saints Blanked by 49ers: By The Numbers
• Best and Worst From Infuriating Saints Loss to 49ers
• Saints Let Another Winnable Game Slip Through Hands