Saints Snap Counts and Observations from Week 6

A closer look at the Saints loss to the Bengals, checking out the snap counts with some observations and notes from the game.

It's another week, and we have to talk about a Saints loss. New Orleans held up well overall and had a chance to win, but the final three minutes of the game ended in utter disaster for the team. We take a closer look at the 30-26 loss to the Bengals, going over the snap counts for the offense, defense, and special teams with some observations from the game.

Offense

• Cesar Ruiz, James Hurst, Ryan Ramczyk, Erik McCoy - 72 (100%)
  The Saints imposed their will running the football, finishing with 228 yards on the ground. The team finished out with 399 total net yards (171 passing), going 8-of-17 on 3rd Down. They also won the time of possession battle 32:14-27:46. There was one drive where the Saints went backwards due to penalties on offense. They only allowed one sack on Dalton, but it was a costly one. Overall, they played pretty well.
• Andy Dalton - 63 (88%)
  Dalton went 17-of-32 for 162 yards and a touchdown pass to Tre'Quan Smith. He finished with a 77.9 rating. The red zone struggles were the biggest problem for the Saints, as they had to settle for field goals instead of touchdowns. Some of the play calls down there were a bit confusing. Dalton will likely get at least one more shot as the starter with the short week.
• Juwan Johnson - 56 (78%)
  Johnson finished second on the team with 41 receiving yards on 4 catches (6 targets). He'll likely see more reps here after the injury to Trautman.
• Marquez Callaway - 54 (75%)
  Callaway saw 7 targets on the day, hauling in 3 catches for 36 yards as WR1 on the day. 
• Keith Kirkwood, Tre'Quan Smith - 51 (71%)
  Kirkwood caught his lone target for 14 yards. Smith got into the end zone early, catching all 3 of his targets for 43 yards. 
• Alvin Kamara - 50 (69%)
  Kamara had 99 yards on 19 carries with 6 catches for 25 yards on 9 targets. He was their best weapon on offense, but didn't get into the end zone. Kenneth Walker had some pretty good success against the Cardinals on Sunday, so hopefully Kamara will keep that trend going.
• Andrus Peat - 40 (56%)
  Peat went out of action due to injury and never returned. It appears it was a chest/pec issue that he suffered on the holding call. He stayed in on the next play that saw Andy Dalton draw a roughing the passer call on Trey Hendrickson, left, and never returned.
• Lewis Kidd - 32 (44%)
  Kidd played in place of Andrus Peat after the injury. The team was down Calvin Throckmorton (hip) already, so it made sense. Kidd had worked at tackle primarily in training camp, but was an experienced guard at Montana State. He might see his number called again.
• Mark Ingram - 24 (33%)
  Ingram carried it 9 times for 46 yards, looking pretty good at times. He also had a reception for 11 yards on 2 targets. He said after the game, "I think we all had our hands dirty in the last 3 minutes of the game."
• J.P. Holtz - 23 (32%)
• Adam Trautman - 16 (22%)
  Trautman caught in his lone target for 8 yards, and ended up getting rolled up from behind on a big run play with Taysom Hill. He went down on the next play and had to be helped off the field, eventually taking a cart ride to the locker room. He tried to come back into the game, but just couldn't make it work. His availability for Thursday is in doubt.
• Taysom Hill - 15 (21%)
  Hill was the second quarterback on Sunday. He saw some action, running 5 times for 39 yards and also completing 2 of his 4 passes for 16 yards. Hill had 23 snaps last week, and his production definitely went down from a week ago. Maybe it's part of the plan, but the Saints still got some success from him.
• Kevin White - 12 (17%)
• Rashid Shaheed - 9 (12%)
  Shaheed had an early target in the game where he burnt Eli Apple, but couldn't connect with Dalton. He took his first NFL carry for a 44-yard touchdown. It was just a minor display of what he could do, but the Saints didn't get him more touches in this game.
• Landon Young - 5 (7%)
  Young was the jumbo man in formations, something we've seen over the past several weeks.
• Dwayne Washington - 3 (4%)

Defense

• Marcus Maye, Bradley Roby, Demario Davis, Tyrann Mathieu, Paulson Adebo - 57 (100%)
  The Bengals went 6-of-10 on 3rd Down, getting 348 total net yards of offense (75 rushing, 273 passing). The New Orleans defense struggled again with tackling, and Ja'Marr Chase ended up getting 7 catches for 132 yards and 2 touchdowns on 10 targets. Nearly half of those yards came on one play. The defense had a couple of opportunities to get off the field and missed some key sacks too. Demario Davis led the way with 9 total tackles (7 solo, 2 assisted), 2 sacks, 2 QB hits, and 2 tackles for loss. Bradley Roby and Tyrann Mathieu have had some opportunities on this defense, and the Saints are going to need to get some better play there. Paulson Adebo looked more like the guy we saw at training camp.
• Chris Harris - 56 (98%)
  Harris was the primary guy in the slot for the defense, seeing Tyler Boyd get some success working against him. He finished second on the team with 8 total tackles, which were all solo.
• Pete Werner - 54 (95%)
  Werner finished third on the day with 6 solo tackles. The one play he would have wanted back was the would-be sack on Joe Burrow that saw him escape and complete it to Tyler Boyd. He's still been their most solid defender.
• Cam Jordan - 42 (74%)
  Jordan finished with 3 solo tackles on the day. He talked in the locker room about the importance of putting the loss behind the team quickly to get prepared for Arizona. The mobile quarterback has given the Saints fits over the years, so it's going to be another big test for the defense.
• David Onyemata - 35 (61%)
  Onyemata failed to register anything on the stat sheet for the second time in three games. 
• Marcus Davenport - 34 (60%)
  Davenport continues to get some pressures in on the quarterback, but it's not leading to sacks. He failed to register anything on the tackle department, finishing with a lone QB hit.
• Shy Tuttle - 29 (51%)
• Carl Granderson - 23 (40%)
• Malcolm Roach, Kentavius Street - 22 (39%)
• Tanoh Kpassagnon - 15 (26%)
• Justin Evans - 6 (11%)
• Kaden Elliss - 4 (7%)
  Elliss didn't play much, but did have one of the team's sacks.

Special Teams (Top Reps)

• Dwayne Washington, Kaden Elliss, J.T. Gray, Andrew Dowell, Zack Baun - 23
  Dowell was credited with a forced fumble on the Saints' first punt. It was the lone turnover in the game. Wil Lutz went 4-of-4 on field goal attempts, so that was a good thing to see despite the red zones. The sequence when the Saints went three-and-out and then saw Blake Gillikin shank a punt (second time this season) ended up leading to the Ja'Marr Chase 60-yard touchdown.
• Daniel Sorensen - 20
• Juwan Johnson - 17
• Chase Hansen - 16

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