Week 16 Saints Snap Counts and Observations

The Saints delivered a great Christmas present for its fans, as they pummeled the Vikings in Week 16 and clinched their fourth straight NFC South crown.

Saints fans got their wish on Christmas after New Orleans beat up on the Vikings Friday. Sean Payton's squad won decisively, throwing up 52 points in a game where they missed Michael Thomas, Tre'Quan Smith, Deonte Harris, and had no touchdown passes and two picks by Drew Brees. It was an impressive performance, to say the least. Here's a closer look at the snap counts, playing time percentages, and some thoughts from Week 16.

Offense

• James Hurst, Erik McCoy, Cesar Ruiz, Terron Armstead - 75 (100%)
  Hurst looked great filling in for Andrus Peat. Drew Brees wasn't sacked on the day, which is always a positive. The offensive line did some tremendous blocking, which helped New Orleans gash the Vikings for 264 yards on the ground. The Saints had 583 yards of offense.
• Ryan Ramczyk - 74 (99%)
  Ramczyk got hurt and came out for one play. He's as tough as nails. On the play he came back, he blocked a Vikings defender into the ground. While he was snubbed from the Pro Bowl, he'll undoubtedly be an All-Pro candidate.
• Drew Brees - 68 (91%)
  Scoring 52 points with Brees throwing two picks and no touchdowns is a welcomed rarity for the Saints. He finished 19-of-26 for 311 yards and had a 80.8 rating. There were some dimes he threw on the day, but also had some ducks.
• Adam Trautman - 52 (69%)
  Big Fish had 2 catches for 45 yards on 2 targets. The one big play came near the end of the game, a 41-yard catch and run. 
• Alvin Kamara - 45 (60%)
  What else can you say about the performance from Alvin Kamara? He had six touchdowns, all on the ground. If you were in a fantasy football championship, he won the game for you singlehandedly. He had 22 rushing attempts for 155 yards, while adding 3 catches for 17 yards on 5 targets. Simply, en fuego. 
• Marquez Callaway - 42 (56%)
  Callaway had 3 catches for 26 yards on 4 targets, and started as the primary punt returner for the Saints. He made a bad decision by fair-catching the ball inside the 5-yard line, but the damage was minimal. He also negated a Brees interception by breaking up the pass. It was good to have him back, and he'll be relied on a bit more with Tre'Quan Smith being out of the picture. 
• Jared Cook - 40 (53%)
  Cook has a strong game, hauling in 3 catches for 82 yards on 4 targets. It included a long of 44 yards, a catch and run play. He's someone that has to get hot and stay hot at this time of the year.
• Emmanuel Sanders - 38 (51%)
  Sanders finished with 4 receptions for 83 yards on 5 targets as the primary pass-catcher for Brees with Michael Thomas out. He had a long of 31, and continues to do some good things in the aerial attack for New Orleans.
• Latavius Murray - 29 (39%)
  Murray once again maximized his snaps, finishing with 72 yards on 12 carries (6 yards/carry). He also secured all of his 3 targets for 24 yards.
• Taysom Hill - 24 (32%)
  Hill had 5 carries for 18 yards and 'vultured' a touchdown from Kamara. He completed both of his passes for 8 yards, and caught his lone target for 19 yards.
• Juwan Johnson - 23 (31%)
  Johnson caught his lone target for 19 yards.
• Austin Carr - 21 (28%)
• Michael Burton - 18 (24%)
  Fullbacks matter when you play for New Orleans. Burton had 2 carries for 10 yards (long of 7) and a catch for 4 yards.
• Ty Montgomery, Will Clapp, Lil'Jordan Humphrey - 16 (21%)
  Montgomery was the primary kick returner, having some pretty good runbacks on the day. He was targeted once in the passing game, which nearly got intercepted. The Saints used him in a variety of ways. Perhaps they will call his number a bit more.
• Ethan Greenidge, Josh Hill, Derrick Kelly - 1 (1%)
  Greenidge came in for a single snap for Ramczyk, while Hill got hurt and didn't return. It looked like the trainers were looking at his hand, but we never got an official word on his status. It was later revealed that he's dealing with a finger injury.

Defense

• Malcolm Jenkins, Demario Davis - 64 (100%)
  Davis and Jenkins led the way in the tackling department for the Saints defense, as Davis had 8 (6 solo, 2 assisted) and Jenkins had 7 (6 solo, 1 assisted). Both had 2 QB hits, and Jenkins was credited with a forced fumble, had a half sack, and tackle for loss. He had a bad penalty called on him for pass interference in the end zone.
• P.J. Williams - 63 (98%)
  Williams' first test in relief for Marcus Williams went pretty well. He finished with 4 total tackles (3 solo, 1 assisted). 
• Marshon Lattimore - 62 (97%)
  Lattimore finished with 6 total tackles (5 solo, 1 assisted) to go along with 2 pass breakups. Overall, he did pretty well against rookie Justin Jefferson, which is no easy task.
• Janoris Jenkins - 61 (95%)
  Jenkins had a pass breakup to go along with 4 total tackles (2 solo, 2 assisted). One of those missed tackles he had wasn't a good look. But, he'll do better.
• C.J. Gardner-Johnson - 60 (94%)
  Ceedy Duce made some good plays in this game, finishing with a pass breakup and QB hit to go along with his 3 tackles (2 solo, 1 assisted)
• Cam Jordan - 44 (69%)
  Jordan got a sack and forced a fumble on the play. He had 2 solo tackles and an assisted tackle to go along with his QB hit. It hasn't been the dominant season for Jordan in the sack department, but he's up to 7.5 for the season.
• Marcus Davenport - 43 (67%)
  Davenport only notched one combined tackle on the day starting opposite of Cam Jordan.
• Carl Granderson - 38 (59%)
  Granderson only had a combined tackle and QB hit, but he's been flashing in the pass-rushing department with Trey Hendrickson being out. 
• Kwon Alexander - 37 (58%)
  It appears that Alexander is lost for the season after going down from a non-contact injury. The reports indicate it's an Achilles injury. It's a shame, as he was doing so well for New Orleans.
• David Onyemata - 34 (53%)
  Once again, Onyemata didn't show a ton in the stat department, but doesn't mean he didn't have a big impact in the game. He is quite a dominant interior rusher, as he finished with 3 tackles (all combined) and a half sack. He pushed a lineman into a sack, that's really all you need to know.
• Shy Tuttle - 31 (48%)
• Sheldon Rankins - 30 (47%)
• Alex Anzalone - 26 (41%)
  Anzalone went back to work with Davis when Alexander went down. He'll undoubtedly be 'the guy' going forward. The Saints will need him at his best.
• Malcolm Roach - 24 (38%)
• D.J. Swearinger - 19 (30%)
• Zack Baun - 6 (23%)

Special Teams (Top Reps)

• Zack Baun, J.T. Gray, Craig Robertson - 23
• Justin Hardee - 22
• Dwayne Washington, Ty Montgomery - 19