Saints Defense: Who Played the Most in Week 4 and Who Were the Top Performers?

The Saints defense put together another strong performance, but they weren't able to close the game out when it mattered most.

Sep 29, 2024; Atlanta, Georgia, USA; Atlanta Falcons quarterback Kirk Cousins (18) throws a pass against the New Orleans Saints in the fourth quarter at Mercedes-Benz Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Brett Davis-Imagn Images / Brett Davis-Imagn Images

The Saints will have an extra day to mull over their loss to the Falcons, and they know they have another tall task on their hands when they play the Chiefs next week. New Orleans lost another winnable game in the final minute, and that's spelled the difference of them being 2-2 as opposed to 4-0. As the team has said, they are what their record is. Here's a closer look at the defensive snap counts from Sunday with some notes and observations from the game.

Breakthrough or Bust: The Saints' Fight Against Their Problematic Losing Cycle

Saints Defensive Snap Counts - Week 4

Sep 29, 2024; Atlanta, Georgia, USA; New Orleans Saints defensive tackle Bryan Bresee (90) reacts after Atlanta Falcons place kicker Younghoe Koo (6) (not pictured) kicked a game winning field goal during the fourth quarter at Mercedes-Benz Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Dale Zanine-Imagn Images / Dale Zanine-Imagn Images

When you make league history for not allowing a touchdown and still losing the game, you know it's just tough. It hasn't happened since 1983, and it was the Saints 41 years ago. Atlanta put up 315 total net yards of offense (88 rushing, 227 passing), going 4/11 (36.3%) on 3rd Down while averaging 6.2 yards/play. The run defense was much better until it wasn't in the final quarter. Atlanta's offense held the ball for just 24:18 and the Saints didn't allow a touchdown in the lone Red Zone trip. Naturally, it's all about the final minute and how the game played out.

"We played that game and didn't allow a touchdown," Dennis Allen said on Monday. "So there's a lot of things we did well, and so I don't think you go into the last two minutes that stuff we just got through doing, 'Let's throw that out and change and do something different'. We're going to play the way we play defense. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't." He said the last couple of games it hasn't been as good as they've needed it to be.

• Will Harris, Pete Werner, Paulson Adebo, Marshon Lattimore - 56 (100%) Adebo led the way with 12 total tackles (10 solo, 2 assisted), 3 pass defenses and a pick. Of course, the footnote from the game is that he got three pass interference penalties, none more crucial than the one at the end of the game. He faced the media after the game, and that's somewhat rare to see. He knows he has to be better and get better, and I believe he'll get there. Pete Werner was right behind Adebo with 6 tackles (3 solo, 3 assisted), handling the duties of Demario Davis. Lattimore was one of the best players on the field and he wasn't tested often. He had a pass defense to go with his 5 total tackles (3 solo, 2 assisted).
• Alontae Taylor - 52 (93%) I thought Taylor had a pretty solid game overall. He had 2 pass breakups and 4 solo tackles. Considering what Dallas Goedert did to the Saints last week and what Kyle Pitts didn't do this week? I'd say marked improvement.
• Carl Granderson - 46 (82%) Granderson graded out high from PFF and had 2 solo tackles. He also looked like he had a pass breakup when he dropped in coverage, but the official stats did not credit him for it.
• Chase Young - 42 (75%) Dennis Allen said that he believes the pass rush wasn't as bad as he had thought after rewatching the film. "I thought we affected the passer," Allen said. He cited Kirk Cousins going 21/35 and that he didn't throw any touchdown passes. He later said, "Can it be better? Yeah. Do we need it to be better? Yeah. But I didn't feel like it was as big a negative maybe as what I had originally thought yesterday." Chase Young had 3 solo tackles, a tackle for loss and a QB hit.
• D'Marco Jackson, Bryan Bresee - 40 (71%) Jackson went into the lineup even more after Willie Gay Jr. left. If Demario Davis doesn't make it back for the Chiefs game, then he's going to get more time again. He finished with 3 total tackles (solo, 2 assisted).
• Tyrann Mathieu - 33 (59%) Mathieu is one of the many dealing with injuries, as he came out after halftime and went into the medical tent and rejoined the Saints sideline. He remained there with a towel over his head and is dealing with a groin injury to go along with the others.
• Jordan Howden - 30 (54%)
• Nathan Shepherd - 27 (48%)
• Khalen Saunders - 22 (39%) Saunders returned to action and made his Saints debut, but only got an assisted tackle. He'll certainly log more time as he ramps up.
• Cam Jordan - 19 (34%) Jordan's role, whatever that actually is, continues to see him getting limited snaps. We saw him start the game on the edge, play inside and then it's just hit or miss when he comes back in. It's just hard to watch stuff like this when it happens.
• Payton Turner - 16 (29%) Turner was the lone player to get a sack on Kirk Cousins, and he actually stripped the ball in the process. It took long enough for the Saints to get to him, and Turner wasn't the guy I was expecting to get it done.
• J.T. Gray - 8 (14%)
• Willie Gay Jr., Khristian Boyd - 6 (11%) Gay Jr. left the game early after getting the start, and based off his recent Instagram post, he is going to miss some time with what was called a hand injury.
• Kool-Aid McKinstry - 5 (9%)

Saints Special Teams Snap Counts - Week 4 (Top Reps)

We talked about the Rashid Shaheed play on the offensive snap counts, but Dennis Allen said after the game that it was an uncharacteristic. It led to points and was a big momentum shift.

• Jordan Howden, J.T. Gray, Anfernee Orji - 24
• Isaiah Foskey - 17
• Rico Payton - 16

Week 4 - Defensive Three Stars

1. Marshon Lattimore
2. Alontae Taylor
3. Carl Granderson