Saints Snap Counts and Observations from Week 17

The Saints pieced together another strong performance by beating a hot Bucs team. We put this game to bed by looking at the snap counts and more.

The Saints earned a convincing victory over the Bucs on Sunday to help keep their season alive. A good bit of things need to happen in Week 18 for New Orleans to make the postseason, but seeing them put together a complete game against a good opponent was a beautiful thing to watch. Here's a closer look at the snap counts with some observations and notes from the game.

Offense

The Saints offense went 8/18 (44%) on 3rd Down while finishing 1/3 (33%) in the Red Zone. They completed their only goal-to-go situation and had 310 total net yards (108 rushing, 202 passing) while holding the ball for 36:38. They didn't totally capitalize on all of the turnovers, getting just a field goal off of one, but they overcame losing Alvin Kamara and the lone sack Derek Carr pinned on himself. There were times that the offense used a lot more creativity, motion and other elements that made them succeed.

• Andrus Peat, Cesar Ruiz, Erik McCoy, James Hurst - 70 (100%)
  The offensive line handled the protection very well, and credit is due to the line and Carr for recognizing and picking up the various rush looks the Bucs threw at them.
• Derek Carr - 64 (91%)
  Carr finished 24/32 (75%) for 197 yards and 2 touchdowns to finish with a 111.1 rating on the day. He was able to escape some pressure and only had one real throw that could have ended badly. Carr has been fairly efficient over the past four games, even though a lot of the Rams game was playing from behind. He's going to need to put a bow on it against the Falcons in Week 18 to give New Orleans a shot.
• Cameron Erving - 51 (73%)
  Erving stepped in for Landon Young, who injured his knee. The veteran will likely step in and get the start at right tackle in the season finale. He had a late flare up at the end of the game, but it was just cramps.
• Juwan Johnson - 50 (71%)
  This was Juwan Johnson's best game as a Saint, and it came at a pretty good time. He led the way in the receiving department with 8 catches for 90 yards and a score on 12 targets. This was the version of Johnson we had expected all year after training camp, and ever since he was challenged by Dennis Allen after the Lions game, he's had much more success. He has three straight games with a score now.
• Chris Olave - 47 (67%)
  Olave caught just 3 passes for 26 yards on 6 targets, but some of those were big catches. It's refreshing to see that New Orleans can be efficient on offense without two of their big weapons.
• Jamaal Williams - 40 (57%)
  Williams stepped up in a big way after Kamara was lost for the game due to the ankle injury, particularly in the final quarter to help close out the game. The stats won't jump out at you, but any success you can get on the Bucs is something you'll take. He had 19 carries for 58 yards (3.1 yards/carry), including a long of 17. He caught all 4 of his targets for 13 yards, although one of those was for 12 yards. However, that also drew a horse collar penalty on the Bucs.
• Foster Moreau, Rashid Shaheed - 38 (54%)
• A.T. Perry - 32 (46%)
• Taysom Hill - 24 (34%)
  Hill was right behind Johnson in receiving yards, hauling in both of his targets for 30 yards, which included the 22-yard touchdown from Carr to put the Saints up 14-0. He hasn't been much of a factor running the ball, and he did have one pass that was off-target. He completed his other for 11 yards, however.
• Alvin Kamara - 23 (33%)
  It's an ankle sprain for Kamara, who got hurt on a hip-drop tackle late in the half. Allen declined to clarify the severity of the injury for Kamara, but said he was in on Monday for rehab. He did try to get back on the field, but just couldn't go. Kamara was doing a good job running the ball before leaving, finishing with 10 carries for 45 yards, but caught just 2 passes for 4 yards.
• Landon Young - 19 (27%)
  It's the same knee from training camp that almost ended Young's season in that practice in the Superdome. He avoided a major injury, but he's going to have to work his way back. I'd be highly surprised if he plays on Sunday.
• Lynn Bowden - 18 (26%)
• Keith Kirkwood - 16 (23%)
• Adam Prentice - 15 (21%)
  It was really good to see Prentice pick up that first down on the 3rd Down play when no one expected it. His last game against Tampa was one to forget. He also did a nice job with protection on the day.
• Max Garcia - 9 (13%)
• Jimmy Graham - 5 (7%)
• Trevor Penning - 1 (1%)

Defense

The Saints defense looked incredible aside the final half of the final quarter. New Orleans sacked Baker Mayfield twice and was able to get four turnovers. Tampa went 2/8 (25%) against Dennis Allen's defense, with them getting some really big breaks. That's just how it goes sometimes. The Bucs gained 349 total net yards (57 rushing, 292 passing), holding the ball for 23:22. This was a tremendous rebound performance following a horrid one against the Rams. The mini-bye works wonders.

• Johnathan Abram, Alontae Taylor, Demario Davis, Paulson Adebo, Tyrann Mathieu - 56 (100%)
  For starters, what a response by Alontae Taylor following his benching in Los Angeles. He finally got his first interception and finished with 4 tackles (3 solo, 1 assisted) with a pass breakup. Johnathan Abram was a pretty big hero on the day, being responsible for two takeaways by the Saints. He made an outstanding play on Rachaad White to strip him and then picked off Mayfield. He's a tremendous story and one of those guys who just puts in the work and finally got his chance. Davis had the fumble recovery and actually had a really good return on it. He had a good tackle for loss play as well. Mathieu tied for second on the day with Abram with 5 total tackles, and Adebo was able to pick Mayfield off in the end zone on the two-point attempt after an interesting sequence. Overall, he did a nice job on Mike Evans aside the first big catch in which he slipped.
• Isaac Yiadom - 47 (84%)
  Yiadom recovered a fumble off of Trey Palmer's mishap and had a pass breakup, but didn't register anything on the stat sheet for tackles. That's not a bad thing.
• Carl Granderson - 46 (82%)
• Pete Werner - 43 (77%)
  Werner had a pretty good game and led the way with 9 tackles (8 solo, 1 assisted) with a tackle for loss. There was obviously some busted coverage on the Chris Godwin touchdown, because he shouldn't have been the player on him.
• Cam Jordan, Nathan Shepherd - 31 (55%)
• Bryan Bresee - 30 (54%)
  Bresee had a big sack that resulted in a 10-yard loss, and we're still wondering why that penalty was called that extended a Bucs drive.
• Khalen Saunders - 25 (45%)
• Zack Baun - 24 (43%)
  Baun once again shined while being used in a 3rd Down rush package to get another sack. It was a pretty good hit on Mayfield too. It'll be very interesting to see what Baun's outlook will be approaching free agency. A 3-4 team might be able to unlock his full potential, but we'll see if he makes it out of New Orleans first.
• Tanoh Kpassagnon - 22 (39%)
• Jordan Howden - 17 (30%)
• P.J. Mustipher - 10 (18%)
• Kyle Phillips - 8 (14%)
• Nephi Sewell - 2 (4%)
  Sewell suffered a season-ending injury, tearing his ACL. You could tell immediately that it was bad based on his reaction. He has been a real underrated presence to the special teams unit and was finding some work on the defense. He'll have surgery and faces a long road to recovery.

Special Teams (Top Reps)

Big kicks made by Blake Grupe, hitting from 45, 28 and 38 to help New Orleans out on the day. Lou Hedley also had some really good punts. Again, when all units are in sync, it's a beautiful thing. Here's to hoping it's not too late for New Orleans.

• D'Marco Jackson, Ty Summers, J.T. Gray, Zack Baun - 21
• Jordan Howden, Shemar Jean-Charles, Adam Prentice - 14
• Isaac Yiadom, Taysom Hill, Foster Moreau - 13