Week 5 Saints Snap Counts and Observations

The Cardiac Kids known as the Saints picked up a crazy win over the Chargers on Monday Night Football.

Author:
John Hendrix
Publish date:
Oct 13, 2020 12:27 PM EDT

It was a wild night in the Mercedes-Benz Superdome, to say the least, but the Saints somehow managed to rally from a 20-3 deficit, tie the game late to force overtime and end up beating the Chargers 30-27. Here's a look at the Week 5 snap counts and some observations.

Offense

Andrus Peat, Ryan Ramczyk, Erik McCoy, Terron Armstead - 76 (100%)
The offensive line gave up two sacks on the night, but overall they looked pretty good. Ramczyk got beat on a great spin move by Joey Bosa, while the other came against Armstead.
Drew Brees - 72 (95%)
Brees finished with another 300-yard game, going 33-of-47 for 325 yards. He threw a really bad interception, but also had a big deep pass hookup to Jared Cook. It wasn't his best performance, but he was instrumental in the team's comeback, improving to 4-0 against his former team.
Cesar Ruiz - 65 (86%)
Ruiz came in for Nick Easton, who left early due to a concussion. Overall, the rookie is holding his own. Easton getting the start at right guard over him has puzzled some, but it's all coming together.
Tre'Quan Smith - 59 (78%)
Smith was virtually a non-factor on the night, catching 2 balls for 8 yards on 3 targets.
Alvin Kamara - 58 (76%)
Kamara had another strong outing for the Saints, finishing with 119 scrimmage yards. He ran the ball well (11-45), but was killer in the receiving department (8-74 on 10 targets). Kamara had an outstanding catch on the game-tying drive to end regulation, doing things that only he can do. He also had a 31-yard kick return in overtime.
Marquez Callaway - 52 (68%)
Callaway was really active for the Saints offense, and also appeared in 17 special teams reps as their primary returner. He caught 4 passes for 34 yards on 6 targets, fielded 6 punt returns for 69 yards, and had 2 kick returns for 57 yards. New Orleans really found another undrafted rookie gem, and it's hardly surprising at this point.
Emmanuel Sanders - 45 (59%)
Sanders followed up last week's strong performance with an encore. He caught a career-high 12 balls for 122 yards on 14 targets. His previous high was 11 catches from games in 2014, 2016, and 2019.
Jared Cook - 41 (54%)
Cook only caught 2 balls for 52 yards on 3 targets, but one of those was a 41-yard touchdown from Brees. It was good to see him return to action, and he did say that his injury was still bothering him some during post game, but should hopefully be back to normal after the bye week.
Josh Hill - 28 (37%)
Bennie Fowler - 24 (32%)
Fowler saw his most involvement in the Saints offense, being targeted 6 times on the evening. He finished with just 2 catches for 11 yards.
Latavius Murray - 21 (28%)
Murray had 8 rushes for 34 yards and added 2 catches for 23 yards on 2 targets. While it doesn't jump out at you, he keeps producing week after week.
Taysom Hill - 20 (26%)
It wasn't pretty for Hill, but he ended up breaking a drought by getting the game-tying touchdown. That's the Hill we have been waiting for and expecting, and while it worked, it's hard to see the Saints pull Brees out when he's clearly in sync to do a Hill play that fails. Hopefully this is an area that gets better.
Garrett Griffin - 18 (24%)
Michael Burton - 13 (17%)
Nick Easton - 11 (14%)
James Hurst - 5 (7%)

Defense

Alex Anzalone, Marcus Williams, Demario Davis - 71 (100%)
Davis and Cam Jordan led the way with 10 tackles. Davis had 3 QB hits, and was all over the place. Williams had a pass defense, while Anzalone finished with 6 total tackles (2 solo, 4 assisted).
Malcolm Jenkins, Marshon Lattimore - 70 (99%)
Jenkins saw a streak come to an end on Monday night. He ended up missing his first defensive snap since Week 17, 2017. Up until then, Jenkins had a league-leading 2,651 consecutive snap streak that included the playoffs. Lattimore made the biggest stop when it counted most, but had a pretty tough night. He had 6 total tackles (4 solo, 2 assisted).
Patrick Robinson - 68 (96%)
Robinson was among the many defensive backs to have a rough outing overall. There was some clear miscommunication on the big touchdown to Mike Williams, and Robinson originally on him. That's one we'll have to go back to the film and check to see what happened.
C.J. Gardner-Johnson, Cam Jordan - 59 (83%)
Jordan got a half sack and tied with Davis for a team-high 10 tackles. Jordan added 4 QB hits and had 2 TFL.
Trey Hendrickson - 50 (70%)
Hendrickson picked up another 1.5 sacks, and is now tied for 5th in the league with 4.5 total on the season
David Onyemata - 38 (54%)
Onyemata had a QB hit and tackle for loss to go with his 3 total tackles (1 solo, 2 assisted).
Sheldon Rankins - 36 (51%)
Rankins was active on the night, finishing with a sack, 2 QB hits, 2 TFL, and 5 total tackles (3 solo, 2 assisted). This is a great thing for the Saints defensive line.
Malcom Brown - 33 (46%)
Brown had 4 total stops (1 solo, 3 assisted), and had a costly roughing the passer penalty in overtime that helped the Chargers into better field position, but the Saints would get the stop.
Marcus Davenport - 21 (30%)
Davenport didn't start, but when he did eventually rotate in, he made some good plays. He had a big brace on his elbow, and seemed to be moving well. If he can get back to 100 percent and healthy, then the Saints pass rush and run defense gets that much better.
P.J. Williams, Shy Tuttle - 20 (28%)
Williams came on for a play at corner due to a Patrick Robinson injury, but ended up rotating in as the extra defensive back in dime situations. Tuttle had 3 total tackles.
Carl Granderson, Zack Baun - 12 (17%)
Baun was in for the most defensive snaps of the season, finishing with 2 total tackles (1 solo, 1 assisted).