[OC] Notes on Saints vs Vikings
After every game this season I'll be going back and rewatching with the All22 angle to see what really happened. I'll always highlight the highest graded player on O and D by PFF then talk about a few other players who stood out, good or bad. If there's anything you want me to include as well just lemme know.
PFF Highest Offensive Grade
Sam Bradford 90.1
Sam Bradford has always been shy going downfield even though he’s always had an extraordinarily accurate deep ball. This game, however, Bradford played like a man possessed going downfield with regularity and completing a total of 9 passes to the intermediate and deep parts of the field. What stood out in particular though was not his accuracy downfield (as many of his WRs were running free) but his patience letting routes develop and making the right decisions on where to go with the ball to expose the coverage busts. To start off the game on back to back 3rd downs he picked up easy conversions on crossing routes to Diggs when the Saints tried to man him up. Later near the end of the game several of his deep balls to Thielen came out of a bunch formation with Diggs running off the safeties allowing Thielen to leave his man in the dust on corner routes. Another trait that was showcased this game his presnap decision making. On a 3rd and long in the redzone he saw the Saints leaving both A gaps uncovered and checked to a run play that picked up an easy first down. On Diggs’ TD on the fade route he immediately knew where he was going and after quickly looking off the safety tossed a ball that allowed Diggs’ to make a ridiculous catch for 6. Lastly, near the end of the first half, the Saints came out in a cover zero look so Bradford changed the play and went on to hit Thielen for an easy 35 yard completion. Overall Bradford showed his ability in the mental part of the game that really sets apart the good QBs from the average ones. Although his performance should be taken with a grain of salt vs a poor Saints D it was a great sign of a better Bradford for the season.
PFF Highest Defensive Grade
Harrison Smith 90.4
Harrison Smith was his usual elite self vs the Saints Monday night making plays all over the field, with one series midway through the 2nd quarter sticking out. On a drive that was extended on a BS roughing the passer call the Saints drove down to the redzone and were on the brink of opening up the game. Harrison Smith, however, wanted no parts of this and was the driving force behind a defense that held the vaunted Saints O to only 3 points. On first down he sets the edge vs the jet sweep then gets in to help make the tackle after 5 yards. It’s 2nd down now and the Saints trying running the ball to the right but Smith comes flying into the backfield, splitting to blockers and forcing the RB to cutback into Vikings defenders for a TFL. On 3rd & 5 from the goal, the Saints run a trap play to catch the Vikings off guard but Smith isn’t picked up and makes the 1 on 1 tackle for 3 yards to force a FG. Football is an extremely situational sport and with the D backed against the wall Smith was at the top of his game. Later in the game, he had another play that highlighted his coverage skills. At the snap he rotates down to play the flats but keeps his eyes on Brees the whole way, this allowed him to see through the run fake and pick up the defender running free behind the LBs. As soon as Brees' shoulders lifted up (letting Bradford know the ball was about to be thrown) he broke on the WR and made a spectacular pass breakup to prevent a big play. Smith plays safety and that often means a lot of his impact isn’t seen in stats in the stat sheet. If the front 7 does their job he won’t show up too often in the run game and if he does his job coverage wise the ball is going somewhere else. However, Smith is truly one of the game's elites and the elite NFL safeties find ways to show up by going above and beyond the expected which is what Smith has consistently shown throughout his career and is why he is the lynchpin to this top 5 defense.
Hidden Stars of the Game
Stefon Diggs 89.0
While Diggs technically was the NFL's highest graded WR by PFF, the grade doesn’t do justice to the game he had. Diggs made tough catch after tough catch throughout the game and showed his elite hands and ability to adjust to make a catch. To start, the fade was a beautifully thrown ball by Bradford but the catch was on another level. The mastery needed to go up in the air make the contested grab AND get both feet down inbounds was a thing of beauty to witness. Earlier in the drive, Diggs might’ve made an even better catch, adjusting to the underthrown ball by Bradford and holding through the massive (and illegal) hit by the Saints safety. The last truly awe inspiring play was a deep ball earlier in the 3rd quarter where he shows the undervalued skill to adjust to the deep ball and haul it in with the defender all over him.
Pat Shurmur
I questioned the Vikings choice to retain him after last season and while I do have reservations he undoubtedly took a step in the right direction and played an enormous role in the great game Bradford had. Throughout the entire game, the Vikings were running route combos to take advantage of what the Saints were doing on the defense. He routinely schemed up plays to get ideal matchups whether they were Diggs and Thielen vs anyone, Rudolph in the redzone or just receivers running free in general; the pass concepts were on point this game. (I’ll try to get out another post later this week specifically highlighting what he did in order to break apart the Saints D)
Adam Thielen
As highlighted by the broadcast Thielen has gone from unwanted in college to legitimate good NFL player. He’s now joined Jordy Nelson in the white-WR-who’s-a-deep-threat-but-will-never-get-his-dues-as-one-because-he’s-white club. He’s proven over the course of last season and in this game that he’s a legitimate downfield threat and Pat Shurmur has made sure to take advantage of his skillset especially near the end of last season and I pray this continues to happen for the rest of the season.
Eric Kendricks
Erick Kendricks looks like he’s going to take a stab at leaping into the next tier of elite LBs. He’s always been a high level player in coverage who’s had his struggles vs the run but against the Saints he looked like things have really slowed down for him as he’s getting an even better hold on how teams will try to attack him and where to take gambles in the run game. I think this will be a theme that carries out through the entire year.
Linval Joseph
Still a monster vs the run? Check.
Another improvement in the pass game adding, even more, value to his game? Check.
Dude’s on a God level vs the run as a nose tackle and each year he’s taken steps forward as a pass rusher. This year looks like he’ll continue moving in that direction allowing him to become even more valuable to this D.
PFF Highest Offensive Grade
Sam Bradford 90.1
Sam Bradford has always been shy going downfield even though he’s always had an extraordinarily accurate deep ball. This game, however, Bradford played like a man possessed going downfield with regularity and completing a total of 9 passes to the intermediate and deep parts of the field. What stood out in particular though was not his accuracy downfield (as many of his WRs were running free) but his patience letting routes develop and making the right decisions on where to go with the ball to expose the coverage busts. To start off the game on back to back 3rd downs he picked up easy conversions on crossing routes to Diggs when the Saints tried to man him up. Later near the end of the game several of his deep balls to Thielen came out of a bunch formation with Diggs running off the safeties allowing Thielen to leave his man in the dust on corner routes. Another trait that was showcased this game his presnap decision making. On a 3rd and long in the redzone he saw the Saints leaving both A gaps uncovered and checked to a run play that picked up an easy first down. On Diggs’ TD on the fade route he immediately knew where he was going and after quickly looking off the safety tossed a ball that allowed Diggs’ to make a ridiculous catch for 6. Lastly, near the end of the first half, the Saints came out in a cover zero look so Bradford changed the play and went on to hit Thielen for an easy 35 yard completion. Overall Bradford showed his ability in the mental part of the game that really sets apart the good QBs from the average ones. Although his performance should be taken with a grain of salt vs a poor Saints D it was a great sign of a better Bradford for the season.
PFF Highest Defensive Grade
Harrison Smith 90.4
Harrison Smith was his usual elite self vs the Saints Monday night making plays all over the field, with one series midway through the 2nd quarter sticking out. On a drive that was extended on a BS roughing the passer call the Saints drove down to the redzone and were on the brink of opening up the game. Harrison Smith, however, wanted no parts of this and was the driving force behind a defense that held the vaunted Saints O to only 3 points. On first down he sets the edge vs the jet sweep then gets in to help make the tackle after 5 yards. It’s 2nd down now and the Saints trying running the ball to the right but Smith comes flying into the backfield, splitting to blockers and forcing the RB to cutback into Vikings defenders for a TFL. On 3rd & 5 from the goal, the Saints run a trap play to catch the Vikings off guard but Smith isn’t picked up and makes the 1 on 1 tackle for 3 yards to force a FG. Football is an extremely situational sport and with the D backed against the wall Smith was at the top of his game. Later in the game, he had another play that highlighted his coverage skills. At the snap he rotates down to play the flats but keeps his eyes on Brees the whole way, this allowed him to see through the run fake and pick up the defender running free behind the LBs. As soon as Brees' shoulders lifted up (letting Bradford know the ball was about to be thrown) he broke on the WR and made a spectacular pass breakup to prevent a big play. Smith plays safety and that often means a lot of his impact isn’t seen in stats in the stat sheet. If the front 7 does their job he won’t show up too often in the run game and if he does his job coverage wise the ball is going somewhere else. However, Smith is truly one of the game's elites and the elite NFL safeties find ways to show up by going above and beyond the expected which is what Smith has consistently shown throughout his career and is why he is the lynchpin to this top 5 defense.
Hidden Stars of the Game
Stefon Diggs 89.0
While Diggs technically was the NFL's highest graded WR by PFF, the grade doesn’t do justice to the game he had. Diggs made tough catch after tough catch throughout the game and showed his elite hands and ability to adjust to make a catch. To start, the fade was a beautifully thrown ball by Bradford but the catch was on another level. The mastery needed to go up in the air make the contested grab AND get both feet down inbounds was a thing of beauty to witness. Earlier in the drive, Diggs might’ve made an even better catch, adjusting to the underthrown ball by Bradford and holding through the massive (and illegal) hit by the Saints safety. The last truly awe inspiring play was a deep ball earlier in the 3rd quarter where he shows the undervalued skill to adjust to the deep ball and haul it in with the defender all over him.
Pat Shurmur
I questioned the Vikings choice to retain him after last season and while I do have reservations he undoubtedly took a step in the right direction and played an enormous role in the great game Bradford had. Throughout the entire game, the Vikings were running route combos to take advantage of what the Saints were doing on the defense. He routinely schemed up plays to get ideal matchups whether they were Diggs and Thielen vs anyone, Rudolph in the redzone or just receivers running free in general; the pass concepts were on point this game. (I’ll try to get out another post later this week specifically highlighting what he did in order to break apart the Saints D)
Adam Thielen
As highlighted by the broadcast Thielen has gone from unwanted in college to legitimate good NFL player. He’s now joined Jordy Nelson in the white-WR-who’s-a-deep-threat-but-will-never-get-his-dues-as-one-because-he’s-white club. He’s proven over the course of last season and in this game that he’s a legitimate downfield threat and Pat Shurmur has made sure to take advantage of his skillset especially near the end of last season and I pray this continues to happen for the rest of the season.
Eric Kendricks
Erick Kendricks looks like he’s going to take a stab at leaping into the next tier of elite LBs. He’s always been a high level player in coverage who’s had his struggles vs the run but against the Saints he looked like things have really slowed down for him as he’s getting an even better hold on how teams will try to attack him and where to take gambles in the run game. I think this will be a theme that carries out through the entire year.
Linval Joseph
Still a monster vs the run? Check.
Another improvement in the pass game adding, even more, value to his game? Check.
Dude’s on a God level vs the run as a nose tackle and each year he’s taken steps forward as a pass rusher. This year looks like he’ll continue moving in that direction allowing him to become even more valuable to this D.
