If there’s one game you want everything to unexpectedly fall into place, it’s a primetime matchup against Atlanta. On Thursday night, that was almost exactly what transpired. The Saints outplayed their bitter NFC South rivals, winning 31-21 and potentially salvaging their season in the process. We’ve taken a little longer than usual watching the tape back this week (likely because it’s actually been satisfying viewing), so read on to find out exactly what we’ve gleaned from the game film, along with our color-coded player grades and individual snap counts for every Saint who played a part in Thursday night’s victory.

For those of you viewing our Player Grades for the first time, our Player Performance Grading System uses a 9-point color-coded “temperature based” scale to produce an easy to understand visual indicator of the performance of each player on rushing plays, passing plays and in the game overall. You can find a more thorough explanation of our grading system, along with diagrams of what exactly everything means, by clicking here.

And as always, for ease of reference, our 9-point color-coded grading scale is pictured below:

OFFENSE

Editor’s Note: Click on each individual table below to open a full-sized version in a new window/tab (it makes them much easier to read).

The offense was firing on Thursday night. Brees was on point as he victimized the soft coverage of the Falcons across the middle of the field. The space underneath meant Brees didn’t even have to look downfield – with only 4 of his 39 pass attempts traveling more than 20 yards downfield. Admittedly, when you’re completing 80% of your passes between 0-20 yards, there really isn’t much need to do anything different. Another advantage of utilizing this “quick hitting” approach was it helped an under-strength O-Line keep #9 up right, with the Falcons registering just the solitary sack on the day.

The O-Line itself was dealt an early blow when Andrus Peat (deputising for the injured Armstead at LT) left the game after just 7 plays. Tony Hills was a game-if-obviously-outmatched replacement, but ultimately the Who Dat Nation will be crossing their fingers that Armstead can return to protect Brees’ blindside for Sunday’s trip to Indy. More positive news on the O-Line came with the return of Jahri Evans, who put in a very solid performance alongside the steadfast Zach Strief as the Saints right side dominated their opposite number for much of the 60 minutes. Testament to this is the fact that 64 of the total 81 rushing yards came on rushes to the right side, with the Saints running at 4.8 and 3.7 YPC between C/RG and RG/RT respectively, compared to 2.5 YPC overall.

The running game itself was valiantly anchored by Mark Ingram, who capitalized on opportunities when the Saints needed him most – putting in hard graft for the majority of his 20 carries. Robinson (7 carries) and Spiller (3 carries) were little more than change of pace compliments, with Ingram now seemingly well established as the Saints premier ball carrier over recent weeks. The Saints still appear committed to getting Spiller involved in the offense though, with the nimble half back spending an increasing amount of snaps split out wide on Thursday night. It didn’t pay dividends this time round, but with Colston injured and a wide receiver corps that’s not quite firing, it’s a look we may become more familiar with in the coming weeks.

Receiving-wise, it was the Ben Watson show against Atlanta on Thursday night, with Watson hauling in 10 of his 12 targets for 127 yards and a TD. As mooted above in our grades, some of the credit for creating the space that Watson was able to exploit should go to the WRs. Although they didn’t set the world alight statistically (Watson outgained all four combined), the Saints wideouts did do enough to keep the attention of the Falcons secondary, with Snead and Cooks contributing modestly when called up. Brandon Coleman continues to under-perform in relation to his “training camp billing”, but at least some clever game-planning meant he was able to keep #1 Falcons CB Desmond Trufant occupied (and away from the action) for the majority of this ball game.

DEFENSE

Editor’s Note: Click on each individual table below to open a full-sized version in a new window/tab (it makes them much easier to read).

There have been frequent occasions this year where everything that could go wrong for the Saints defense, has gone wrong. A lack of pass rush, blown coverages, missed tackles, and penalties have left the D cruelly exposed at times. For fleeting moments on Thursday, however, it all came together – and the results spoke for themselves. In the 2nd half the much-maligned New Orleans D held the powerful Atlanta offense to just 143 yards. And 62 of those came on a late 4th quarter “garbage time” drive. It would be foolish to draw any long term conclusions based on 30 minutes of impressive play – the bad has vastly outweighed the good in 2015 as this young unit continues learning “on the job”. But the 2nd half on Thursday offered a promising glimpse of what this defense is capable of.

The defensive line was perhaps most deserving of plaudits. Anchored by the exceptional Cam Jordan, they ensured Matt Ryan could never settle in the pocket. Ryan was sacked 3 times in the Dome, but was hit several more times (6 on our count), and rarely had a drop back with a clean pocket and clear line of sight to his targets. The disruptive trio of Kevin Williams, Kasim Edebali and Hau’oli Kikaha all contributed to the pressure on “Matty Ice”, but Jordan was unquestionably the star, launching a relentless assault on the right side of the Falcon OL. Crucially, the Saints were able to generate consistent pressure with a base 4-man (or sometimes even 3-man) rush – something we really had not seen to date outside of “flashes” against Tampa. That in turn allowed Rob Ryan to mix up his zone and man coverages to, quite literally, freeze “Matty Ice” in the pocket.

Linebacker Dannell Ellerbe was another eye-catcher, before being sidelined by a 2nd half groin injury. He still found time for some 13 stops before then, playing aggressive “sideline to sideline” ball against the run, and covering in both zone and man. The opportunistic Ellerbe also played a vital part in the two crucial 1st half turnovers – forcing the first fumble and recovering the second. A healthy Ellerbe undoubtedly represents a welcome upgrade on Hawthorne and Humber at WLB.

In the secondary, Delvin Breaux continued his spectacular rise from the CFL ranks with a headline-grabbing shutdown display against Julio Jones. It was only 3 weeks ago that the ESPN talking heads were mocking Breaux on the unfortunate “GIF” play where he lost the ball in the Superdome lights against Tampa. Those same talking heads are now lauding him as “top 10” talent. That’s probably a reach for now – Breaux’s NFL career is only 6 games old after all – but it’s impossible to know his ceiling and his potential is tantalizing. #40 is improving with every week. With Keenan Lewis seemingly no closer to 100%, Breaux has swiftly become the most important cog in this secondary.

There were still occasions when the Saints D struggled at times on Thursday, though. Especially in the first half against the run, the Black & Gold made it too easy for Atlanta to pick up big chunks of yardage. Both John Jenkins and Kaleb Eulls struggled to win up front on running plays. But as the Saints opened up their early lead, and then methodically built upon it, the always-trailing Falcons increasingly had to resort to a one-dimensional “pass first” attack. In response the Saints D-Line pinned back their ears, isolated Breaux on Jones, and challenged Matt Ryan to beat them…

And he couldn’t.

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Missed our Player Grades, Snap Counts and Analysis from the first five weeks of the Season? You can check them out by clicking the links below:

Week 1: Saints @ Cardinals – Player Grades, Snap Counts and Analysis

Week 2: Saints vs Bucs – Player Grades, Snap Counts and Analysis

Week 3: Saints @ Panthers – Player Grades, Snap Counts and Analysis

Week 4: Saints vs Cowboys – Player Grades, Snap Counts and Analysis

Week 5: Saints @ Eagles – Player Grades, Snap Counts and Analysis

And finally… be sure to give us a shout out on Twitter if you want to keep up to date with what’s going on with The BoiLa. You can hit us up on: @CrAwFiShBoiLa.