Must Win Territory: PFF Gradebook Release Week 7, Saints at Detroit

A huge disappointment this week. The Saints led in most of the major statistical categories except points, at the end of the game.

SBNation Blogs now receive a weekly Gradebook release from Pro football Focus, and I'll start each grading report with their release summary at the beginning of my grading post. I have also purchased a subscription to their Premium Statistics, and will incorporate them along with my personal observations to make the grades.

Due to time constraints this week I'm just going to post the PFF summaries and combine them in one post. Next week I'll get back to my hopefully improved, player grades.

Pro Football Focus Gradebook ReleaseWeek 7-NO@DET

Offensive Summary-

Benjamin Watson with the highest grade on offense, had a good game run blocking, despite the team's overall struggles rushing. Second straight game above +1.5 in that area.-

Jahri Evans bounced back from what was the lowest grade we've ever given him with a +1.6, majority of it in run blocking.-

Rest of the line struggled, particularly Tim Lelito and Terron Armstead. Armstead gave up two pressures in the final five minutes, the second of which was particularly fast (4Q, 1:43).-

Jimmy Graham played 30 snaps, 28 of them were passing plays. Targeted once.-

Travaris Cadet logged his highest snap count this season with 20 - previous high was 19 in Week 4.

Passing-

Drew Brees was great inside the numbers, particularly at intermediate distance. 26 of his 36 aimed attempts came inside the numbers.

- Outside of the touchdown pass, still struggled to connect on deep passes hitting just one of four. Still has one of the lowest deep attempt percentages in the league.

-          Also among the lowest play action rates. Executed PA fake on less than 13% of drop backs yesterday. Rushing

-         Mark Ingram had 10 carries in his return from injury and forced two missed tackles, though rushed for just 1.6 yards per carry. Had more yards after contact (26) than total yards (16).

Receiving

-          Another quiet game for Brandin Cooks; ran 46 routes but only targeted three times.

- Marques Colston had his first positive overall grade this season - season-high six catches for 111 yards, came against five different defenders in primary coverage.

-          Travaris Cadet the second-most targeted WR. Caught six of seven targets.

Defensive Summary

-         Curtis Lofton with the highest grade on the defense and his highest grade since joining the Saints. Nine defensive stops and just one missed tackle.

-          Keenan Lewis also played well with his best grade of the season. All three of his tackles counted as defensive stops.

-          After three straight games at +1.0 or above, Parys Haralson came in at -5.3, in part due to several penalties.

-          Marcus Ball played his first action of the season. Logged 21 snaps, though graded negatively. Lined up primarily over the slot (16 of 21 snaps).

-          Cameron Jordan second straight game above +2 in run defense, but didn't generate much pressure. Three hurries and a QB hit in 40 rushes.

-          Vinnie Sunseri played his first snaps since Week 2, while Stanley Jean-Baptiste and Todd Davis both played for the first time this season. SJB played seven of eight snaps lined up at LCB.

Coverage

-         Corey White struggled, gave up eight of nine targets for 148, two touchdowns, and a perfect QB rating. Golden Tate accounted for five of those catches.

-          Seven of nine targets against Curtis Lofton were caught, but the Lions gained just 32 yards.