Saints Weeks 12 & 13 Players of the Week - Cameron Jordan & David Onyemata

What’s good, Who Dats!? It’s Tee Word, and I’m back with the New Orleans Saints Player of the Week for Weeks 12 & 13 of 2018! Two more exciting weeks of Saints football has been played and the results are not exactly what Saints fans may have hoped for. After deflating the Atlanta Falcons 31-17 in week 12, the Saints would fall to the Dallas Cowboys 13-10 in week 13. Capping a month of offensive explosion, New Orleans’ defense did their best to try to finish 5-0 in November. In a month when the Saints only allowed 86 points in 5 games while scoring 186, it is only right that a few defensive players get some shine.

Let’s get started with the week 12 Thanksgiving roasting of the Falcons:

The Saints offense was on-brand for the season and put up solid and efficient numbers against the birds. Brees completed 15 passes for 171 yards and 4 TDs with 1 interception that should have an asterisk next to it. The law firm of Kamara and Ingram combined for 141 rushing yards on 29 carries. Tommylee Lewis, Dan Arnold, Austin Carr, and Keith Kirkwood caught TD passes from Brees and Madden created players rejoiced.

Sheldon Rankins, Demario Davis, P.J. Williams, and Marcus Williams all contributed sacks, including an NFL-record fastest sack by M. Williams in the 1st quarter. However, Cameron Jordan continued his dominant play against Atlanta by contributing 4 tackles, 2 were sacks. Jordan always gives the Falcons offensive line trouble and not always in ways that appear on the stat-sheet. Cam is disruptive and draws extra attention, freeing up teammates like Rankins and David Onyemata to make an impact on the game by winning one-on-one match-ups. Jordan is 3 sacks away from tying his career high of 13 sacks which was set last season. With 4 games to go and the defense surging, Cam could reach another level in the near future.

On to week 13 and a trip to Jerry World for the Saints:

And the other shoe dropped...

After dispatching the Falcons, the Saints rolled into Dallas looking to extend their 10-game win streak to 11 games. However, the Cowboys had other plans and showed to play some real football. On a night when Brees was harassed and hurried and none of the offensive weapons could get going, it’s hard to point out anyone on offense as a highlight. Whether it was fatigue and road wear or just plain old unfocused, the Saints seemed out of sync early and could not capitalize on turnovers in the first and second half. Expect a major bounce back versus Tampa.

Though he wasn’t the only force for the Saints defense, he was the most dominant and effective. David Onyemata came to kick butt and have them sign for the delivery. Big #93 had 4 tackles and 3 of them were sacks. In addition to Onyemata making his presence felt, A.J. Klein, Taylor Stallworth, and Jordan contributed sacks. Marshon Lattimore and Jordan also forced a fumble in the 1st and fourth quarters respectively. As a unit, the Saints limited Dallas to 13 points and held Ezekiel Elliott to 135 total yards and 1 TD on the day. This 2018 defense is proving to be even better than 2017 and Onyemata was the star of the day in Dallas.

Looking to week 14, the Saints will visit the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in Florida facing wet conditions and seek to avenge a week 1 upset loss. Playoff seeding, 1st round bye, and a division crown are still at stake, so expect a focused and ready Saints team to show up at Ray-Jay and muck it up!

As always, Thanks for reading, Be Cool Who Dats!