No matter what the Saints do, it seems like their defense still remains awful. They were last in the NFL in points allowed two seasons ago, 31st in the league last season, and they’re on their way to taking up the basement yet again. After Sam Bradford dissected the Saints’ defense on Monday night, it was Tom Brady’s turn six days later. He had his way with New Orleans, going 30 of 39 for 447 yards and three touchdowns. All told the Saints allowed 36 points and 555 total yards. They’re well on their way to taking up the last place in the NFL’s defensive rankings yet again.
Outside of Chandler Jones, who had two sacks and three hurries, not many Cardinals stood out as they sleepwalked to an overtime win over the Colts. Certainly the play of Haason Reddick was nothing to write home about. The rookie first-round pick from Temple was credited with 7 tackles in the game. He was a weak spot for Arizona’s defense in coverage. According to Pro Football Focus, he allowed four receptions for 51 yards, including three third downs. Opposing QB Jacoby Brissett had a 118.8 passer rating when throwing into Reddick’s coverage.
One had to expect a lot more out of Wilson against the San Francisco 49ers, but ultimately, he couldn’t even push the Seahawks in front until rather late in the fourth quarter. He had the support of the running game — Chris Carson picked up 93 yards on 20 carries — and his defense more than pulled their weight, but Wilson really couldn’t drive Seattle downfield much. His fourth quarter touchdown pass was his only one of the day, and while he avoided turnovers, he was sacked three times and managed just 198 yards passing. The Niner defense just isn’t good enough to justify numbers like that.
What was that? Graham was only targeted twice by Russell Wilson, and the only catch he made was for one yard. He was also knocked out of the game briefly with a knee injury, which may or may not have impacted his performance. The guess here is that it wasn’t a major factor when you consider that he only caught three passes for eight yards last week, and all indications are he’s on the fringes of the Seattle offense right now. Graham isn’t going to be what he was with New Orleans, but he still reeled in 65 catches and six touchdowns last season. We’re a far cry from that now, and things didn’t look to get any better.
Los Angeles Rams wide receivers
Gerald Everett had a 69-yard reception, but otherwise, the Los Angeles Rams had to come away disappointed with the performances of their receivers, particularly the bigger names. Sammy Watkins only pulled in two catches for 30 yards, with 28 of them coming on one reception. Tavon Austin was a non-factor for a second consecutive game, with just one five-yard reception. Excluding Everett, nobody had more than 50 yards, and the only one who came close was Todd Gurley with 48 — who is, of course, a running back. The hope was probably that Watkins would be a big play target for Jared Goff, but that isn’t happening yet, and nobody else is stepping up either.
Terrelle Pryor, WR, Redskins
This is not the Pryor that Washington would have thought they were getting. After a disappointing Week 1, Pryor was even worse here, getting just four targets. He caught two of them for 31 yards, but Trumaine Johnson had him pretty much locked down for the entire day. The 66 yards he got last week look downright good right now. Washington won, but they will be looking for a lot more big plays from their free agent wide receiver in the weeks to come.
Los Angeles Chargers running backs
For the second consecutive week, Chargers backs offered nothing to take pressure off Philip Rivers. Melvin Gordon wasn’t very good last week, but he took a huge step back against Miami, accumulating just 13 yards on nine carries — 11 of them on one run. The story was the same with Branden Oliver, who got 26 of his 31 yards on one carry as well. In total, the Chargers were able to come up with just 44 rushing yards, leaving Rivers to move the offense pretty much on his own. He couldn’t do quite enough, and with that in mind, it’s no wonder Los Angeles could only manage 17 points in their loss.
Green Bay’s defense
Credit where it’s due — the Atlanta offense was and still remains an extremely dangerous unit. It’s no coincidence, though, that Green Bay’s defense — particularly the rush defense — folded quickly when Mike Daniels was knocked out with an injury. What followed was a clinic from Atlanta’s deadly Devonta Freeman/Tevin Coleman combination, as the two combined to rack up 126 yards on 25 carries. That opened things up for Matt Ryan, who threw for 252 yards and a touchdown. Green Bay’s defense offered little resistance, and hiding behind the Daniels excuse just isn’t good enough. They had problems last year, and they look like they might be prone to similar issues this season.
