Last season, the New Orleans Saints found some stability in their defensive backfield with breakout seasons from cornerbacks Marshon Lattimore and Ken Crawley, along with free safety Marcus Williams. These new starters helped the Saints defense improve to 15th overall in passing yardage allowed after finishing dead last in 2016.
New Orleans acquired veterans Patrick Robinson and Kurt Coleman during the off-season in an attempt to further improve the defensive backfield. With Robinson taking over as nickel back and Coleman sharing the strong safety role with Vonn Bell, the unit seemed poised to grow into one of the league’s best secondaries.
It’s safe to say these expectations have changed following a disastrous performance in the Saints 48-40 loss to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
New Orleans Saints Defensive Backs Disappoint in 2018 Debut
Ugly Statistics
Buccaneers quarterback Ryan Fitzpatrick achieved three single-game career highs with 417 yards passing, 14.9 yards per attempt, and a 156.3 passer rating. At halftime, he held a perfect 158.3 rating. 417 passing yards is more than the Saints defense allowed in a game last season aside from the 436 yards surrendered in week two against the New England Patriots.
Buccaneers wide receivers Mike Evans and DeSean Jackson were unstoppable against New Orleans, catching all 12 passes they were targeted on. Together they scored three touchdowns and amassed 293 receiving yards while averaging a stunning 24.4 yards per catch. Most of these receptions came against Lattimore and Crawley, who fared well against Tampa Bay in both games last season.
Key Plays
58-yard touchdown reception by DeSean Jackson
The secondary’s poor play started with an ugly coverage breakdown, yet this type of glaring mistake is often an isolated incident as defenses shake off rust in week one. In retrospect, it was a bad omen for what was to come.
New Orleans lined up in a traditional nickel front and sent a four-rush. Jackson cut inside of Robinson initially before going deep on a corner route from the right slot. Robinson bumped Jackson before sliding into the flat in zone coverage. Bell, presumably in an intermediate zone in the middle passed off Jackson, but there was no one to pass him off too.
Crawley had man coverage on Chris Godwin on the right side, while Marcus Williams sat in a deep zone towards the opposite side. Perhaps Williams simply made an incorrect read and should have stayed closer to center field since there were three receivers on the right. It’s also possible Bell was meant to drop deeper and follow Jackson since linebacker Alex Anzalone was covering the same general area as Bell.
Maybe the coverage unfolded more or less as intended and Tampa Bay called the play at the perfect moment. This was a first and 10 play on the first drive, and New Orleans could have been anticipating a short or intermediate pass play. The way the coverage played out suggests this is the case, but a blown assignment is just as likely.
32-yard reception by Mike Evans
Lattimore was alone in man coverage on an Evans post route from the right side. Lattimore anticipated the cut and attempted to clamp down, but in slow motion, you can see he gets his feet tangled with Evans. Although Lattimore stayed on his feet, the mishap gave Jackson enough separation to make a clean catch and gain 12 extra yards to the Saints four-yard line.
Lattimore probably would have broken up the pass if he didn’t get tripped up, but he needs to be prepared for this type of thing against big receivers like Evans.
50-yard Touchdown Reception by Mike Evans
Evans stutter-stepped before taking off on a go route with Lattimore in press coverage. Lattimore attempted to disrupt the route at the line but made contact too late. His arms were pushed downward by Evans, causing Lattimore to stumble and fall a step behind. Fitzpatrick made a perfect pass and Evans caught it in stride as Lattimore fell trying to deflect the ball. Lattimore was beaten on go routes only four times last season.
Crawley was beaten twice on deep passes to Jackson in the fourth quarter, one of which went for a touchdown. These breakdowns were just as disturbing as the aforementioned incidents but by then the damage was already done. The Saints offense went the entire third quarter and six minutes into the fourth quarter without scoring and kept a tired Saints defense on the field with the red-hot Bucs offense.
Help Wanted
The defensive backs weren’t the lone culprits in this game. A predictable pass rush approach and sloppy tackling against the run did little to help the secondary.
The Saints stuck with a four-man rush for most of the game, which kept pressure on the secondary to lock down their receivers and failed to cause Fitzpatrick any discomfort. Defensive ends Cameron Jordan and Marcus Davenport both tipped passes, but Fitzpatrick was only hit twice all game. Those quarterback hits came from defensive tackle Tyeler Davison and Davenport on consecutive plays, and both resulted in questionable roughing the passer penalties.
Not only did the pass rush fail to disrupt Fitzpatrick, they were unable to simply contain him. Fitzpatrick scrambled six times for 36 yards. The most costly run was on 3rd and 11 with 2:42 remaining.
New Orleans had reduced the Bucs lead to eight and could have had a chance to tie with a stop. Jordan broke into the backfield from the right and chased Fitzpatrick, but the edge wasn’t set on the left side and the 35-year old quarterback easily scrambled for a first down.
Tampa Bay’s early run success was a big reason why Lattimore and Crawley were often left alone with their receivers. After Bucs running back Peyton Barber averaged 6.3 yards per rush in the first half, New Orleans began stacking the box more and praying that Lattimore and Crawley could handle their matchups. This approach reduced Barber’s average to 3.6 yards per carry by the end of the game but it obviously put too much weight on their cornerbacks’ shoulders.
The Saints have a good chance to rebound next week at home against the Cleveland Browns. However, it’s unlikely these issues can be cleaned up in a week. Last season, the epiphany didn’t come until week three.
A loaded NFC gives this Saints team little room for error. With such a challenging schedule ahead, this early loss already makes it unlikely for New Orleans to earn a high playoff seed. Although based on this performance, the playoffs might not even be in this team’s future.
