The New Orleans Saints entered their highly anticipated matchup with the San Francisco 49ers under-manned at a key position. A.J. Klein and Kiko Alonso both missed the game due to injury, thrusting Saints backup linebackers Craig Robertson and Stephone Anthony into the starting lineup. Both players had seen limited defensive action prior to this game.
While there’s plenty of blame to go around in a performance where the Saints defense surrendered 48 points and 516 total yards, the absences of Klein and Alonso were a significant factor in the loss.
San Francisco 49ers Get the Best of New Orleans Saints Backup Linebackers
First Half
Robertson and Anthony actually had a good start to the game. It was mostly coverage breakdowns by the secondary that led to two early touchdowns by the 49ers.
On the 49ers first drive, Robertson blew up a run play on second and goal. San Francisco came out in a wildcat formation and ran a zone-read. The ball-carrier kept the ball rather than handing off but was tackled for a loss immediately by Robertson.
On the next drive, Anthony came in strong from the right side on a run play, got through a block from the fullback and eliminated the running back’s lane.
Robertson and Anthony weren’t challenged much in the first quarter aside from these plays. However, the 49ers tested them frequently in the second quarter and found plenty of success.
Second Quarter Woes
Robertson saw much more action than Anthony as he remained on the field in nickel formations. His first mishap occurred with 7:29 remaining in the second quarter.
Play action from Jimmy Garoppolo pulled Robertson up towards the line of scrimmage, and he quickly backed off and picked up the fullback in coverage. However, Robertson stuck with the back too long when he should have passed him off to Anthony and continued dropping back.
Garappolo threw right through the lane where Robertson should’ve been to Deebo Samuel for 21 yards. Since it was Cover 3 coverage, cornerback Eli Apple was playing with outside leverage, depending on underneath support from the linebackers.
On the next play, Robertson took a bad angle on a big off-tackle run to the right. He seemed to underestimate the speed of the back. Robertson attempted a diving tackle but the running back was in full acceleration and it was too late. Nickel back P.J. Williams was also to blame here as he was unable to get outside to contain the edge.
Final 49ers Drive of First Half
Robertson had a particularly rough outing on the 49ers next drive. An oversight in coverage gave tight end George Kittle his first big catch of the game on a third and 10 play. Robertson seemed hesitant to pass off wide receiver Emmanuel Sanders from his zone and lost track of Kittle on an out route in the process. He caught up with Kittle before he reached the first down marker, but the tight end did a stutter step and put Robertson on the turf with a brutal stiff arm.
On the next play, Robertson was fooled badly by a cutback run. He fully committed to a run to the right, and as the running back cut back to the left Robertson got stuck behind another defender and couldn’t get back into position. Other defenders, namely Vonn Bell and Williams should have been able to prevent this run from gaining 28 yards.
This was perhaps the most uncharacteristic blunder by the Saints defense as they had only allowed two runs of 10 or more yards up the middle all season.
Robertson also played a part in the 18-yard fullback lateral later in the drive, but he was far from the only culprit. He was slow to get outside and got stuck in a block by Kittle. However, Robertson did his best to prevent the back from getting further outside and helped prevent the play from gaining even more yardage.
San Francisco scored on the next play, a run up the middle where Robertson completely lost track of the ball-carrier. His attention seemed to be on a receiver who passed through the backfield on a fake reverse. Robertson still managed to get into the running lane, but over-pursued and lost his angle on the running back.
Second Half
Generally speaking, Robertson played better in the second half. He somewhat rectified his first-half errors by pulling in an interception off a bobbled pass, halting the 49ers’ first drive of the half. On the next 49er drive, Robertson made a nice one-on-one tackle, holding a promising run play to three yards.
Later on that drive, Anthony found himself in a difficult situation and gave up a touchdown. On a first and goal play, Anthony was tasked with defending the left flat, but his eyes were stuck in the backfield due to a run-fake. He was late in noticing Kittle coming across the formation and slipped when he tried changing direction. Kittle came wide open and while Robertson saw Kittle early on, he was unable to get outside fast enough to prevent the score.
From that point on, New Orleans appeared to utilize more man coverage with an extra defensive back (usually Chauncey Gardner-Johnson) covering Kittle. This took pressure off the linebackers and finally slowed down the 49ers offense, who found the end zone just once more in the final 19 minutes of the game. Robertson also played more disciplined on run plays and made some nice stops in the fourth quarter.
Fourth Quarter
Robertson had a mostly positive second half until a critical third and two play with 4:37 left in the game. San Francisco led by two points and a stop on this play would have led to a quick three and out. The Saints pass rush quickly shrunk the pocket, but Garoppolo managed to escape. He scrambled right and just barely beat Robertson to the first down marker.
Some of the blame for this play falls on Cameron Jordan. He sacrificed his edge by making an inside move on the right tackle in an attempt to reach the quarterback faster. This move is what allowed Garoppolo to get outside. However, Robertson was the spy on the play and preventing a scramble was his ultimate responsibility.
Two plays later, Robertson was one of several defenders who over-pursued on a run to the right. The play turned out to be a reverse, and Robertson, along with defensive end Trey Hendrickson were caught out of place and easily sealed off by 49ers blockers. The run gained 31 yards and moved San Francisco into field goal range.
Further Notes
The purpose of this article is not to try and pin this loss on the Saints backup linebackers. To the contrary, each Saints defender seemed to make at least one costly mistake.
Even starting linebacker Demario Davis, who has been playing at a Pro Bowl level all season made some poor plays in coverage. Perhaps this was because he spent much of the game at middle and strong-side linebacker rather than his usual weakside linebacker spot.
Instead, this is meant to show the effect the absences of Klein and Alonso had on this game. New Orleans wasn’t able to defend the line of scrimmage and the flats as well as we’ve become used to. It didn’t help that San Francisco is particularly skilled at attacking these areas.
Perhaps Robertson and Anthony will look better next week against a mediocre Colts offense. In any case, the Saints backup linebackers have to play better going forward if Klein and Alonso’s injuries are serious.
