The New Orleans Saints took down the Dallas Cowboys on Sunday Night Football thanks to an impressive defensive effort, pressuring Cowboys quarterback Dak Prescott throughout the night and limiting running back Ezekiel Elliott to one of his worst rushing marks in his career (gaining just 35 yards on 18 attempts, or 1.94 yards per carry).
Part of that success was fueled by starting defensive tackle Sheldon Rankins, who reentered the lineup only eight months removed from surgery on his injured Achilles tendon. Saints coaches reportedly hoped he would play about 30 snaps against Dallas, and he beat those expectations by staying on the field (and making an impact) on 38 plays, the most of any Saints defensive tackle.
Here’s how the snap counts shook out, by position group:
Offensive backfield
- QB Teddy Bridgewater, 69 (97%)
- RB Alvin Kamara, 55 (77%)
- RB Latavius Murray, 18 (25%)
- FB Zach Line, 7 (10%)
- QB Taysom Hill, 6 (8%)
Despite a couple of trick plays for Hill and some early touches for Murray, this was largely the Kamara and Bridgewater show. The Saints recognized that Kamara is their best player and utilized him well down the stretch, coming up with some creative designs on running plays to make lanes for him to race through.
Offensive line
- OC Erik McCoy, 71 (100%)
- OT Ryan Ramczyk, 71 (100%)
- OT Terron Armstead, 71 (100%)
- OG Andrus Peat, 71 (100%)
- OG Larry Warford, 71 (100%)
- OG Patrick Omameh, 9 (13%)
Nick Easton still hasn’t made an appearance outside the special teams units, this time surpassed by another journeyman free agent in Omameh. With second-year pro Will Clapp sidelined by an injury, Omameh took his place in the lineup as the offensive line’s sixth man for overloaded and unbalanced alignments.
Skills positions
- WR Michael Thomas, 69 (97%)
- WR Ted Ginn Jr., 50 (70%)
- WR Austin Carr, 44 (62%)
- TE Josh Hill, 41 (58%)
- TE Jared Cook, 40 (56%)
- WR Lil’Jordan Humphrey, 11 (15%)
- WR Deonte Harris, 7 (10%)
With Bridgewater running the offense, the Saints have leaned heavier on personnel packages featuring two tight ends rather than three or more wide receivers, though there’s obviously still plenty of overlap between those combinations. The development of Humphrey, a recent practice squad promotion, is one to watch moving forwards — the Saints lined him up tight to the formation often, which could give him favorable looks against linebackers and defensive end in coverage.
Special teams
- LB Craig Robertson, 15 (71%)
- CB Justin Hardee, 15 (71%)
- LB Ray-Ray Armstrong, 14 (67%)
- RB Dwayne Washington, 13 (62%)
- S J.T. Gray, 12 (57%)
- S C.J. Gardner-Johnson, 11 (52%)
- CB Patrick Robinson, 10 (48%)
- FB Zach Line, 9 (43%)
We’re only counting the players who saw 40% or more of special teams snaps, because this list would really drag on if we took it all the way down (you can find it here, if you so desire). With Drew Brees sidelined, the Saints have effectively taken Taysom Hill off of special teams duties to protect him as their new backup quarterback. That’s elevated Hardee to a more prominent role in hill’s absence, and created opportunities for free agents like Armstrong to catch on with the team.
Defensive line
- DE Cameron Jordan, 57 (98%)
- DE Marcus Davenport, 45 (78%)
- DT Sheldon Rankins, 38 (66%)
- DT David Onyemata, 37 (64%)
- NT Malcom Brown, 24 (41%)
- DT Shy Tuttle, 15 (26%)
- DE Trey Hendrickson, 8 (14%)
- DE Carl Granderson, 5 (9%)
It’s wild that Rankins was able to not only return so soon from a terrible injury, but take the field and make positive plays on the highest snap count for any Saints defensive tackle. Just bonkers. Interestingly, the Saints were able to balance out his snaps with those of Onyemata, suggesting they may continue to play the two of them in a near-even split as they did last year (to get effect). Brown has easily been the best free agent signee of the year for New Orleans, showing up against both the run (as expected) and the pass (a welcome upgrade). Hendrickson went out with a neck injury early in the game, and his status is worth monitoring in the coming days.
Linebackers
- LB A.J. Klein, 55 (95%)
- LB Demario Davis, 53 (91%)
- LB Kiko Alonso, 11 (19%)
- LB Craig Robertson, 1 (2%)
The Saints defense rolled out the most base looks of the year so far against Dallas, using Alonso to help cover tight ends and manage zones closer to the line of scrimmage. Other than his increased role and Robertson’s lone cameo, it was business as usual for the linebackers. Klein and Davis each made big plays by forcing a fumble out of Jason Witten (Klein) and solo-tackling Ezekiel Elliott at the line of scrimmage (Davis).
Defensive secondary
- S Marcus Williams, 58 (100%)
- S Vonn Bell, 57 (98%)
- CB Eli Apple, 57 (98%)
- CB Marshon Lattimore, 57 (98%)
- CB P.J. Williams, 47 (81%)
- S C.J. Gardner-Johnson, 8 (14%)
- CB Patrick Robinson, 5 (9%)
Nickel personnel remained the go-to package for the Saints in this game, though they did occasionally take Williams off the field to throw in another linebacker when the situation called for it. They also saw opportunities to put Gardner-Johnson and Robinson in the game late in the fourth quarter when the desperate Cowboys offense was trying to make something happen on a last-minute Hail Mary bid.
