The New Orleans Saints were stunned by the Minnesota Vikings in Sunday’s wild-card round game, and it’s because their star talent failed to show up. The biggest names on the team — a roster stocked with Pro Bowlers and first-team All-Pro talent — largely didn’t show up, playing small in the most important game of the year. It’s disquieting, because this is pretty much the same squad the Saints will try to bounce back with next season.
But it wasn’t all bad. Some players fought hard and put the team on their back to try and find a spark. Here are the studs and duds from the final Saints game of the 2019-2020 season:
Stud: Taysom Hill, quarterback
Hill became the first player in NFL history to throw for 50 yards, rush for 50 yards, catch 25 or more yards, and record a tackle. There were times in the game when he was the only player on offense making a play, highlighted by his 28-yard run down the sideline late in the fourth quarter. Hill played the best football of his career on Sunday, and it’s a shame that the Saints couldn’t reward him for his efforts.
Dud: Marshon Lattimore, cornerback
Lattimore picked a bad time to have his worst game of the year. He was charged with manning up against Vikings wideout Adam Thielen, who had missed a lot of time with a hamstring injury, and wasn’t up to the task. Lattimore was too often beaten by Thielen’s routes and frequently found himself a step too slow to compete at the catch point, which has been his forte early in his NFL career. Thielen led the Vikings with 129 receiving yards, having caught 7-of-9 targets, largely with Lattimore shadowing him.
Stud: Janoris Jenkins, cornerback
While Lattimore failed to show up, “Jackrabbit” turned in exactly the sort of performance the Saints hoped to see when they acquired him off of waivers. Jenkins was dinged with an early holding penalty but otherwise helped the team all day long, forcing a fumble out of Thielen on the opening Vikings drive and traveling in coverage against Stefon Diggs. Diggs went 2-for-3 to gain just 19 yards, and was so frustrated with Jenkins’ tight coverage that he had to be restrained and calmed by teammates on the sidelines.
Dud: Andrus Peat, left guard
The highly-decorated Saints offensive line was asleep at the wheel, but the unit’s worst-graded member had to be Peat. He was nothing more than a speed bump between the Vikings defensive line and his teammates in the backfield, getting repeatedly bullied by Everson Griffen and the rest of Minnesota’s pass rushers. And the Saints weren’t able to adjust and give him some help, because the rest of the line was getting beaten, too. Vikings coach Mike Zimmer didn’t dig deep into his tool box for many exotic blitzes; his players simply outplayed their Saints opponents, and Peat was often the one left picking himself up off the ground.
Stud: Deonte Harris, returns specialist
At least the rookie out of Assumption College showed up on the Saints’ biggest stage. Harris more than justified his first-team All-Pro status with 133 kick return yards (averaging 33.3 yards on four attempts) and 44 punt return yards (at a clip of 11 yards on four returns), not including a few other big returns wiped out by penalties. He also caught the Saints’ longest pass of the game on a 50-yard lob from Taysom Hill. When the lights were brightest and the stakes raised higher than ever, Harris gave his team all he had.
Dud: Alvin Kamara, running back
Conversely, Kamara didn’t look like someone comfortable playing in the postseason. He struggled to keep his footing and seemed to trip and fall every time he touched the ball, especially in the last drive during the fourth quarter. He left big chunks of yardage on the ground by going out of bounds too soon. Maybe Kamara’s body still isn’t right after the lower-leg injuries he dealt with earlier this season. Whatever the case, he averaged almost as many yards per catch (4.3) in this game as yards per carry (3.0), which is a huge indictment of his usage. When was the last time the Saints got Kamara lined up against a linebacker and dialed up a vertical route down the field?
