Don't tell the Atlanta Falcons and the rest of the NFL, but slowly and surely we're starting to see the New Orleans Saints come to life.
The NFC West-leading Seattle Seahawks were the latest to find that out as Drew Brees steamrolled their defense on route to an emphatic victory. So at 7-3 and just one game off the lead of the conference (plus a tie break) are we ready to get back on the Saints' bandwagon?
As for the Seahawks, their roller coaster season appears to be evening out. Can they beat bad teams? Yes. Are they good enough to beat good teams? No. This was an example of the latter but they still walked out with plenty of positives — including the other NFC West teams doing what they do best, losing on Sundays.
Seahawks: Three performances of note
While Mike Williams (+1.5) has had much deserved praise thrown on him, how about some credit for the work of Ben Obomanu (+2.7)? Thrust into the starting lineup, Obamanu played all bar six snaps and caught five of the six balls thrown his way for 87 yards and a touchdown. His most impressive play was a nice adjustment on a deep route that saw some him come down with a jump ball. The Seahawks have lucked into something with their receivers.
Perhaps the most shocking performance from the Seahawks was that of Raheem Brock (+6.1). Brock has been a pleasant surprise for Seattle (compared to his days in Indianapolis) despite the odd flashback performance where he looks anything but an NFL starter. This week was as good as we've ever seen him. Six quarterback disruptions and a defensive stop is a very impressive day for the defensive end.
When CB Walter Thurmond (-3.0) was thrust into the starting lineup it was never going to be easy, and so it proved. The rookie corner came in for the injured Marcus Trufant (-1.3) and proceeded to allow eight of nine throws to be completed for 135 yards and a touchdown. Quite the dropoff, and very much a step along the rookie learning curve for Thurmond.
Saints: Three performances of note
So, is Brees (+7.2) back to his best? If this performance is anything to go by, the answer is a resounding yes. It didn't matter if Brees was blitzed or not, he just went to town on the Seahawks' secondary with a virtuoso display. He actually completed more passes (75 percent) when pressured compared to when he wasn't (64.5 percent) as he displayed all the tools of a Super Bowl MVP.
On the other side of the fence, one performance really stood out for all the wrong reasons. The Seahawks targeted Jabari Greer (-2.4) deep, and for the first time in a long while he couldn't deal with it. He was beaten by the three main Seahawks receivers deep and ended up giving up eight of the nine balls thrown his way for 169 yards. Really bad day at the office, and one that can't be a trend considering the consistent lack of pass rush the Saints generate.
On a better note defensively, the safety pairing of Roman Harper (+2.5) and Usama Young (+2.8) had an excellent day. Harper, as the in-box safety, made two big defensive stops and sniffed out some runs plays. Young, the deeper of the two, allowed one reception for 3 yards and broke up two passes. So much for the strain of losing Malcolm Jenkins and Darren Sharper for this one. Young put a case forward that he can be a starter in this league.
Rookie report
Russell Okung (+0.0) gave up three pressures in an encouraging display at left tackle. … Earl Thomas (+0.3) had a mixed day. Eight tackles, but only three defensive stops and a further two tackles missed. His garbage-time INT skewed his stat line a bit after he gave up a TD.
With Jeremy Shockey out, Jimmy Graham (+1.2) saw more action, catching five of the eight balls thrown his way and picking up 37 yards after the catch. … Chris Ivory (+2.5) was extremely impressive turning short yardage into sizable gains on more than one occasion as he picked up 86.87 percent of his yards after contact. He looks like another nice RB find for Sean Payton.
Random notes
The Saints hit Matt Hasselbeck only once all game. … Lofa Tatupu made two tackles. He missed three. The Seahawks missed 16 all together.
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