What We Saw: Week 5

Alvin Kamara looked like the Alvin Kamara we all know and love

Ben Brown
What We Saw 3 Years Ago
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Saints @ Football Team

Final Score: Saints 33, Football Team 22

Writer: Callen Elslager (@callen_elslager on Twitter and Reddit)

 

Jameis Winston, Alvin Kamara, and Marquez Callaway put on a show this week against Washington’s struggling defense, leading the Saints to a win that really wasn’t as close as the box score indicated. Antonio Gibson finally delivered on some of his preseason hype, notching two touchdowns that gave Washington some life. Ultimately, the Jameis-led offense was too much for the Football Team to handle.

 

New Orleans Saints

 

Quarterback

 

Jameis Winston: 15/30, 279 yards, 4 TD, INT | 6 carries, 26 yards

 

It was the good, the bad, and the ugly for Jameis Winston on Sunday, with the final line reflecting all of these aspects. There was the good with the four touchdown passes he had, among these being a deep toss perfectly thrown to Deonte Harris, and some shorter passes down in the red zone to Marquez Callaway and Alvin Kamara. The bad came in as the Washington defensive line got past the offensive line and picked up a strip-sack, prying the ball loose and recovering the loose ball for Winston’s second turnover of the game. While the ugly came on Winston’s lone interception of the game, as Winston tried to find Taysom Hill and underthrew the ball allowing the Washington defender to step right in front of it for the interception. Overall, Winston made the plays when it mattered and really played much better after two early turnovers.

 

 

Running Back

 

Alvin Kamara: 16 carries, 71 yards, 1 TD | 8 targets, 5 receptions, 31 yards, 1 TD

 

Alvin Kamara had himself quiet the afternoon on Sunday, taking advantage of open space created by his offensive line to break off some longer runs. As he got space, this allowed him to be used in the red zone where he got both his rushing touchdown and his receiving touchdown. There was no one around to take these opportunities from Kamara, as he saw every single opportunity from the New Orleans backfield. This allowed him to put up his best performance of the season.

 

 

 

Wide Receiver/Tight End

 

Marquez Callaway: 8 targets, 4 receptions, 2 TD

Deonte Harris: 1 target, 1 reception, 72 yards, TD

Adam Trautman: 2 targets, 2 receptions, 43 yards

Kenny Stills: 2 targets, 2 receptions, 17 yards | 1 carry, 1 yard

Taysom Hill: 2 targets, 1 reception, 11 yards

Chris Hogan: 1 target

Juwan Johnson: 1 target

 

The main receiver through the entire game was Marquez Callaway, who led the team in targets with most coming down in more crucial situations. Amongst these targets were two touchdown receptions, one down in the red zone and one on a late Hail Mary attempt to end the first half. Along with the touchdown receptions for Callaway, came the previously mentioned bomb to Deonte Harris, where he broke free from his defender to catch the 72-yard strike downfield.

 

 

Outside of Callway and Harris, the rest of the targets were intermixed among a variety of receivers. It was nice to see one of the preseason favorites Adam Trautman mix back into the offense more with some downfield targets. Taysom Hill had to leave the game after a nasty hit from a defender, which caused him to be carted off the field, allowing for others to be involved in the offense.

 

Washington Football Team

 

Quarterback

 

Taylor Heinicke: 20/41, 248 yards, 2 INT | 5 carries, 40 yards

 

Taylor Heinicke struggled throughout the game as the pressure from New Orleans forced some rushed and inaccurate passes to often fall short of the Washington receiver. While he did get some time to take off and run, the pressure did force him to throw two untimely interceptions. One of these two interceptions came while backed up in his own end zone as he tried to fight it into tight coverage down the sideline, as the New Orleans defender could easily step in front of it. The prior interception came at much unfortunate timing as Washington moved the ball downfield into New Orleans territory as he threw a fade towards the end zone as the New Orleans defender could jump up in front of the underthrown ball for the interception.

 

 

 

Running Back

 

Antonio Gibson: 20 carries, 60 yards, 2 TD | 2 targets, 2 receptions, 12 yards

Jaret Patterson: 4 carries, 13 yards

J.D. McKissic: 2 carries, -1 yard | 4 targets, 1 reception, 8 yards

 

While the score of the game forced Washington to abandon their game plan quickly, Antonio Gibson took advantage of his goal-line carries by picking up two touchdowns as the line created space in these opportunities. It was clear he is not fully 100% as he could not get as much space and was spelled by other members of the backfield from time to time. Jaret Patterson had his moments when he carried the ball, but the real shocker was the quiet game in the passing attack for J.D. McKissic. Even with the change in game script, Washington was looking more downfield, leaving fewer targets for McKissic, and even when they went his way the pressure forced them to be more inaccurate this time around.

 

 

Wide Receiver/Tight End

 

Terry McLaurin: 11 targets, 4 receptions, 46 yards

DeAndre Carter: 8 targets, 4 receptions, 62 yards

Adam Humphries: 5 targets, 3 receptions, 73 yards

Ricky Seals-Jones: 8 targets, 5 receptions, 41 yards

Dax Milne: 1 target, 1 reception, 6 yards

Curtis Samuel: 1 target

 

With the inaccuracy from Heinicke, even the 11 targets that came Terry McLaurin‘s way were not enough as balls were often underthrown or inaccurate this week, including an underthrown ball in his vicinity on Heinicke’s second interception of the day. DeAndre Carter had himself quite the day being looked at throughout the game, including on the first interception down on the red zone, as Heinicke underthrew a fade route in his direction. With the injury to Logan Thomas last week, we wondered whether Ricky Seals-Jones would take over completely the work he had. Seals-Jones filled in the void from Thomas, getting similar work to what Thomas had been getting throughout the season. Finally, while Curtis Samuel made his return this week, it was clear Washington was slowly easing him back as he only saw one target in his time on the field.

 

— Callen Elslager (@callen_elslager on Twitter and Reddit)

Series Navigation
Introduction
Rams @ Seahawks
Jets @ Falcons
Lions @ Vikings
Broncos @ Steelers
Packers @ Bengals
Dolphins @ Buccaneers
Saints @ Football Team
Eagles @ Panthers
Titans @ Jaguars
Patriots @ Texans
Bears @ Raiders
Browns @ Chargers
Giants @ Cowboys
49ers @ Cardinals
Bills @ Chiefs

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