Welcome everyone to the latest edition of #4Downs where I break down what went right and what went wrong for the New Orleans Saints. This week, I look at their big win on Monday Night Football against the Washington Redskins.
1st Down: Return of the Mark
While the big story of the night was all about Drew Brees, Mark Ingram’s return wasn’t half bad either. After coming back from a four-game suspension, the 28-year-old running back was back in his usual role as the bellcow of the run game with 16 carries for 53 yards and two touchdowns.
Interesting stat: he accounted for literally 50% of the carries for the Saints which includes Teddy Bridgewater kneeling three times in the final moments of the win. While it’s not a breakout ballgame for him, it’s a step in the right direction for a guy that hadn’t taken a snap in an actual game in over a month.
2nd Down: Hit the Tre’Quan
If you told me at the beginning of the season that Tre’Quan Smith would catch the record breaking pass by Brees on Monday night, I would have laughed at you. Heck, I would’ve laughed at you heading into tonight’s ballgame because of how much they’ve used Michael Thomas in the passing game through the first four games.
That being said, the rookie wideout was a really good target and had a bit of a coming out party for the Saints with three receptions for 111 yards and two touchdowns. Smith has been waiting patiently for his opportunity to ball out and with Ted Ginn being ruled out for the primetime matchup, he showed what he can bring to the table for this offense and will likely see some more playing time.
3rd Down: Bullseye Brees
It was a historic night with Brees rolling past the record that Peyton Manning previously held with 363 yards and three touchdowns. He came up short of the 500 TD mark, but he also had a career high completion percentage, going 26-for-29 (89.6%) on the evening.
For a frame of reference, his second best single game performance was back in 2011 in that blowout game against the Indianapolis Colts when he completed 88.6 percent of his passes. He’s been simply phenomenal the last year and a half with a running back corps in Kamara and Ingram that helps the offense take some of the workload off of number nine.
4th Down: Davenport Breaks Out
Marcus Davenport was all over the place on Monday night and while the stats don’t show a whole lot, he had a solid ballgame with two tackles, a sack for a 13-yard loss, a pass deflection, and a forced fumble. It wasn’t a double digit tackle kind of night, but the former UTSA Roadrunner showed a national audience exactly why the Saints took a risk in trading up for him in the 2018 draft.
Extra Point: Peyton Manning Is Funny
Who would’ve thought that Peyton Manning can be funny from time-to-time? Within minutes after Brees shattered his old record, the future Pro Football Hall of Famer put up a video on social media that you can’t help but to laugh at. What a good sport, can’t wait to see if he does the same for when someone breaks that TD record.
PSA: message from Peyton Manning pic.twitter.com/DcZ8eTfXw8
— New Orleans Saints (@Saints) October 9, 2018
-Clint Domingue