The New Orleans Saints are now 1-4 and 0-3 at home. Brian Flores' defense was always going to make this offense struggle, but it was probably even worse than expected. The Saints needed to win this game, and they didn't. 

Still, like any game, the Saints had their standouts:

Recently, I was a bit critical when talking about Sanker moving to the slot position, but this was the type of game that shut me up. His tackling was incredible throughout this matchup, and the coverage was much improved. One play that stood out was before Justin Jefferson got his touchdown in the third quarter. Kyler Murray threw the ball to Jauan Jennings, and although a play could have been made, Sanker was attached to him, and it ended up incomplete. 

His biggest play of the game came from a fumble recovery where Sanker was able to return it for a touchdown. 

These players didn't play consistently, but Khristian Boyd, Colby Wooden, and Christen Miller made some really good plays throughout the game. Boyd got to the QB, blew up some run plays, and caused the first fumble of the game. Wooden was the most consistent piece, and he was a standout pass rusher nearly every time he was on the field. He also nearly had an interception from Justin Jefferson on a wild play. 

Miller didn't have any huge plays, but for his first game back since his injury, he showed exactly why the Saints selected him in the second round.

After having a really horrible fumble and overall bad performance against the Falcons, Miller needed to have a bounce-back day, and he did. Miller looked like the best RB on the Saints roster, had some nice runs, and had the Saints' first score of the game. The run game still wasn't good; Miller wasn't consistent, but he really helped the offense throughout the matchup.

It hasn't been perfect with Brandon Staley as defensive coordinator, and it doesn't help that the personnel and injuries aren't the best, but he had this group play well against Minnesota. The Saints forced turnovers, stopped the run, got to the QB, and made Kyler Murray run. Murray's running ability is where the defense fell apart a bit, and mistakes were made, but overall, this was the kind of outperforming defensive game we would have seen last year.