Cameron Jordan vs. the Falcons (3 sacks, 1.5 TFL, 2 holding penalties)

Run Defense

1-10-NO 43 (Q1, 8:50) D.Freeman right end ran ob at NO 47 for -4 yards (S.Anthony). PENALTY on ATL-R.Schraeder, Offensive Holding, 10 yards, enforced at NO 43 - No Play.

Not only does Jordan force Freeman to be stopped for negative yardage on this play, he does one better: forcing a penalty to set the Falcons back ten yards. The Falcons called a play that is a staple of their rushing attack: outside zone. The goal is to get everyone blocking in one direction, and then have the RB pick the hole that looks the most desirable. They chose to run this play in Jordan’s direction, which was a big mistake. Jordan totally blows up RT Schraeder, knocking him about 5 yards into the backfield. He even gets a hand on Freeman, but because Schraeder was beaten so badly, he basically tackled Jordan. So, instead of having a nicely blocked play where he gets to turn upfield, Freeman had to stretch the play further to his right. To compound the issue for the Falcons, Kevin Williams also beat his block, so Freeman ended up just having to run out of bounds for a loss that was negated by the penalty (which set the Falcons even further back).

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4-1-NO 34 (Q1, 6:14) M.Ryan FUMBLES (Aborted) at NO 39, and recovers at NO 39. M.Ryan to NO 39 for no gain (H.Kikaha; C.Jordan).

On 4th and short, Jordan helps make the tackle to get the ball back for the Saints. Obviously the failure was caused mainly by the fact that Matt Ryan dropped the ball, but Kikaha and Jordan were able to share the tackle to actually seal the deal. On this play, Jordan was able to get underneath the RT and turn him back, which ended up meaning that after Ryan picked up the ball Ryan was pushed directly into Jordan.

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2-5-ATL 39 (Q3, 13:15) D.Freeman right end to ATL 41 for 2 yards (S.Anthony). PENALTY on ATL-C.Chester, Offensive Holding, 10 yards, enforced at ATL 39 - No Play.

Once again we get to see Jordan totally blow up a blocker and cause a penalty that set the Falcons’ offense back. This was the first drive of the second half, and the game was still close at this point, with the score 14-10 in favor of the Saints. If the Falcons had scored on this drive, they could have taken the lead and changed the complexion of the game entirely. Instead, Jordan got a great jump off of the snap, and was in the backfield instantly. Chester was forced to reach back to try to stop him, and ended up making a fool of himself. He dragged Jordan down to the ground. Although Jordan did not get his hands on Freeman, he did force the holding penalty which created a 2nd and 15.

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2-5-NO 49 (Q3, :01) D.Freeman left end to ATL 46 for -5 yards (C.Jordan).

Since the Falcons run a lot of plays with zone blocking schemes, the defense ends up getting used to flowing to the playside. If the defense is getting over-aggressive at attacking the play side of the formation, a windback like this play can keep the offense off guard if the backside DE isn’t paying attention and gets caught up in the flow. On this play, Jordan is the backside DE, and he does a great job of staying disciplined. It should also be noted that the Falcons assigned WR Leonard Hankerson to cut block Jordan, and Hankerson just did an awful job of it, as he didn’t even contact him. Jordan was easily able to jump over the block, and chase after Freeman. He dragged Devonta down well behind the line of scrimmage for a loss of five. It was a good display of discipline in his assignment, but Jordan did not necessarily do the best job on this play, because he committed a penalty. As you can clearly see, he got his hand inside the collar of Freeman as he was dragging him down. That is a horsecollar tackle, which carries a 15 yard penalty. A flag was thrown, but was later (incorrectly) picked up by the officials, so the Saints and Jordan got away with one here.

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Jordan showed off his versatility in this game, and was successful when playing two different positions along the defensive line, which is not something every player can do. He did a solid job of rushing around the edge and getting to the QB as well as being an interior penetrator, which is a rare trait even in the NFL. He did a solid job in both phases of the game, making impact plays both against the run and against the pass. Three sacks were a nice, gaudy stat for him, and he really worked in this game to get those and do a lot more to affect the outcome.