Saints pass defense must win battle with Dolphins QB Tua Tagovailoa

Week 13 sees the New Orleans Saints traveling to take on the Miami Dolphins in an early afternoon Sunday kickoff. The Saints stumble in with a 2-9 record after last week's home loss to the Atlanta Falcons. Coming off their bye, the Dolphins have won two consecutive and three of their last four contests.

New Orleans owns the league's 12th ranked defense coming into this week. However, it's been a unit prone to breakdowns against the run and pass in crucial situations. The Dolphins rank only 25th in total offense, despite possessing some electric playmakers. Miami is most dangerous in the passing game, which is where New Orleans holds a relatively lofty ranking. It's here where we'll focus this analysis.

Dolphins Passing Attack

• 187.6 yards per game (26th)

• 68.2% completion percentage

• 17 touchdowns (14th)

• 13 interceptions (30th)

• 23 sacks

Tua Tagovailoa has stayed healthy this year, which is the good news. The bad news is that he's thrown an NFL-high 13 interceptions and has passed for less than 200 yards in six of 11 outings. For what it's worth, however, Miami has actually won three of those four contests. Even in his sixth year, Tagovailoa struggles to read defenses and gets easily baited into poor decisions. However, he throws an accurate deep ball and is capable of putting up big numbers.

Without the injured Tyreek Hill, Jaylen Waddle has emerged as a top wideout. Waddle had over 1,000 yards in his first three seasons before slipping to 744 in 2024. He's already come close to that this year, catching 49 balls for 722 yards with five outings of over 80 yards in the last seven games. Waddle is one of the league's best deep threats and uses good agility to pick up extra yardage after short receptions.

Malik Washington has stepped into the number two wideout role with Hill out since Week 4. Washington has 33 receptions for 324 yards, with the other receivers on the depth chart accomplishing even less. Wideouts Nick Westbrook-Ikhine, D'Wayne Eskridge, and former Saint Cedrick Wilson have combined for only 17 receptions and 160 yards. Tight end is no better, with Greg Dulcich and Julian Hill catching 19 balls for 180 yards. Darren Waller is eligible to be activated off injured reserve but is unlikely to play against the Saints.

Tua tends to hold onto the ball entirely too long, leading to unnecessary sacks. Miami doesn't have a top-tier offensive line, making it even more tempting for opponents to blitz. If New Orleans can prevent Tagovailoa from getting quick and easy looks to his receivers, they'll likely be able to get hits on the undersized quarterback. The Saints must also guard against throws to the explosive De'Von Achane out of the backfield. Achane leads the Dolphins with 54 receptions, resulting in 370 yards and 4 touchdowns with the ability to break any touch into a long gain.

Saints Pass Defense

• 192.6 yards per game (9th)

• 68.4% completion percentage

• 20 touchdowns (25th)

• 6 interceptions (21st)

• 23 sacks

• 47 QB hits

New Orleans has held four of their last five opponents to under 185 yards passing and six of their last eight foes to fewer than 200 through the air. Strong numbers, but their pass rush has also disappeared for long stretches and a young secondary has been prone to coverage breakdowns in critical moments. It's the only area of the game where New Orleans has shown constant growth through the year, but better consistency is needed.

Second-year Kool-Aid McKinstry and rookie Quincy Riley are forming a potentially strong duo at cornerback. McKinstry leads the Saints with 2 interceptions and 8 pass breakups. Riley has an interception and 5 passes broken up while allowing less than 60% completion percentage when targeted. Alontae Taylor can be inconsistent in coverage but is capable of big plays and creating havoc as a blitzer off the edge.

At safety, the Saints are more than capable but also erratic in preventing big plays over the top. Third round pick Jonas Sanker has been just as valuable as fellow rookie Riley and has shown promising instincts, good range, and penchant for big plays. Veteran offseason addition Justin Reid has been a bit of a disappointment, but has come on stronger recently and is more than capable of being the veteran leader of the group.

Demario Davis will lead and group of linebackers charged with containing Achane. At 36, Davis is still solid in coverage because of incredible anticipation and instincts. Linebacker Pete Werner is a huge liability in coverage but has been replaced by Isaiah Stalbird more often on obvious passing situations. A collegiate safety, Stalbird is the best athlete among the team's linebackers and has been extremely disruptive when used as a blitzer.

Pressure is the key to protecting a skilled but inexperienced Saints secondary. Bryan Bresee and Nathan Shepherd must do that inside, where they have just 3.5 sacks combined but 15 QB hits. On the edge, Carl Granderson started off the year on a torrid pace in the first four games but has been invisible since. Chase Young and Cameron Jordan have made up for Granderson's ineffectiveness a bit. The legendary Jordan has shown he has some quality football left at 36, recording 4.5 sacks and 9 pressures. Young has played the best football of his career since returning from injury in Week 5. Over the six games since, Young has 4 sacks with 18 pressures, 8 QB hits, and a forced fumble. New Orleans needs to pressure Tagovailoa. They'll be able to force him into bad decisions if successful, which should lead to big plays from the secondary or tipped passes from the front seven.

This article originally appeared on Saints Wire: Saints pass defense must win battle with Dolphins QB Tua Tagovailoa