The New Orleans Saints walked away from their game against the New York Giants with a 33-18 win. The offense and defense were clicking, it appeared. The win carries momentum just a week after an impressive overtime win against division rival Atlanta. The win itself is a trend in the right direction for New Orleans, but perhaps the most impressive thing about their win?
The coming together of their defense.
The Saints defense came into Sunday’s game as, statistically, the worst defense in the NFL. Though following the win, they certainly won’t be there any longer.
This year’s defense has been a far cry from the team that they watched play impressively against several top offenses last year during their win streak and playoff run.
The stats (in this case) don’t lie. Prior to Sunday’s game against the Giants, the Saints secondary had struggled massively in coverage, and despite admirable (but not great) play by the front seven, the Saints defense was dragged down to the statistical bottom of the NFL.
The Saints defensive struggles had resulted in opposing teams putting up 35+ points in two out of their first three regular season games. They’ve allowed totals of 48 and 37 against Tampa Bay and Atlanta, respectively.
Over the first three games, the Saints had let up game totals of 475, 275 and 534 yards. Passing yards ranked up for 1,036 of these 1,284 yards. The secondary was heavily blamed for the massive yardage allowed by the defensive unit as a whole.
New Orleans Saints Defense Enjoys Resurgent Effort Against New York Giants
On Sunday, however, the defense took a step towards regaining the swagger that took the NFL by storm last year. Saints fans look fondly back at how their defense performed last year, when it was both one of the most improved defenses from the year before, and also the best overall. The young defense had the tenth fewest points scored against them,
The Saints held Eli Manning and the Giants to just 255 yards in the air, with one touchdown. Perhaps the biggest accomplishment of the day was holding star wide receiver Odell Beckham Jr. to just 60 yards on seven receptions. Beckham, one of the most talented receivers in the league, was frustrated for most of the day, mainly because of the tight coverage of the Saints secondary, in addition to some struggles under pressure from Manning.
Coming into the game (and any game where Beckham will feature) it’s no stretch to see him as a large part of the Giants offensive plan. The Saints knew this and the secondary, led by last year’s defensive rookie of the year Marshon Lattimore, delivered an overall solid performance in coverage against Beckham.
After a week against covering one of, if not the, best receiver in the league in Julio Jones of the Atlanta Falcons, the Saints defense provided another excellent day of coverage, slowing down dynamic players like Beckham, alongside veteran quarterback Manning and this year’s Giants first-round draft pick running back Saquon Barkley.
The Saints certainly didn’t manage to completely shut down Atlanta last week in their narrow, overtime shootout win. However, the defense held the Giants offense to just 65 rush yards, and under 250 passing yards this week.
Another underrated element of the defense from Sunday’s game was the performance by the New Orleans linebacking corps.
The Saints have been without a solid group of linebackers for a few years now. Aside from some standout performances along the way, it’s been rough.
For the most part, however, the Saints have lacked a presence in the middle of the field. Last year, signings like Manti Te’o were expected to help in terms of secondary depth. Now, the Saints find themselves with new signing Demario Davis leading the resurgence of the positional core of their defense.
Davis had a great performance yesterday, in a game where the Saints defense shined. He had nine tackles. He assisted on two more and played a solid game in coverage. The Saints gave Davis a big free agent contract during the off-season to bring him to New Orleans. And the veteran linebackers has been a large reason for the coming together of the Saints front seven.
The game was Davis’ return to New York. Although they played the Giants, and not his former team, the Jets. Davis also had two timely sacks on big plays for the Saints. He gave one of the best individual performances on the Saints defense. Over the course of the Saints’ current three-game win streak, the team captain Davis has more than pulled his weight.
He’s going to have to continue his streak of good performances as the Saints defense continues to gel. He and Lattimore will be crucial to the success of this New Orleans team going forward.
The Saints linebackers and cornerbacks have continued to develop behind what could be a dominant front line by the end of the season, with the development of Marcus Davenport and Sheldon Rankins, alongside perennial-star Cameron Jordan. If the secondary continues improving, the Saints could regain that same swagger from last year.
The NFC South is stacked offensively. It is, perhaps, as stacked as we’ve seen in recent years. The Saints defense will need to continue to close gaps going forward.
