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Did the Saints defense find its mojo in New York? 'We got our swagger back'

By Luke Johnson, NOLA.com
The Times-Picayune

There was a key member of the New Orleans Saints defense who dared to use that key word in the aftermath of an impressive 33-18 road win against the New York Giants.

"We came out here and we were playing for each other today," defensive back Marshon Lattimore said. "That's what I love to see. We got our swagger back, that's step one."

Swagger had been on short supply for the Saints defense in the first three weeks. The only thing it seemed consistently capable of doing was getting beat deep down field. But the Saints defenders kept insisting they would get it figured out, and they showed progress in that regard Sunday (Sept. 30).

The Saints refused to allow Eli Manning and his explosive Giants receivers to beat them over the top (New York's longest play was a 28-yard Saquon Barkley rush), and they finally forced some of the turnovers that had been missing the first three games.

It was the Saints defense working hand-in-hand with the offense -- even having the offense's back as it failed to turn red-zone opportunities into touchdowns early -- to give New Orleans its most complete game of the season.

"I thought we played one of our better complementary games," said Saints coach Sean Payton. "Time of possession, turnovers , all those things kind of went in our favor, and when you do that, you are probably going to win more than you lose."

Coming into Sunday, the only turnover the Saints had forced was a Marcus Williams interception against Cleveland. In the week leading up to the Giants game, Payton lamented the fact that his team had not recovered a single fumble all season.

"We know we got to get turnovers and we got to get our offense back the ball and stuff like that, so that was definitely a big thing this week," said defensive back P.J. Williams.

And it was P.J. Williams who broke that spell when he jarred the ball free from running back Wayne Gallman's grip in the first half. Lattimore scooped it up and returned it deep into Giants territory, setting up a Saints field goal.

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AsylumGuido

They don't need to just talk it. They need to keep doing it. The explosive pass plays were killing us over the first three games, but they held the Giants to two short ones (23, 27) with neither being a TD.

spkb25

It was our best game as a team to date. People may forget that it's not just about who you play, but many times about when you play them. This Giants team was fighting for their season. 2-2 vs 1-3 is a huge difference. So we got their best. We still, offensively, put up the most points they have let up all year and that was with leaving at least 1-2 TD's on the field. If our d can continue to get better we have a shot at something special.

rezburna

Have y’all realized that we’re #4 in run defense?

3.2 ypc
79.5 ypg

We’re 24th overall. This defense is actually good enough to get us over the top as long as we limit chunk plays.

K Major

Yep. I posted a link last week (we were actually #3 at the time) on how stout we've been up front. David O, Rankins, Stallworth, Davenport (he slung Barkley around like a rag doll on one play) have been eating.

If a NFL defense can stop the run, you make QB's one dimensional.

K Major

Speaking of production ...

On the O line for week #4 :

RIGHT TACKLE

Ryan Ramczyk, New Orleans Saints – 81.5
Quickly becoming one of the very best right tackles in football, Ramczyk had another impressive game on Sunday. From 38 pass-blocking snaps, he allowed just one hurry and has allowed only four total pressures on 182 pass-blocking snaps so far this season.

Source: https://www.profootballfocus.com/new...am-of-the-week

WillMacKenzie

Was pleasantly surprised with the exception of the drive that the Giants marched down to score to get to 19.

Allen has a bad habit of taking his foot off the gas with too much time still on the clock

AsylumGuido

That is looking more and more like an awesome trade to get that pick.

Rugby Saint II

You had better walk the walk if you are going to talk the talk.

CheramieIII

Not yet and if they think they've got that swagger back that's what got them the 30th ranked defense in the league in the first place!

Better get your MOJO on and forget about any talk until after the Sup...............nevermind!