Saints’ grit during streak pleases Payton
NEW ORLEANS — While the Saints haven’t posted a dominant, runaway victory this season, Coach Sean Payton likes the fact New Orleans has emerged triumphant from stressful, late-game scenarios in four straight.
“We’re still improving,” Payton said Monday, a day after the Saints took a 26-23 overtime victory in Chicago. “I thought we got better yesterday in a tough environment. But I do think there’s a grit element. And when you’re able to play well in tight games and come out with a win, I think you develop a certain confidence and you’re comfortable playing” in such circumstances.
The Saints’ past three victories have come by three points each, and the winning streak began with a six-point victory at Detroit.
Lately, the Saints have had a pretty good excuse for not being able to run up the score on opponents. Receiver Michael Thomas, the 2019 AP Offensive Player of the Year, hasn’t played since Week 1 because of an ankle injury, followed by a one-game suspension for a
practice altercation with a teammate, and then a hamstring injury. Meanwhile, Emmanuel Sanders — who is arguably the Saints’ second-best receiver — missed the past two games after testing positive for covid-19.
But record-setting quar
terback Drew Brees has been consistently efficient regardless of who his targets are, completing 112 of 149 attempts (75.2%) for 1,138 yards and 7 touchdowns with 2 interceptions during the winning streak.
And New Orleans has been able to lean heavily on Alvin Kamara, who currently leads the club in both yards rushing (431) and receiving (556).
“Definitely one of the best backs that I’ve ever played with. He can just do so many things, and he’s so versatile,” said Saints tight end Jared Cook, who caught his team-leading fourth touchdown in Chicago. “He definitely brings an element to the game that we need in this offense in terms of switching it up and moving him around.”
And while the Saints’ secondary has had its share of coverage busts, the defense as a whole has been solid, ranking eighth in total yards allowed (328.4) per game.
“Forget the numbers. We’ve got some of the top DBs: Malcolm [Jenkins], Marshon [Lattimore], Janoris [Jenkins] back there, Marcus Williams,” defensive back C.J. Gardner-Johnson said. “We got a team. The linebacker corps we have, the D-line that [has] come together. We just worry about piecing it together and just keep it rolling, find a way to win. And that’s all we’re doing right now.”