Saints’ secondary steps up with four interceptions Sunday

Published 11:45 pm Monday, November 18, 2019

METAIRIE — The New Orleans Saints defense has played well for most of the season.

It has limited opponents’ yardage and point totals enough for the Saints to be competing for the best record in the NFC.

It has gotten sacks and taken the ball away by causing and recovering fumbles.

But one area that had been lacking was interceptions as the Saints made just four during the first nine games of the season.

But that changed Sunday.

New Orleans doubled its interception total for the season by grabbing four of Jameis Winston’s passes in a 34-17 victory at Tampa Bay.

Demario Davis made the first one, setting up the Saints’ first touchdown.

Vonn Bell made the second, stopping a Bucs scoring threat late in the second quarter.

Marcus Williams made the third and returned the ball 55 yards for the final points of the game.

P.J. Williams made the fourth in the Saints end zone, stopping the Bucs’ final hope of getting back into the game

“Any time you get takeaways, those are momentum changers,” Saints quarterback Drew Brees said.

“Especially when you can get one returned for a touchdown there at the end.”

Nick Easton fills in well

The Saints offensive line bounced back from a sub-par performance in a 27-9 loss to Atlanta a week earlier.

New Orleans had a season-low 54 rushing yards and Brees was sacked a season-high six times in the loss to the Falcons.

Against the Bucs, the Saints rushed for 109 yards on the top-rated run defense and Brees was not sacked, though backup Taysom Hill was sacked once.

Nick Easton, signed as a veteran free agent from Minnesota in the offseason, started at left guard in place of Andrus Peat, who will miss several games because of a broken arm suffered against Atlanta.

“I thought we were able to run the ball pretty effectively, so I was pleased with that,” coach Sean Payton said. 

“I thought Nick Easton did a good job filling in and getting his first start. It is a tough front to run the ball against.”

Payton said the team decided last Monday that it would start Easton rather than former LSU center Will Clapp, who replaced Peat after Peat was injured late in the second quarter against the Falcons.

Starting Easton allowed Clapp to focus on his role as an extra tight end in the Saints “jumbo” package.

“Nick did a great job filling in for Peat,” tackle Ryan Ramczyk said Monday. 

“We’ll look to continue that this next week. We’ve always had a ton of confidence in our backups. 

“So Nick we knew he’d be able to step in there and play a solid game.”

Jared Cook’s size pays off

When the Saints signed veteran tight end Jared Cook as a free agent in the offseason, one of the things that attracted them to him was his ability to use his size on the goal line.

That came into play Sunday when Brees lofted a 3-yard touchdown pass to the 6-foot-5 Cook, who was well guarded but used his size to make a leaping grab before falling to the turf.

“Jared Cook standing in the end zone with anyone else standing next to him, he’s going to be able to out jump the guy,” Brees said. 

“You still have to put the ball in a place where he can get it, nobody else can. That’s the objective there, give the guy a high ball and let him make a play.”

Michael Thomas on record pace

Michael Thomas is the leading receiver in the NFL and he’s on pace to break one of the more remarkable single-season records.

Thomas had what amounts to an average game for him – eight receptions for 114 yards and one touchdown – giving him 94 catches for 1,141 yards and five touchdowns for the season.

The fourth-year receiver is on pace to break former Indianapolis Colt Marvin Harrison’s single-season record of 143 catches set in 2002.

By LES EAST

SPECIAL TO THE DAILY IBERIAN

METAIRIE — The New Orleans Saints defense has played well for most of the season.

It has limited opponents’ yardage and point totals enough for the Saints to be competing for the best record in the NFC.

It has gotten sacks and taken the ball away by causing and recovering fumbles.

But one area that had been lacking was interceptions as the Saints made just four during the first nine games of the season.

But that changed Sunday.

New Orleans doubled its interception total for the season by grabbing four of Jameis Winston’s passes in a 34-17 victory at Tampa Bay.

Demario Davis made the first one, setting up the Saints’ first touchdown.

Vonn Bell made the second, stopping a Bucs scoring threat late in the second quarter.

Marcus Williams made the third and returned the ball 55 yards for the final points of the game.

P.J. Williams made the fourth in the Saints end zone, stopping the Bucs’ final hope of getting back into the game

“Any time you get takeaways, those are momentum changers,” Saints quarterback Drew Brees said.

“Especially when you can get one returned for a touchdown there at the end.”

Nick Easton fills in well

The Saints offensive line bounced back from a sub-par performance in a 27-9 loss to Atlanta a week earlier.

New Orleans had a season-low 54 rushing yards and Brees was sacked a season-high six times in the loss to the Falcons.

Against the Bucs, the Saints rushed for 109 yards on the top-rated run defense and Brees was not sacked, though backup Taysom Hill was sacked once.

Nick Easton, signed as a veteran free agent from Minnesota in the offseason, started at left guard in place of Andrus Peat, who will miss several games because of a broken arm suffered against Atlanta.

“I thought we were able to run the ball pretty effectively, so I was pleased with that,” coach Sean Payton said. 

“I thought Nick Easton did a good job filling in and getting his first start. It is a tough front to run the ball against.”

Payton said the team decided last Monday that it would start Easton rather than former LSU center Will Clapp, who replaced Peat after Peat was injured late in the second quarter against the Falcons.

Starting Easton allowed Clapp to focus on his role as an extra tight end in the Saints “jumbo” package.

“Nick did a great job filling in for Peat,” tackle Ryan Ramczyk said Monday. 

“We’ll look to continue that this next week. We’ve always had a ton of confidence in our backups. 

“So Nick we knew he’d be able to step in there and play a solid game.”

Jared Cook’s size pays off

When the Saints signed veteran tight end Jared Cook as a free agent in the offseason, one of the things that attracted them to him was his ability to use his size on the goal line.

That came into play Sunday when Brees lofted a 3-yard touchdown pass to the 6-foot-5 Cook, who was well guarded but used his size to make a leaping grab before falling to the turf.

“Jared Cook standing in the end zone with anyone else standing next to him, he’s going to be able to out jump the guy,” Brees said. 

“You still have to put the ball in a place where he can get it, nobody else can. That’s the objective there, give the guy a high ball and let him make a play.”

Michael Thomas on record pace

Michael Thomas is the leading receiver in the NFL and he’s on pace to break one of the more remarkable single-season records.

Thomas had what amounts to an average game for him – eight receptions for 114 yards and one touchdown – giving him 94 catches for 1,141 yards and five touchdowns for the season.

The fourth-year receiver is on pace to break former Indianapolis Colt Marvin Harrison’s single-season record of 143 catches set in 2002.