The New Orleans Saints defense came through in a big way to help beat the Jacksonville Jaguars on Sunday by a score of 13-6, and nobody was more proud of them than Saints coach Sean Payton. Payton praised his defense during his postgame press conference, saying, “I told our defense I felt like if we had eight quarters they wouldn’t have scored a touchdown today.”
Rookie Jaguars quarterback Gardner Minshew was limited to his lowest passing yards total (163) of the year so far. He’d previously averaged 256 yards per game, and also threw his first interception (snagged by Saints cornerback Marshon Lattimore) since taking over for Nick Foles after Week 1. Jacksonville running back Leonard Fournette posted his second-worst yards per carry mark (3.6) of the year. Wide receiver DJ Chark went into the game with the NFL’s fifth-most receiving yards (485) but caught just 3 of his 7 targets to gain 43 yards.
It was a banner day for the Saints defense. They’ve extended their stretch of holding opposing running backs to 100-plus rushing yards into 32 consecutive games. They’re allowing just 245 yards from scrimmage over their last three games. So long as Lattimore continues shutting down top receivers from around the league — big names like Amari Cooper, Mike Evans, and now Chark — it will keep Saints defensive coordinator Dennis Allen’s playbook wide open, and only help them as the season progresses.
