Saints Defense Making One Heck of a Mid-Season Turnaround

The New Orleans Saints continued their winning ways on Sunday when they defeated the Atlanta Falcons and swept them for the eighth time during a season since 2008.

Taysom Hill was better in this game as an actual quarterback but the bigger story in this game and as the season has worn on has been the Saints defense and the way that they've been playing.

The team began the season 1-2, they were allowing over 25 points per game, the secondary was getting the brakes beat off them, and they were committing penalties left and right.

Since then, they've won nine games in a row, and over the previous five, they've held opponents to an average of about nine points per game. They did that to the Tampa Bay Bucs, the Falcons twice, the San Fransisco 49ers, and the COVID stricken Denver Broncos.

As it sits right now New Orleans holds the title as the top defense in the league among many other high-ranking accolades according to Luke Johnson.

No. 1 Total Defense
No. 2 Rush Defense (76.1 ypg)
No. 5 Pass Defense (212.8 ypg)
No. 4 Scoring Defense (20.1 ypg)
T-No. 3 Sacks (36)
T-No. 7 Takeaways (19)

The turnaround that the defense has made is what has propelled the Saints to nine wins in a row, a 9-2 record, and the No. 1 seed in the NFC as it sits right now. There aren't many teams who could withstand losing their future Hall of Fame starting quarterback and continue to win two years in a row. The addition of LB Kwon Alexander has had a lot to do with the resurgence as well.

Last year we saw it with Teddy Bridgewater, he played well and the defense/special teams stepped up. We're seeing the same thing happen again this year as Taysom Hill quarterbacks the team. The defense will have to continue to play this way if they want to continue to win, it is worth noting that they've played through a lighter part of their schedule as well, that certainly helps.