"You came up with the big plays when you had to on defense. Special teams came through for you, and you made enough plays on offense. It's a new way to win."
That's how Mike Detillier, co-host of Sports Talk and WWL NFL analyst, described the New Orleans Saints's 13-10 win over the Seattle Seahawks.
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"This is not what, I think, a lot of people kind of envision when they think of the Saints," Detillier explained. "This is the new way for them to win in 2021. What happened a year ago, five years ago, eight years ago, 10 years ago, you can put that aside."
It was the 24th time that the Saints scored 13 or fewer points under Sean Payton. From 2006-2017, the Saints were 0-16 in those games. From 2018-2021, they are 4-4.
"They're winning kind of like [Pete] Carroll's teams won in yesteryear,” Detillier said. "[You had] a great defense. Hey, you had your field goal kicker hit his field goals, and Seattle's kicker missed a couple of them. That was the margin of victory for the Saints. It's tough to win in the NFL, and it's even tougher to win on the road."
New Orleans had their third kicker of the season, rookie Brian Johnson, who was making his NFL debut. The Saints were just 1-4 on field goals heading into the game, but Johnson made both of his kicks. Meanwhile, Jason Myers, the Seattle kicker, missed two of his three field goal attempts.
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The Saints defense did a great job limiting the Seahawks offense, allowing just one the touchdown; and Detillier singled out one defender in particular.
"You saw how dominant the Saints defense was; they really played a terrific game,” Detillier said. “Man, Demario Davis, just an unreal football player. To think that he's playing this good now, it is rare to see a guy play that position in his 30s better than he did in his 20s."
Davis looked outstanding and had the stats to back it up. The 32 year old linebacker had 10 tackles, 4 tackles for loss, 2 sacks, 3 quarterback hits, and 1 pass deflection. It was the second time this season and sixth in the last two seasons that Davis had at least 10 tackles. He leads the Saints in tackles (48) and tackles for loss (18) this year. And, for good measure, he's tied for second in pass deflections (4).
The Saints will need Davis to keep up that level of play with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, who have the #2 total offense and #3 scoring offense in the league, coming to town.