The New Orleans Saints defense hasn't always started well, but they have shown the ability to finish the job.
The was the case each of the past two weeks against division rivals in wins over the Bucs and Panthers, with the Saints defense surrendering opening drive touchdowns but largely clamping down the rest of the way in two upset wins. That's included seven 4th down stops dating back to Week 13 against the Dolphins.
"[That's] playing your best football when the best is needed, and so that 4th quarter, I thought defensively we just did a phenomenal job. … just really big-time football and allowed us to kind of keep that thing going and made some big stops down the line, gave us opportunities to go score on offense," Moore told Bobby Hebert and Mike Hoss on WWL, "and then that last drive when they had a chance to go potentially get some points, just some big-time stops in there and gave us a chance at the end.”
Hear the full, exclusive interview with Saints head coach Kellen Moore in the player above. Can't see the embed? Click here.
That effective late-game defense shows up in the stats, with the Saints' average of 3.5 points allowed in the 4th quarter the second lowest total in the NFL behind just the Houston Texans. The Saints held the Panthers off the scoreboard in the 4th quarter of Week 15, and for the second consecutive meeting held Carolina's impressive running back tandem in check. The duo of Chuba Hubbard and Rico Dowdle accounted for just 78 yards on 24 carries (3.2 yards per attempt).
“I think a lot of it just comes down to just being really clean, assignment-sound, playing together," Moore said. "The communication has got to be outstanding, which it was, we’ve got some veterans that communicate at a really high level. Guys are in their gaps, guys are sound, guys know how they have to fit the runs, you know, they do an excellent job, I think [DC Brandon Staley] and his entire defensive staff is doing a phenomenal job just in the preparation of giving our guys the looks to anticipate what’s coming and trusting that process.”
The Saints (4-10) will look to land their first three-game winning streak since the 2022 season when they host the Jets (3-11) at noon, Sunday inside the Caesars Superdome. Catch all the action on WWL and Audacy.
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MORE FROM MOORE
On the win over the Panthers
“It was an entertaining game, certainly. I think all three phases contributed in a positive way. I thought it was a good example of obviously resiliency, that’s what you need in this league and this NFL atmosphere. You’re playing good teams and so for our guys to stay in it and be resilient and stick together, I thought, was a credit to those guys."
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On Devaughn Vele/injury
“Obviously from a medical perspective we’ll see how this thing progresses. Obviously he wasn’t able to finish the game, and so we’ll just see how this week progresses, but this guy, you know, he’s been awesome … sometimes patience goes through, just the way the early season navigated with a little bit of injury and finding our groove there. He’s just been phenomenal, the contested catch, the hard downs, the tough downs, the stuff he does in the run game. Some of those plays this past week, you know, were really spark plays for us. There were some challenging situations early in that game, to come up with some big-time catches obviously sparked us and gave us an opportunity to get that thing going.”
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On Tyler Shough's progression
“I think Tyler has just done an excellent job through this whole process, from the second he got here after getting drafted and his preparation and his growth has been awesome. You know, I think Scott Tolzien, he’s one of the best in the business as far as helping these guys develop, you know, and so I think it’s just been a really good process for him, through training camp through the early part of the season when he’s the scout team quarterback, he’s No. 2, he’s ready if he’s called upon, but he’s doing everything he can to prepare and obviously he’s taken advantage of some phenomenal opportunities as the season has progressed. I thought he settled in there nicely in this game and obviously, really, you look at those last couple drives of the game, that was just big-time football. That’s all you can ask for.”