Saints' star explains defensive rollercoaster in 2022
The New Orleans Saints defense has been very up and down this season, or a roller coaster, you could say. They started the season pretty poor, to say the least, and since then have been up and down. During this three-game win streak, and possibly four games after this week, the defense has been stellar. […]
The New Orleans Saints defense has been very up and down this season, or a roller coaster, you could say. They started the season pretty poor, to say the least, and since then have been up and down.
During this three-game win streak, and possibly four games after this week, the defense has been stellar. The defense even played lights out against one of the best offenses in the league in the Philadelphia Eagles.
But why has the defense had so many highs and lows this season?
"Earlier this year we had a little missed tackle situation," star defensive end Cam Jordon said. "There were times were we had the ability to create turnovers and didn't capitalize on those. Once those things took care of themselves, we got back to our brand of football.
"Not having these penalties that extend drives. If you can eliminate those, you can clearly see where our defense was headed towards. We did that, and we got some players back healthy and really took that in stride."
Penalties were huge for this team all season but especially at the beginning of the season. They would just dig themselves into a hole and almost never be able to get out of it, and there was no one to blame but themselves.
As for tackling, there is one play in particular that I remember that basically sums up how the tackling was this season. Against the Cincinnati Bengals, JaMarr Chase broke three tackles en route to a long touchdown that basically won the Bengals the game, running through two cornerbacks and then Mathieu on the way.
Now, we aren't really seeing things like that anymore. The Saints have done a much better job of tightening things up without shooting themselves in the foot.
Let's hope they play well this week, that way the defense will have a positive to carry over into next season.
Featured Image Via Eric Hartline-USA TODAY Sports
