Defensive effort, Michael Thomas help Saints fly by Jets

The New Orleans Saints are 10-4 after defeating the New York Jets 31-19. It wasn’t a pretty game by any means, as the Saints had to overcome turnovers. However, a win’s a win in today’s NFL.

The Jets chose to defer the opening kickoff to let the Saints start on offense, which ended up turning into a 7-play, 71-yard drive highlighted by a beautiful 54-yard screen play to Mark Ingram. Unfortunately, the Saints offense couldn’t turn it into a touchdown, instead settling for a 23-yard Wil Lutz field goal.

New Orleans would cash in and be rewarded after a 13-play, 82-yard drive that was capped off by a Ingram touchdown run to put the Saints up 10-0. The Jets would answer back with a touchdown drive of their own, as Bilal Powell punched it in from two yards out to cut the lead to 10-7.

The Saints countered with another pretty good looking touchdown drive, going 75 yards in 8 plays that was finished by a Drew Brees to Alvin Kamara connection to get the Saints up 17-7. Late in the half, the Jets would cash in on a Brees interception by Leonard Williams to enter halftime down 17-10. On the Brees pick, Larry Warford (concussion) went down and was carted off due to injury.

In the 3rd Quarter, the Jets offense did enough with Bryce Petty at the helm to get another Chandler Catanzaro field goal to trail 17-13. The Saints offense was quite lethargic, but woke up after a Craig Robertson interception. A big connection to Willie Snead on a 3rd and 13 set the Saints up inside the Jets’ 15, but it was short-lived as Brandon Coleman fumbled after a Jamal Adams hit to give the Jets back the ball. Luckily, the Saints defense held.

A would-be Michael Thomas was taken away for the second time of the day, as he looked to have the Saints back up comfortably, but was out of bounds on his 32-yard touchdown grab. Then, Brandon Coleman would put the ball on the ground again. Once again, the defense held.

Finally, the Saints offense would punch it into the end zone after a 9-play, 64-yard drive that saw Michael Thomas actually get a touchdown that counted. He was heavily featured on the drive that helped the Saints extend their lead to 24-13.

The Jets would making things interesting, getting a late touchdown inside the final two minutes. They’d fail to get the two-point conversion and made it 24-19, because Cam Jordan played like something else all day and batted down Petty’s pass. The ensuing onside kick went out of bounds, and the Saints added the exclamation point as Mark Ingram finished with a 50-yard touchdown run and a Marshon Lattimore interception.

Clearly, that heavy favorite the Saints carried into this game proved to be folly. They didn’t get any help with the Panthers, Vikings, and Eagles all winning. Now, all attention quickly turns to a rematch against the Atlanta Falcons in Week 16.