Armchair Quarterback: Saints vs. Patriots

The New Orleans Saints, after starting the season 2-0 before dropping two straight games, needed to find a good offensive performance to kickstart a run.

They may have found it in Foxborough.

The Black & Gold defeated the New England Patriots 34-0 this past Sunday in one of the worst losses at home in Patriots franchise history.

Here’s some of the key things that I took away:

Photo by Maddie Malhotra/Getty Images

Chris Olave has to be a bigger part of the offense

Through five games, Olave has 25 catches for 315 yards and a touchdown, which was scored on Sunday. However, most of those catches don’t feel important. Olave came into this season becoming the clear-cut top target after Michael Thomas failed to stay healthy. However, Thomas has become ole reliable while Olave seems to be having a sophomore slump of sorts.

Now, that very well could be an overreaction, but I will be looking for more explosion and a bigger emphasis of Chris Olave over the next few weeks.

Photo by Kathryn Riley/Getty Images

Saints defense continues to impress

They say that when your defense starts scoring for you, you’re in good shape. Tyrann Mathieu’s pick six was the second defensive/special teams touchdown of the young season for the Saints and it’s just another testament to how good that group has been. Cam Jordan had a strong game, Carl Granderson may be the most underrated pass rusher in the league, and Pete Werner and Demario Davis continue to be stone cold from the linebacker spot. If this defense can continue to produce and stay healthy, I think they’re Top 10 in the league.

Photo by Fred Kfoury III/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images

Wins like this propel teams

Any time you can beat a team by 34 in their home stadium, it creates such a rush of momentum that propels you into the next game and potentially into a deep run through your schedule. For the New Orleans Saints, I believe this team started to see how good they can be with the right game plan. Now, you have two AFC South opponents in the Houston Texans and Jacksonville Jaguars, but there’s reason to believe the Saints could be 6-2 eight games in. And if that’s the case, look out NFL.

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