The New Orleans Saints packed their bags for a two-game road trip. Their first game was played against the New England Patriots in Foxborough, Massachusetts. An early defensive touchdown put the Saints in the driver’s seat as the Saints improved to 3-2 with a 34-0 win.
HOW IT HAPPENED:
New Orleans received the ball to start the game and got across midfield. Derek Carr was sacked by Ja’Whaun Bentley on third down and punter Lou Heldey made an early appearance. He would pin New England at their own six-yard line.
A couple of drives later, Patriots quarterback Mac Jones got hit by Carl Granderson as he threw the ball, and Saints safety Tyrann Mathieu intercepted the pass and returned it 25 yards for a touchdown.
On that next possession, Jones completed a pass to Demario Douglas for a pickup of 24 yards. Marshon Lattimore was flagged for unnecessary roughness and that moved the Patriots’ offense to the 37-yard line of New Orleans. Chad Ryland would line up for a 48-yard field goal but the kick went wide left.
Off the missed kick, Carr got the Saints into field goal range with a 26-yard completion over the middle to Michael Thomas on 3rd & 11. Chris Olave then made a 25-yard catch to set up 1st & GOAL at the eight-yard line. Alvin Kamara would score from one yard out to put the Saints up 14-0 37 seconds into the second quarter.
That touchdown was the first offensively in 20 quarters and Kamara passed Marques Colston for all-time touchdowns scored in a Saints uniform.
Following another punt, Carr found rookie Kendre Miller for the check down and was able to scamper 33 yards to the New England 26-yard line. Carr would find Olave for the five-yard touchdown to put New Orleans up 21 less than four minutes in the second period.
New England looked to score right before halftime but Cameron Jordan and Granderson each sacked Jones. New Orleans would head into halftime with the three-touchdown lead.
The second half didn’t go as planned for the Patriots as Jones got a bad snap and Jordan was able to recover the fumble at the 29-yard line. New Orleans would lose six yards in total on the drive but were still close enough for a successful Blake Grupe field goal.
After a punt by Hedley, Jones’ pass was intended for Ty Montgomery. Rookie Jordan Howden hit the ball out of Montgomery’s hands and linebacker Pete Werner came up with the interception at the 31-yard line of New England. Kamara got the Saints inside the 10 and Foster Moreau capped off the drive with a six-yard touchdown on a shovel pass from Carr.
Jones would get replaced in the fourth quarter by Bailey Zappe while Carr would stay in for New Orleans. Grupe would knock through the 53-yard attempt to put the Saints up by 34 with 5:43 left in the fourth quarter.
Jameis Winston would fill in for Carr with four minutes to go in the game. New Orleans wouldn’t add any more points on the board but would complete the 34-0 shutout to improve to 3-2 on the season.
BIG NUMBER: 73
Saints running back Alvin Kamara made history in Gillette Stadium Sunday as he became the all-time touchdown leader in franchise history with the 73rd score of his career.
PLAYER OF THE GAME: Carl Granderson
Granderson was one of many bright spots on this defense. He had one of the team’s two sacks, all three of the team’s tackles for loss, with four total tackles, and a couple of quarterback hits as the Saints shut out the Patriots 34-0.
UP NEXT: The New Orleans Saints will travel to Houston to play the Texans on Sunday, October 15. Kickoff for that game is scheduled for 12:00 p.m.