NEW ORLEANS — The New Orleans Saints looked like they were having fun again Sunday.
The Saints (7-7) poked fun at New York Giants quarterback Tommy DeVito and piled up defensive sacks in a 24-6 win. They celebrated offensive touchdowns and heard more cheers than they had in the prior two weeks during a three-game homestand.
Saints quarterback Derek Carr said that the Week 15 win was the kind of performance he envisioned from the team when he signed with New Orleans in the offseason. Now the Saints will try to keep the positive momentum going in what could be a pivotal NFC matchup on “Thursday Night Football” against the Los Angeles Rams (7-7).
“To hear the crowd cheering every touchdown, running in the tunnel, everyone’s going nuts ‘Derek we love you!’ I was like ‘I’ve always loved you!'” Carr joked after hearing boos from the home crowd this season. “All that stuff is good, and it’s good for our city, it’s good for our team. … We’ve got to give them something to get excited about, and we were able to do that today.”
The Saints had a season-high seven sacks against the Giants (5-9) and allowed only 60 net rushing yards — their lowest total since allowing just 45 in a 34-0 shutout of the New England Patriots in Week 5 — and 11 of their 30 sacks on the season have come in the last two games.
“There have been a couple other games … where I feel like we put a complete game together,” said coach Dennis Allen. “I do feel like this was a complete game for our team.”
The Saints remain tied with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers (7-7) at the top of the NFC South with both getting wins Sunday, but the Atlanta Falcons (6-8) fell one game behind in the race after falling to the 2-12 Carolina Panthers. Things can be simple for the Saints: win their last three games, and they win the division with a matchup in Week 17 against the Bucs looming.
The Rams game (8:15 p.m. ET, Prime Video) becomes crucial because there’s still the opportunity to get a wild-card spot in the playoffs if they don’t win the division as well, and a win would also give them a three-game win streak for the first time this season.
It would also validate an opinion several Saints players expressed Sunday: They’re getting better at the right time.
