NEW ORLEANS — The Saints win in Tampa was an excellent win — across the board.
The 4 Takeaways begin with our two pregame questions. Cornerback Marshon Lattimore and Left Guard Andrus Peat were both out, and the Saints got great performances stepping up.
No. 4 For Lattimore, the entire Saints secondary stepped up
The Saints secondary picked off Jameis Winston 4 times, and one number demonstrates how good the secondary was.
Coming into the game, Winston's quarterback rating was a mediocre 83.8. Against the Saints on Sunday, it was a terrible 57.1. That's one of the three worse games, quarterback rating wise, Winston has had all season, and the Saints didn't have their best cornerback.
No. 3 The other step up: Nick Easton was solid.
It was actually a bit of a surprise that Nick Easton got to start. We thought Will Clapp would start for Andrus Peat, but the Saints offense did not miss a beat with Easton in play, and a couple of numbers back that up.
Drew Brees was not sacked. The Saints gave up 6 sacks last week to Atlanta. In Tampa, the Saints had 109 rushing yards as a team.
After rewatching every offensive snap last night, you can tell Nick Easton had a good ball game.
No. 2 Cam Jordan needs to be in the conversation for NFL Defensive Player of the Year.
He's that good. He's unreal. He should get a big piece of the credit for those 4 interceptions. Jordan was in Winston's face all day. Jordan had 1.5 sacks Sunday; that makes 9.5 sacks over 10 games, and that's a pace that makes this season his best ever, by far.
He hit Winston 4 times. As a team, the Saints had an incredible 12 quarterback hits, and those hits had a cumulative effect by the fourth quarter.
Cam Jordan brought mayhem to Tampa.
No.1 Welcome back, Alvin Kamara!
Number 41 looked like his old self for the first time in weeks. In the first quarter of the Saints season, Kamara was thought to be the NFL's most valued player.
Actually, for five games, he was outstanding. Then, in week 6, he tried to play through a high ankle sprain in Jacksonville, sitting out the two games after that. Last week he didn't look quite right.
This week, Kamara's productivity was back. With Kamara, it's an eyeball thing. When he's on, he's doing ridiculous things, and in Tampa, he looked like himself again.
And notice this: When Alvin Kamara gets 20 touches in a game, the Saints are 5-0. In his career, in the regular season, He now has 13 games with at least 20 touches. The Saints are 12-1 in those 13 games.
Kamara is magic, and getting that magic back is the No. 1 Takeaway from the Saints win in Tampa.
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