JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — The Saints defense was stellar once again, holding the Jaguars without a touchdown in a 13-6 road win on Sunday.
The victory jumps the Saints to 5-1 on the season and they remain one game ahead of Carolina in the NFC South. It was also the Saints second road win of the year.
“I told our defense that I feel like if we played eight quarters they wouldn’t have scored a touchdown,” said head coach Sean Payton.
It was a game that featured very little offense all around. The only touchdown came on a Teddy Bridgewater pass to Jared Cook in the fourth quarter. That score broke a 6-6 tie and provided the game’s eventual margin of victory.
In the battle of backup quarterbacks, Bridgewater made more good throws than Jacksonville rookie Gardner Minshew.
“Each week we just talk about how to win that game,” said Payton. “The key is understanding what wins in our league, yet you want to score every time you get the football.”
Minshew, who came in to the game as a hot quarterback, completed only 14 of 29 passes for 163 yards. He was picked off once and sacked twice by Cam Jordan.
Bridgewater was 24 of 36 throwing for 240 yards and a score, but he seemed to not be as accurate as he had been in last week’s game with Tampa.
The Saints explosive offensive players – Michael Thomas and Alvin Kamara – were held somewhat in check. Kamara ran 11 times for 31 yards and caught 7 passes for 35 more. Thomas caught eight passes for 89 yards.
Kamara, after missing practice on Friday, was slowed by an ankle that had been swollen during the week.
Despite playing without Pro Bowl quarterback Drew Brees, the Saints are 4-0 in games played totally without him. Payton said the expectation is that this team will do well, no matter what.
“There’s a level of expectation that’s pretty high in our locker room.”