Last season, New Orleans' defense couldn't buy a three-and-out drive. One year later, opposing offenses can't seem to figure out how to avoid them -- or turnovers.
The Buffalo Bills were the latest victims of the Saints' defensive turnaround Sunday, turning the ball over three times and giving Drew Brees ample opportunity to take advantage. He did just that, to the tune of 332 yards and five touchdowns, and New Orleans picked up their sixth win in a 35-17 rout.
In all six wins, the Saints defense has held the opposing offense to under 20 points, and the defense is averaging just 17 points allowed per game.
Bills quarterback Thad Lewis, who was roughed up in the backfield and surrendered a fourth quarter interception, gave the defense their due credit and pointed to the team's early turnovers as the main culprit behind the loss.
"I mean we’re not going to make any excuses as I have to give my hat off to the Saints as they did a great job and they beat us today," Lewis said after the game, via neworleanssaints.com. "But being resilient isn’t good enough. We’re never satisfied with that. So we just have to get over the hump and we just can’t get behind like we did out there today."
The New Orleans D is currently fourth best in the league in points allowed, which is a far cry from the 28 points they allowed last season. Much of that success can be tied to the play of defensive end Jordan Cameron, who leads the team in sacks and picked up another one (and a fumble recovery) in Sunday's win.
"It’s something that we have to do every game," Cameron said of the team's defensive pressure, which forced four total sacks and two fumbles. "We did a decent job of getting back there. We definitely capitalized. I thought we did an effective job."
