What We Learned From the Saints In Week 5

The Saints gave us plenty of takeaways from their shutout win over the Patriots.

FOXBORO -- The Saints shut out the Patriots on Sunday, forcing them to have their worst home loss since 1969. The 34-0 victory was the team's first shutout since last season, when they blanked the Raiders in Week 8 at the Superdome 24-0. Here's some of the many takeaways we have from Dennis Allen and company on Sunday.

What We Learned From the Saints In Week 5

THE SAINTS OFFENSE IS CAPABLE

I asked Pete Carmichael Jr. on Thursday about how close he feels the offense was to putting everything aside and showing what they're capable of. He said, "I love the work that we've done this week. I think that we just got to find that game that it clicks, the rhythm gets going. I think we got the right personnel."

Perhaps this game was a good sampling of that, and we won't crown them just yet, but the improvement was good to see. Consistency and execution were two of the biggest things I heard in the locker room this week from everyone. They definitely missed some things on offense and have things to clean up, so we're not going to excuse or overlook that, but when you win it's a lot easier to correct those things versus what they had going on before. 

THE SAINTS DEFENSE PLAYED EXCEPTIONAL

I get what people will say. "It's the Patriots. They're bad." I don't care what team you go up against. When you hold your opponent to just 1-of-14 on 3rd Down, that's incredible. New Orleans gave up just 156 total yards on defense, getting three turnovers and also helped force a missed field goal and got the ball back twice on downs. The Patriots didn't crack the 150-yard mark until late in the fourth quarter either. It was just a solid performance all around by the Saints defense, and you can't really convince me otherwise.

THE BLAKE GRUPE DECISION LOOKS GOOD

This isn't going to make big headlines, but when you get an undrafted rookie free agent kicker booting two 50-plus-yard field goals outdoors in the same game, that's a huge confidence booster. Grupe is 11-of-12 on the year, missing that one against the Packers. He shouldn't have had to have been in that spot either, for what it's worth. It's hard to see things when they happen in real time, but the Saints made the right choice.

THE SAINTS WERE ALL BUSINESS THIS WEEK

There was a lot of things to address following the team's loss last week to the Buccaneers, but there were a lot of the leaders who stepped up to the table to help things. Tyrann Mathieu said players watched more film and stayed longer, for instance. Everyone was a lot more focused this week, and it was evident from everyone I talked to this week. Alvin Kamara even mentioned during postgame during Dennis Allen's press conference that this was a 'bat game' for the team.

Foster Moreau also had a heck of a quote this week, saying, "There's plenty more to be said and there's plenty more to be done. I just think it's time to just stop saying things."

CHRIS OLAVE HAD A TOE ISSUE, BUT IS FINE

There were a couple of videos that surfaced during pregame warmups surrounding Chris Olave. Dennis Allen said it was a toe issue for him, but said that he made it through the game without issue. Alvin Kamara chimed in and said that he's alright during the presser. 

NEXT WEEK IS WHAT MATTERS

Now that this team was able to put together a win like this, the only thing fans will want to see if it was a fluke or the real deal. The Texans are a very intriguing opponent, and the Falcons managed to squeak out a win against them at the end of the game to improve to 3-2. The last thing the Saints need is to play this well and have it all fall apart the next week.