2021 NFL Power Rankings, Week 4: Rams claim top spot, Steelers and Bears plummet

The New Orleans Saints came into Sunday’s matchup in Foxborough against the Patriots seemingly with the goal of making a rookie quarterback’s life pretty miserable. They undoubtedly succeeded in that with a suffocating defensive performance that ultimately led to a 28-13 victory that moves the Saints to 2-1 to start the 2021 season.

While New Orleans only levied two sacks on Mac Jones, they put him under constant pressure in this game, as shown by the fact that they put 11 QB hits on the first-year player. That led to an ineffective Patriots offense and, more importantly, three interceptions thrown by Jones on the day to set up Jameis Winston and the offense.

Any trepidation about the Saints offense with their new starting signal-caller remains warranted. He threw two touchdowns with no interceptions in Week 3, which is positive, but also went just 13-of-21 for 128 yards. He continues to be an enigma but, thankfully, Alvin Kamara remains a big-time weapon that is hard to stop given his versatility.

When the Saints defense plays like they did, though, they’re going to be in a lot of games. And the hope would certainly be that Winston continues to find his footing as the year goes on to make this a more complete and dangerous threat in the NFC.