FOXBOROUGH, Mass. — The New Orleans Saints were tied for 25th in the league last season with 31 sacks. So when Kasim Edebali sacked Patriots quarterback Jimmy Garopolo twice in the first quarter it appeared that the defense was set to draw rave reviews.
That didn't happen.
"I thought there were some snaps where we were able to get some pressure and then obviously there were some breakdowns," said Saints head coach Sean Payton. "If you just looked at the turnovers and look at the rushing statistics we averaged two-something [and] I think they were over five yards a carry.