What a rush: The Saints have recorded 20 sacks in their last four games

LINK

Cam Jordan was lying comfortably on one of the giant bean bag chairs in the New Orleans Saints locker room, eyes closed, when a statistic was brought to his attention: In their last four games, the Saints have recorded 20 sacks.

“Is that true?” Jordan said, perking up just a bit.

Indeed it is. As the 2018 season reaches its final leg, the New Orleans Saints defense has ramped up the pressure on opposing quarterbacks. Thirteen of those 20 sacks have come in the last two weeks.

“It’s true what they say: When they come, they come in bunches,” said Sheldon Rankins.

“It's been impressive,” said Saints coach Sean Payton.

One of the most encouraging things about it, Payton said, is that the pressure has largely been generated by the Saints’ entire defensive line, not just the rush ends.

Jordan has recorded five sacks in the last four games, and Alex Okafor has recorded two. Rankins and David Onyemata have three apiece and rookie Taylor Stallworth recorded his first career sack against the Cowboys last week.

Linebackers and defensive backs have accounted for the other six sacks.

“We've gotten in a rotation (set up),” Payton said, crediting defensive assistants Ryan Nielsen and Brian Young. “I think it’s like (with) the turnovers, those have really picked up and we’re doing those things to win games. Hopefully, we can continue on that path.”

After allowing the statistic to process for a few seconds in his brain, Jordan reached the same conclusion as Payton. When trying to come up with a reason for the pass rush indulgence, he pointed to the increased effectiveness from the interior defensive line. Onyemata’s three sacks last week were a perfect example to illustrate his point.

“(The interior) really hasn’t allowed quarterbacks to step up, it’s allowed the edge to eat,” Jordan said. “Just like in the last game we played, once that middle eats, it becomes so much easier to actually keep them in the pocket, keep them at a quarterback depth that’s reasonable to pass rush against.”

After feasting on opposing quarterbacks the last four weeks, the Saints are now tied with the Bears and Broncos for the fifth-most sacks in the NFL this season, with 37 — four off the Steelers’ league-leading pace.

When asked about the recent string of success, Buccaneers coach Dirk Koetter echoed Payton and Jordan in saying the Saints have gotten production out of every member of their front four, with one caveat.

“I think everything starts with Cam Jordan,” Koetter said. “I have been in this division for a long time and Cam Jordan is just a consistently outstanding player.”

Jordan’s sack binge the last four weeks pushed him up over double digits for the second straight season. It is his fourth season with 10 or more sacks, but the first time in his career he has accomplished that feat in consecutive years.

Here is why it is important for the rest of the defensive line to contribute the way it has recently: When they are getting after the quarterback, it forces opponents to take resources away from trying to stop Jordan with double teams.

“For a guy like Cam, as dominant as he is, if a team can throw two, three, sometimes four guys to stop him and we can’t get home, that’s a problem,” Rankins said. “For us to be able to rush the way we’re rushing, it not only helps the team, but it helps Cam get into favorable situations where he can rush one-on-one.

“I’m winning, David’s winning, Alex is winning, Stallworth got his first career sack. It’s big for this defense, it’s big for each guy individually. It breeds confidence. When you can go out there and do it on the biggest of stages, it’s easy to go out there and do it again.”