Surging Saints defense playing its part in 10-game win streak


By Mike Triplett | ESPN Staff Writer

NEW ORLEANS -- Why should the New Orleans Saints' offense have all the fun?

The Saints' defense, which has been surging over the past three weeks, reached its peak in Thursday night's 31-17 victory against the rival Atlanta Falcons.

They forced four huge turnovers -- including two of them when Atlanta had gotten inside New Orleans' 3-yard line. They had a season-high six sacks. And they stopped the Falcons twice on fourth downs.

My, how far this Saints defense has come since Week 3, when they barely survived a 43-37 overtime thriller at Atlanta.

"For us, we know this team will go as far as the defense takes us," Saints defensive end Alex Okafor said. "We know what the [Saints] offense is going to provide. They're dynamic, they can put up 30 every game. So the X factor is going to be how well the defense can play. And so far we've gotten better each week this year, and I'm just proud of this group." ...

Full Story - ESPN.com