NEW ORLEANS, La. (BRPROUD) – The New Orleans Saints offense came to life in a 34-0 win at the New England Patriots Sunday.

The win marked the Saints’ largest margin of victory since Week 1 of 2021 when they beat the Packers 38-3. The shutout also marked the first time the Patriots have been shut down since October 2016. 

The Saints’ offense started slow, punting on their first two drives of the game. The New Orleans defense, however, showed its dominance early. On the second Patriots drive of the game, safety Tyrann Mathieu intercepted Patriots quarterback Mac Jones and returned it 27 yards for the first score of the game. The pick-six was Mathieu’s fourth career pick-six and first since September 19, 2021, when he was a member of the Kansas City Chiefs. 

The Mathieu pick-six sparked the Saints’ offense. New Orleans kicked off the second quarter with a history-making touchdown by running back Alvin Kamara, snapping the offense’s streak of no touchdowns since the first quarter in Week 3 at the Green Bay Packers. 

The 2-yard touchdown run by Kamara, which put the Saints up 14-0, was his 73rd career touchdown, making him the Saints’ all-time touchdown leader. 

New Orleans found the endzone on its next drive when quarterback Derek Carr found wide receiver Chris Olave from 5 yards out to extend the Saints lead to 21-0. The touchdown was Olave’s first touchdown of the season.

The Saints led 21-0 at the half in part because of a suffocating defense that held the Patriots to just 76 total yards and tallied 2 sacks.

New Orleans extended its lead to 24-0 early in the third quarter when kicker Blake Grupe made a career-long 54-yard field goal, a result of a Patriots fumble recovered by defensive lineman Cam Jordan on the third play of the third quarter. 

The Saints defense continued to shine. Late in the third quarter safety Jordan Howden popped a pass out and linebacker Pete Werner cleaned it up to intercept Jones for the second time of the day. The interception was the first of Werner’s career. 

New Orleans’ offense took advantage of the turnover, finding the endzone for the third time of the day on a shovel pass from Carr to tight end Foster Moreau to extend the lead to 31-0.  

Carr finished the game 18-26 for 183 yards and 2 touchdowns. Grupe extended the Saints lead to 34-0 in the fourth quarter, knocking in a 53-yard field goal. 

The win marked the first time the Saints scored 21 points since December 18, 2022, against the Atlanta Falcons in Week 15 and the first time the Saints have scored 30 or more points since October 20, 2022, in a Week 7 loss to the Arizona Cardinals. The Saints move to 3-2 with a trip to the Houston Texans next up.