The story of the Saints’ 47-10 victory on Sunday could be told by one drive late in the third quarter.
The Saints went 87 yards on nine straight runs by Mark Ingram and Alvin Kamara as the Bills defense wilted in the face of the New Orleans rushing attack. Those runs left the Saints seven yards away from the end zone and they actually called a pass, but Drew Brees naturally decided it would be easier to just run the ball into the end zone.
That score made it 37-3 Saints and they’d tack on a Wil Lutz field goal after a 14-play drive in the fourth quarter. New Orleans called runs on 13 of those plays as the Bills continued to present a forgiving defensive front and the theme continued when Trey Edmunds put the Saints over the 300-yard mark on the ground -- taking a knee at the end dropped them to 298 for the day -- with a 41-yard touchdown run that made it 47-3 with three minutes left to play.
Ingram ended the day with 21 carries for 131 yards and three touchdowns while Kamara ran 12 times for 106 yards. Wide receiver Michael Thomas had 112 receiving yards, giving the Saints a pair of 100-yard rushers and a 100-yard receiver in the same game for the first time in franchise history. All of that added up to a seventh-straight win for a Saints team that looks as balanced as any in the league at the start of the second half of the season.
The Bills, meanwhile, managed 198 yards as a team and picked up 10 first downs to 32 for New Orleans. They went to rookie Nathan Peterman late, although it appeared to be a garbage time call rather than a decision to sit down Tyrod Taylor. Such a decision would be more than defensible after Taylor went 9-of-18 for 56 yards and an interception, but coach Sean McDermott didn’t pull the trigger on a change until the game was totally out of reach.
He’ll likely be asked about a change moving forward, although there’s only so much Taylor, Peterman or any quarterback can do if their defense remains allergic to stopping running backs. Finding a cure would be helpful in avoiding a three-game losing streak with Melvin Gordon and the Chargers on deck.