Patriots’ History Has Saints’ Coach Preparing For ‘Difficult’ Matchup

The New England Patriots have looked … well, awful, throughout the first four games of their season, falling to 1-3 after a blowout victory at the hands of the Dallas Cowboys.

That isn’t going to influence an easy week of preparation from the Saints, the Patriots’ opponent in Week 5, however.

“We know that we’re going to have a tough challenge,” Saints head coach Dennis Allen said Friday, per Patriots-provided transcript. “I think (Bill) Belichick’s teams have a 70% win percentage after a loss so they do a good job of responding. We know it is going to be difficult.”

Allen must have done his homework, because the Patriots are indeed 67-31 following a loss under Belichick. That’s good for a .683 winning percentage, but who’s counting?

Allen didn’t have much on the Patriots offense, probably because it has been the source of most of their problems, but he did talk up New England’s defense — which has continued to be solid despite a number of injuries.

“They make it difficult on you. They’re pretty stout up front,” Allen said. “I think their linebackers do a pretty good job of being instinctive in terms of where they are fitting in the gaps. I think this is a very good tackling defense. They’re very physical. They are coached extremely well and they’re going to be tough to deal with.”

The Patriots and Saints are set to kick off their matchup at Gillette Stadium at 1 p.m. ET on Sunday.