Statistical Roundup: How the Saints defense stacked up with the rest of the league 

Several good things to build on and carryover for this group.

It is no secret that the strength of the New Orleans Saints football team has been the defense since the 2020 season. The football pendulum swung to this side of the ball after nearly 15 years of offensive dominance led by the great Drew Brees. This defensive unit has managed to maintain a top 10 status by most metrics over the past five seasons. In fact, it is the preliminary reason that landed Dennis Allen the head coaching position as a successor to Sean Payton. Here is a deep dive into the numbers and where New Orleans stacked up against the rest of the NFL for the 2023 season:

Total Defense- 13th (327.2 ypg)

As a whole this season, the Saints defense again finished as a pretty good group. The squad came out of the gates being extremely stingy, only allowing one touchdown in its first 11 quarters. Like most NFL teams, they definitely experienced some ebbs and flows of effectiveness and production throughout the season. Still, they were able to close out impressively over their last few weeks and ranked in the top half of the league as it related to total yardage at 327.2 yards per game.

Passing Defense- 9th (207.3 ypg)

Whether crunching the numbers or visually viewing, it was pretty obvious in my opinion, that this was the strength of the defensive unit. I felt for them to rank top 10 in this area was quite impressive, considering the Saints lack of patch rush all year long. This was in addition to an extended injury to their best pass defender, cornerback Marshon Lattimore, who landed on injured reserve after week 10 vs the Minnesota Vikings. Paulson Adebo did however step up in Lattimore‘s place and have an amazing year in the secondary.

Rushing Defense- 22nd (119.9 ypg)

Vastly different from our previous category, anyone could clearly see that this was the “Achilles Heel” of the Saints defense. This was a surprise to me and in stark contrast to how stifling and dominant the unit had been against the run-in recent years. The Saints were gashed too often for chunk yardage in the run game at an opportune time during the year. Though they only allowed one 100-yard rusher (K. Williams- LAR), there were too many instances where they were hurt by quarterbacks using their legs and running back by committee situations.

Scoring Defense- 6th (19.2 ppg)

Here is another largely important metric where New Orleans ranked right outside of the top 5 in the league at 19.2 points allowed per game. The Saints were one of only 8 teams in the NFL to allow under 20 points per game and have finished Top 10 in this area since the 2020 season. This is most certainly a positive trend for the defense that we all hope continues for the black and gold heading into next season.

Red Zone Defense- 8th (50%)

If you followed the Saints this year, then many true fans would not be surprised by the fact that the defense was amongst the league’s best when it came to the red zone. All year long, when it wasn’t getting opposing offenses off the field right away, the New Orleans defense lived by a “bend, but don’t break” philosophy it seemed. This statistic can often directly correlate with wins in the NFL and is something else the Saints are best suited to carry over against their 2024-25 opponents.

3rd Down Defense- 4th (34.5%)

In this league, they call it the money down!! Whether short or long yardage, it’s always of great importance to make stops and get your defense off the field in order to maximize offensive possessions. When it came to third down specifically, New Orleans often rose to the occasion and held opponents to a 34.5% conversion rate, earning them a spot at fourth best in the NFL. Once again, this adds to the list of “mandatory carryovers” which will be instrumental to the success of this defense. Keep getting them off the field fellas!!!

Sacks- 29th (34)

Now I know earlier we touched on how much the run defense struggled throughout the year, but if there was ever a genuine Achilles heel for this unit, it would be getting to the quarterback. Even with a promising rookie campaign from 2023 1st round pick defensive tackle Bryan Bresee contributing 4.5 sacks, the always steady Demario Davis finishing with 6.5 sacks and Carl Granderson having a breakout year, holding the squad down with a career best 8.5 QB takedowns, this defense still finished as bottom feeders with only 34 total sacks for the season. They especially struggled with mobile quarterbacks, which has been the case too often over the past few years. The Saints will look to get more out of 2023 2nd round pick Isiah Foskey and seemingly address the pass rush weakness via free agency, trade and/or draft. The problem is, the last couple times we’ve tried the latter, the return has been a bit disappointing and unstable to say the least.

Dale Zanine-USA TODAY Sports

Interceptions – Tied for 3rd (18)

Now if we’re talking personal favorites and what gets my motor going… it’s the INTs for me. This was an area of major improvement under new defensive coordinator, Joe Woods and defensive backs coach, Marcus Robertson. The DB’s were sticky in coverage all year and saw their production go from 7 INTs in 2022 to 18 INTs in 2023, good enough to rank 3rd in the league. Paulson Adebo and Tyrann Mathieu lead the secondary, posting four interceptions apiece.

Marc Lebryk-USA TODAY Sports

Passes Defended- 1st (99)

Here was another impressive feat for the Black and Gold defense. Not only did the Saints lead the league as a team, but cornerback Paulson Adebo finished third in the NFL with 18 passes defended. Although they led all teams with the most passing interference penalties, this was another sign of their often “sticky” man-to-man coverage and unfortunately as Coach Dennis Allen once put it… “the cost of doing business in this league.” With a fully healthy secondary, I look forward to the Saints D being amongst the league leaders again in 2024 as it relates to making plays on the ball.