Well, a 13-game win streak has turned into a two-game losing streak and at this time of year, that’s not a good thing.
Certainly the Saints are looking to break that losing skid on Sunday at Carolina, but what they’re more concerned with at this moment is playing better football, regardless of the outcome.
Still, New Orleans has earned its first-ever NFC No. 1 seed and the home-field advantage that comes with it. The Saints also have done the worst-to-first thing that is so popular in the NFC South.
It’s All History
New Orleans is 7-6 all-time in Bank of America Stadium, including a 30-7 loss last season.
In the all-time series, New Orleans is 13-16 against Carolina, having lost six of the past eight games.
Of the 29 games, 14 have been decided by six or fewer points and of the past 11 games, five have been settled by a field go or less.
The Saints won previously this season 30-20 on Nov. 8 in the Superdome.
New Orleans’ largest margin of victory is 25 points (31-6 win in 2007 in Charlotte, N.C.) while the worst loss was by 32 points (45-13 in 2000 in Charlotte).
The longest win streak for the Saints is five in a row from Oct. 15, 2000 through Nov. 10, 2002. Carolina has had two four-game win streaks, the first coming Dec. 29, 2002 through Dec. 5, 2004 and Dec. 18, 2005 through Oct. 7, 2007.
The Saints’ highest point total is 34 (a 34-24 win in 2002) while the Saints have been shut out once, in 1997. Meanwhile, Carolina’s most points is 45 (in a 45-13 win in 2000) while the Panthers’ fewest amount of points is 6, coming two times in the series (2000 and 2007).
Defensive adjustments
With Gregg Williams about to finish up his first year as Saints defensive coordinator, let’s take a look at what he has done for that unit comparing it to 2008.
In 2008, teams averaged 24.5 points per game on the Saints, good for 26th in the NFL. Now, New Orleans is holding opponents to 21.2 points, helping the Saints move up seven spots to No. 19.
In 2008, the Saints allowed opponents to score touchdowns on 48.3 percent of their trips into the red zone (29 of 60), which came in as ninth-best in the NFL. Now opponents are scoring touchdowns only 40 percent of the time (22 of 55), which is 2nd in the NFL.
But here is the biggest change. In 2008, the Saints had only 15 interceptions. Heading into the final game of the regular season, New Orleans has 26, good for second in the NFL. The Saints had only 22 take-aways in all of 2008 and they have 39 in 2009, best in the NFL.
Payton's Digits
Well, not his phone digits. But here are the Saints’ numbers under Head Coach Sean Payton.
- Leading after the first quarter: 17-3
- Leading at halftime: 32-5
- Leading after third quarter: 32-4
- Saints score first: 21-6
- Saints have 100-plus yards rushing: 28-7
- Outdoors: 19-13
- On the road: 19-12
- Scoring 20 or more points: 38-14
- Allowing 20 or fewer points: 22-3
3's Company (third-down analysis)
184 plays overall of which 48 were runs and 136 were passes. They have averaged 4.65 yards per run and 7.54 yards per pass play.
- Third-and-short (1-2 yards) - 27 runs, 22 first downs; 15 passes, 6 first downs
- Third-and-(3-5) - 9 run, 3 first down; 50 passes, 33 first downs
- Third-and-(6-10) - 5 runs, 1 first downs; 45 passes, 16 first downs
- Third-and-(11-15) - 7 run, 0 first downs; 14 passes, 4 first downs
- Third-and-(16-plus) - 0 runs, 0 first downs; 12 passes, 2 first downs
