New Orleans, despite doing whatever it could the past two weeks to lose, still hasn’t lost, moving to 7-0 with a 35-27 win over the Falcons on Monday Night Football.
The eight-point win was the closest for the Saints this season after wins of 18, 26, 20, 14, 21 and 12 points.
It’s All History
You’ve heard this before most likely, but the Saints are fairly awful at home versus Carolina – going 5-9 in the state of Louisiana since the teams started the series in 1995.
If the Saints win, the franchise goes to 8-0 for the first time in club history. The Saints already are the first NFC South franchise to reach 7-0 since they went 7-0 in 1991.
In the all-time series, New Orleans is 12-16 against Carolina, having lost six of the past seven games.
Of the 28 games, 14 have been decided by six or fewer points and of the past 10 games, five have been settled by a field go or less.
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).
The Sean Payton Minute
Since Payton took over in New Orleans prior to the 2006 season, the Saints have the best record of any team in the NFC South at 32-23. Carolina is just behind at 30-25, with Atlanta 26-29 and Tampa Bay 22-33.
But in just four short seasons, Payton has the highest winning percentage of any Saints head coach. His 58.2 winning percentage is 2.5 points higher than Jim Mora.
Meanwhile, his 32 wins is the third most for any New Orleans coach. Mora’s 93 is by far the most with Jim Haslett’s 45 pulling up second place.
In the playoffs, Payton’s 1-1 record is good enough to tie Haslett and is better than Mora’s 0-4 performance.
Turning Things Over
Yeah, this has been harped on over and over and over. But I don’t think enough can be made of the turn around for the Saints in turnovers.
In 2008, the Saints were 22nd with a minus-4 differential. Almost midway through the season, New Orleans is plus-7. The 21 takeaways leads the league.
The bulk of the takeaways have come from interceptions. The 16 picks New Orleans has so far is tops in the NFL. In the past three seasons, the Saints have recorded 11, 13 and 15 interceptions. That’s in full seasons, too.
S Darren Sharper has a league-high seven interceptions, including a franchise record three returns for touchdowns. Meanwhile, Tracy Porter’s three interceptions is good for sixth in the NFL.
Upcoming Milestones
- QB Drew Brees has 28,264 passing yards, good for 42nd in NFL history. With 76 yards against Carolina, he’ll pass Y.A. Tittle. If he gets 212 yards, he moves past Trent Green.
- Three more passing touchdowns gives Brees 187 for his career, which would move him past Sammy Baugh for 40th.
- DE Charles Grant has 45.5 career sacks. Another sack this season pushes him past Jim Wilks for No. 7 in franchise history.
- One more interception return for a touchdown by S Darren Sharper moves him into a tie with Rod Woodson for 12 pick-6s in his career. Another interception regardless of score or not will move Sharper into 7th place with 62 career interceptions.
3's Company (third-down analysis)
94 plays overall of which 24 were runs and 70 were passes. They have averaged 4.38 yards per run and 7.56 yards per pass play.
- Third-and-short (1-2 yards) - 11 runs, 10 first downs; 11 passes, 4 first downs
- Third-and-(3-5) - 4 run, 2 first down; 19 passes, 13 first downs
- Third-and-(6-10) - 4 runs, 0 first downs; 24 passes, 11 first downs
- Third-and-(11-15) - 5 run, 0 first downs; 10 passes, 3 first downs
- Third-and-(16-plus) - 0 runs, 0 first downs; 6 passes, 1 first downs.
dantisaint said on November 5, 2009 at 4:04 PM
Umm, I think you forgot to mention that the Carolina Panthers have the top-ranked pass defense going into the match up, coupled with a dynamic ground duet with Williams and Stewart (aka. DOUBLE TROUBLE) that will be used to EAT CLOCK and keep the ball out of the hands of the saints offense and MORE IMPORTANTLY, out of the hands of JAKE DELHOMME.