After eight weeks, more Saints numbers - even more Saints data plus Bears info added on post #13
THEN AND NOW
We are now eight weeks into the 2023 season, and to start off I thought I would post some differences between the first four weeks and the last four weeks.
On offense, it looks like we have definitely moved towards being a run-heavy team--more runs in the first half, more runs on first down, more runs in power situations, and more runs when ahead in the second half. What's interesting is that our yards/carry and rushing success rate have been more or less flat, but our passing has improved. Our yards/DB have increased from 5.0 to 6.9 and our passing success rate has increased from 43% to 48%. It looks like taking the burden off of Carr may have improved our overall passing game.
On defense, we are getting more of our sacks from the defensive line while also sending the house at the second highest rate. Not listed above is our usage of man coverage, which has increased from 42% (3rd) to 49% (2nd). We do it better than just about anybody, allowing only 4.5 yards/att (2nd) over the last four weeks.
SO WHAT WENT RIGHT LAST WEEK?
A few weeks back, I posted about being more calculated on first and second down to set up better third down opportunities. I also posted about taking fewer deep shots on third and manageable, opting to move the chains instead of throw away a drive. The Saints did all of the above:
We were great on first down, and leaned on the run on second and six or less to give us better chances to extend the drive.
As for third down, after throwing 4 deep attempts on 11 third and manageable situations against Jacksonville, we only took 1 shot on 9 opportunities against the Colts. We were rewarded, converting 56% of our tries after only converting 21% the week prior.
Since we were more effective on third down, that afforded us the opportunity to take more shots on early downs--on five attempts, we connected twice for 102 yards and a TD.
I'm short on time, so I'll just post what I have so far. Hopefully I'll add more before the game against the Bears.
THEN AND NOW
We are now eight weeks into the 2023 season, and to start off I thought I would post some differences between the first four weeks and the last four weeks.
On offense, it looks like we have definitely moved towards being a run-heavy team--more runs in the first half, more runs on first down, more runs in power situations, and more runs when ahead in the second half. What's interesting is that our yards/carry and rushing success rate have been more or less flat, but our passing has improved. Our yards/DB have increased from 5.0 to 6.9 and our passing success rate has increased from 43% to 48%. It looks like taking the burden off of Carr may have improved our overall passing game.
On defense, we are getting more of our sacks from the defensive line while also sending the house at the second highest rate. Not listed above is our usage of man coverage, which has increased from 42% (3rd) to 49% (2nd). We do it better than just about anybody, allowing only 4.5 yards/att (2nd) over the last four weeks.
SO WHAT WENT RIGHT LAST WEEK?
A few weeks back, I posted about being more calculated on first and second down to set up better third down opportunities. I also posted about taking fewer deep shots on third and manageable, opting to move the chains instead of throw away a drive. The Saints did all of the above:
We were great on first down, and leaned on the run on second and six or less to give us better chances to extend the drive.
As for third down, after throwing 4 deep attempts on 11 third and manageable situations against Jacksonville, we only took 1 shot on 9 opportunities against the Colts. We were rewarded, converting 56% of our tries after only converting 21% the week prior.
Since we were more effective on third down, that afforded us the opportunity to take more shots on early downs--on five attempts, we connected twice for 102 yards and a TD.
I'm short on time, so I'll just post what I have so far. Hopefully I'll add more before the game against the Bears.