Saints 2019&2020 Brees/Bridgewater/Hill Stat Dump! (1 Viewer)

BreesusSaves

MAAAARK INGRAM
Joined
Sep 15, 2009
Messages
8,498
Reaction score
23,618
Age
35
Location
Louisiana
Offline
There is always talk about the differences in 2019 and 2020 when Brees was and wasn't on the field. We're all speculating how the team will look this year, so I thought I'd look up some numbers the Saints had in 2019 and 2020. This is comparing games Brees started and finished with Bridgewater and Hill. I also included the playoffs in the averages. The two games Brees left due to injury I excluded. In 2019, the offense was heavily skewed to passing with Brees, whereas it became more balanced under Bridgewater. The 2020 offense was pretty evenly balanced, and the pass:run ratio essentially mirror flipped with Taysom Hill as QB. The Saints averaged 6 points per game less with Bridgewater and Hill than they did with Brees. The defense improved by 4.5 points per game without Brees in 2019, and a staggering 10.9 points per game in 2020. It is going to be very interesting to see how the team performs in their first season without Brees!

2019 Drew Brees
Team Points Scored Per Game: 31.27
Team Points Allowed Per Game: 22.5
Pass Attempts Per Game: 37.54
Rush Attempts Per Game: 23.63

2019 Teddy Bridgewater
Team Points Scored Per Game: 25
Team Points Allowed Per Game: 18
Pass Attempts Per Game: 33.4
Rush Attempts Per Game: 28.4

2020 Drew Brees
Team Points Scored Per Game: 30.69
Team Points Allowed Per Game: 23.9
Pass Attempts Per Game: 35.3
Rush Attempts Per Game: 29.84

2020 Taysom Hill
Team Points Scored Per Game: 24
Team Points Allowed Per Game: 13
Pass Attempts Per Game: 28.5
Rush Attempts Per Game: 34
 
Last edited:
I think the one important stat you left out was sacks. I anticipate sacks to double and triple this year on our QBs. I did the numbers a while back and with Hill/Winston it was something like 3:1 compared to Brees. And as far as defensive stats go, I wouldn't mind seeing the average PPG for all the opponents during the stretches of each QB's play.
 
I think the one important stat you left out was sacks. I anticipate sacks to double and triple this year on our QBs. I did the numbers a while back and with Hill/Winston it was something like 3:1 compared to Brees. And as far as defensive stats go, I wouldn't mind seeing the average PPG for all the opponents during the stretches of each QB's play.
If Hill takes the ball from center and is tackled behind the LOS, he amasses sacks even if designed runs. He will have a larger amount of sacks due to that.

Both Hill and Winston need to make a quicker decision on those "pat the ball" plays, even if throwing it away to fight the next down.
 
I think the one important stat you left out was sacks. I anticipate sacks to double and triple this year on our QBs. I did the numbers a while back and with Hill/Winston it was something like 3:1 compared to Brees. And as far as defensive stats go, I wouldn't mind seeing the average PPG for all the opponents during the stretches of each QB's play.

I left out sacks because I didn't want to re-watch all four of Hill's game to determine if they were actual sacks when trying to pass, or a TFL on a designed run. Unfortunately TFL's on designed QB runs are often marked down as sacks. That said I agree that I expect the Saints sacks allowed numbers to increase. Brees had arguably the fastest time from snap to release in the league.

The average opponent offensive PPG during each QB's stretches is the same as Defensive Points Allowed Per Game for the Saints.
 
If Hill takes the ball from center and is tackled behind the LOS, he amasses sacks even if designed runs. He will have a larger amount of sacks due to that.

Both Hill and Winston need to make a quicker decision on those "pat the ball" plays, even if throwing it away to fight the next down.

Those plays actually aren't counted as sacks in the ol stat book, if it's a QB designed run. Just a tackle for loss. But you're right, both will be a downgrade in that department and I expect significantly more sacks taken regardless of who takes snaps.
 
Our defense really rose to the challenge when Taysom was the QB
 
...just when you think you've seen all the possible ways to come up with a Hill vs Winston thread. Very well done. :D

Definitely not the intention. Just wanted to present cold hard stats on differences in the team when Brees was and wasn't the QB. I believe the stats support that Payton does change the offense based on the QB, and the Saints passed less and ran more without Brees. When you add the numbers, it was essentially the same amount of combined passes and runs, just with a different balance. With Brees they had 61.17 passes and runs per game in 2019, with Bridgewater they had 61.8 passes and runs per game. In 2020 it was 65.14 with Brees and 62.5 with Hill.
 
2019 Teddy Bridgewater
Offensive Points Scored Per Game: 25
Defensive Points Allowed Per Game: 18
Pass Attempts Per Game: 33.4
Rush Attempts Per Game: 28.4

13 points in the Seattle game were a result of defensive (fumble return) and special teams (punt return) TDs. The first 2 points in the Chicago game were a result of a safety by the Saints defense. That's 15 total points that should not be included as "offensive points scored." Given that we are talking about 5 total games played here, that reduces the offensive points scored per game by 3 points from 25 to 22.

Also, Chicago got 7 points from a 102-yard kickoff return, so depending on if you want to separate defensive and special teams points, the defense allowed 17 points per game. But from the standpoint of assessing what the offense had to do in order to win in terms of putting up points, then yeah, defensive and special teams points surrendered can be lumped together.



Our defense really rose to the challenge when Taysom was the QB

Well, they did both times against the Falcons. As someone already pointed out in this thread, the Broncos played without their entire QB room, so I don't think we can really say the defense "rose to the challenge" in that game. That is in no way a knock on the defense as the could only play against the players that Denver fielded. And then there was the Philly game...

The defense rose to the challenge the year prior when Brees was out, too. The Saints beat the Cowboys without putting the ball into the end zone and they beat the Jaguars while only doing it once. If we could be assured that the defense would play lights out most of the time like that this upcoming season, I believe most would feel more comfortable about having a new QB, whether it be Jameis or Taysom. It's too early to tell though, so I'll at least hold out hope that the defense will deliver the goods like they have at times in the past without Brees at the helm.
 
Last edited:
13 points in the Seattle game were a result of defensive (fumble return) and special teams (punt return) TDs. The first 2 points in the Chicago game were a result of a safety by the Saints defense. That's 15 total points that should not be included as "offensive points scored." Given that we are talking about 5 total games played here, that reduces the offensive points scored per game by 3 points from 25 to 22.

Also, Chicago got 7 points from a 102-yard kickoff return, so depending on if you want to separate defensive and special teams points, the defense allowed 17 points per game. But from the standpoint of assessing what the offense had to do in order to win in terms of putting up points, then yeah, defensive and special teams points can be lumped together.





Well, they did both times against the Falcons. As someone already pointed out in this thread, the Broncos played without their entire QB room, so I don't think we can really say the defense "rose to the challenge" in that game. That is in no way a knock on the defense as the could only play against the players that Denver fielded. And then there was the Philly game...

The defense rose to the challenge the year prior when Brees was out, too. The Saints beat the Cowboys without putting the ball into the end zone and they beat the Jaguars while only doing it once. If we could be assured that the defense would play lights out most of the time like that this upcoming season, I believe most would feel more comfortable about having a new QB, whether it be Jameis or Taysom. It's too early to tell though, so I'll at least hold out hope that the defense will deliver the goods like they have at times in the past without Brees at the helm.
Very good points. I think the biggest thing for which ever QB takes over is too make sure the Saints offense doesnt stall or have too many 3 and outs. This will help the defense immensely.

If the Saints can keep the defense fresh itll help Allen run an aggressive-effort based D. Doing this will help overcome some of the loss of talent on that side of the ball.
 
13 points in the Seattle game were a result of defensive (fumble return) and special teams (punt return) TDs. The first 2 points in the Chicago game were a result of a safety by the Saints defense. That's 15 total points that should not be included as "offensive points scored." Given that we are talking about 5 total games played here, that reduces the offensive points scored per game by 3 points from 25 to 22.

Also, Chicago got 7 points from a 102-yard kickoff return, so depending on if you want to separate defensive and special teams points, the defense allowed 17 points per game. But from the standpoint of assessing what the offense had to do in order to win in terms of putting up points, then yeah, defensive and special teams points can be lumped together.

I had considered that, but doing that for that game means now for fairness and consistency I need to do that for every game. It was simpler to just present points for/against as a whole. If I can free up the time I'll work on going into much more detailed stats.
 
I had considered that, but doing that for that game means now for fairness and consistency I need to do that for every game. It was simpler to just present points for/against as a whole. If I can free up the time I'll work on going into much more detailed stats.
Understood. It's cool that you did what you did in the first place. Maybe you will catch something that I missed, but a quick glance of the game summaries showed those were the only instances of non-offensive points scored in the games that Brees missed. Admittedly, I didn't go through the games that Brees played.
 
The average opponent offensive PPG during each QB's stretches is the same as Defensive Points Allowed Per Game for the Saints.
I guess I meant those team's offensive average pts per game for the season. I'm just saying that the Saints had some very favorable matchups during some of those stretches without Brees.
 
I guess I meant those team's offensive average pts per game for the season. I'm just saying that the Saints had some very favorable matchups during some of those stretches without Brees.

Ah so like those team's season averages of scoring output compared to when they played the Saints?

Understood. It's cool that you did what you did in the first place. Maybe you will catch something that I missed, but a quick glance of the game summaries showed those were the only instances of non-offensive points scored in the games that Brees missed. Admittedly, I didn't go through the games that Brees played.

It shouldn't be hard to find the anomalies and account for them, if I have some free time tomorrow I will add those numbers for you!
 

Create an account or login to comment

You must be a member in order to leave a comment

Create account

Create an account on our community. It's easy!

Log in

Already have an account? Log in here.

Users who are viewing this thread

    Back
    Top Bottom