Saints by the Numbers: Defense steps up in big way against Falcons

After a run of off-the-charts performances by the Saints offense in recent weeks, the defense stepped up in the 31-17 victory over the Atlanta Falcons Thursday night in the Mercedes-Benz Superdome.

Whether it was stopping the run, sacking the quarterback or taking away the football, the Saints defense played  a large role in the team’s 10th consecutive victory, the second double-figure winning streak in franchise history behind only the 13-0 start in the Super Bowl-winning season of 2009.

In all 10 of those victories, the Saints have held their opponents below 100 yards rushing. Thursday took things to another level as the Falcons managed just 26 yards on 16 rushing attempts. Throw out two scrambles by Matt Ryan, and the 14 rushes by Atlanta backs and receivers produced just 10 yards, an average of about two feet per attempt.

The 26 yards allowed ranks as the seventh-fewest in Saints history. Interestingly, all seven of those performances have come at home. The best rushing defense performances in franchise history:

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More Superlatives: The Saints also had season highs in sacks (6) and takeaways (4) on Thursday.

It’s the sixth time in the Sean Payton era the Saints defense has come away with six or more sacks and the first time since Nov. 13, 2016 at home against Denver.

To find the last time a Saints defense had at least six sacks and four takeaways in the same game, you have to go all the way back to Oct. 13, 2002 against Washington.

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Put Them All Together: Taking into account all three of the Saints’ defensive superlatives against the Falcons, it’s a rare combination. The last time a team had a defensive combination of less than 30 yards rushing allowed, six or more sacks and four or more takeaways was 2004.

The combination has only happened three times in the NFL since the turn of the century, and two of them are by the Saints – Thursday night and a 2000 road victory over the St. Louis Rams.

The list of such games over the last 30 years:

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New Weapons: The Falcons did a good job of neutralizing Drew Brees’ favorite targets, Michael Thomas and Alvin Kamara, so Brees does what he does best – get everyone involved in the passing game.

Brees passed for four touchdowns – one each to Tommylee Lewis, Dan Arnold, Austin Carr and Keith Kirkwood. Those four players came in with a combined two career touchdowns (one each by Lewis and Carr).

Arnold and Kirkwood were the 65th and 66th different players to catch touchdown passes from Brees, who has thrown 517 TD passes in his illustrious career.

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Extending Two Streaks: Though the Saints fell below the 45-point threshold for the first time in four games, New Orleans reached the 30-point mark for the fifth consecutive game, tying a franchise record.

The 2002 and 2010 teams each had streaks of five straight games of 30+ points.

In each of those five games, the Saints have posted double-digit margins of victory. The only longer streak in franchise history was in the first six games of the Super Bowl season in 2009.

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Over 400: The Saints went over the 400-point mark for the season Thursday night, becoming just the eighth NFL team since 1940 to top 400 points in 11 games. The Saints have 409 points this season, an average of 37.2 points per game.

One of the other seven on the list was the 2009 Saints, which had 407 points after 11 games.

The 2018 Saints are on pace to score 595 points, which would be the second-highest total in NFL history behind only the 2013 Denver Broncos, who scored a league-record 606 points.

The list of teams to top the 400-point mark through 11 games:

Research assistance provided by the database at the website Pro Football Reference.