**This post is sponsored by Sprint.**
Normally this is where I highlight and discuss further the Saints player you guys voted as the player of the game this past week. This week that would be Jabari Greer, but damn if the defense as a whole hasn't been playing lights out. And since we're at the bye and just past the halfway point of the season, I figured what better time to shake things up in our sponsored post and give everyone on that side of the ball props. Saints defense...this post's for you! Sorry, Jabari. You still kick ass, too.
By now you've probably heard that the Saints have the best pass defense in the league, limiting offenses to just 166 yards per game through the air. My sources confirm that information to be 100 thousand-trillion-million percent accurate. So can we please just take a moment to marvel at how amazing that is; at how incredibly far this defense has come? This was a team that gave up 245 passing yards a game four years ago, which was bad enough for second worst in the league. Since then, it's gotten progressively better. Damn, that's hot!
My favorite part behind all this lovely defensive talk, however, is that somehow, someway Gregg Williams has been able to work his magic while dealing with myriad injuries to starters and plugging in guys off the bench. Because it's not about talent with this team so much as it's about having a solid game plan being executed by a well coached group of motivated players each week.
That's enough from me. I'll let the numbers tell the rest of the story. Make the jump for some more Saints defensive stats that might make you tingle in your pants.
| Team | Yds / Game | Yds / Play | Rush Yds / Game | Rush Yds / Play | Pass Yds / Game | Pass Yds / Play | Int. Rate | Sacks / Pass Att. | First Downs / Game | Punt Return Avg | Kickoff Return Avg | 3rd Down Pct | 4th Down Pct | Red Zone Pct | Goal to Go% | Pts / Game | Pointt Diff./ Game | Yard Diff./ Game |
| NO | 277.0 | 4.77 | 110.7 | 4.20 | 166.3 | 5.61 | 2.25% | 7.12% | 16.0 | 12.5 | 23.6 | 33.91% | 61.54% | 42.11% | 50.00% | 16.8 | 5.6 | 92.9 |
| Rank | 3 | 5 | 17 | 18 | 1 | 2 | 25 | 12 | 3 | 26 | 18 | 4 | 27 | 9 | 3t | 5 | 7 | 3 |
Rushing Defense
| Left End | Left Tackle | Left Guard | Up the Middle | Right Guard | Right Tackle | Right End | ||||||
| Plays: 30 | Plays: 30 | Plays: 27 | Plays: 35 | Plays: 40 | Plays: 44 | Plays: 23 | ||||||
| NFL Rank: 9 | NFL Rank: 11 | NFL Rank: 7 | NFL Rank: 30 | NFL Rank: 3 | NFL Rank: 3 | NFL Rank: 15 | ||||||
| Avg Gain: 3.73 | Avg Gain: 4.20 | Avg Gain: 3.52 | Avg Gain: 3.49 | Avg Gain: 2.85 | Avg Gain: 6.16 | Avg Gain: 5.43 | ||||||
| NFL Rank: 4 | NFL Rank: 16 | NFL Rank: 13 | NFL Rank: 11 | NFL Rank: 7 | NFL Rank: 31 | NFL Rank: 19 |
Passing Defense
| Short Left | Short Middle | Short Right | Deep Left | Deep Middle | Deep Right | |||||
| Plays: 69 | Plays: 48 | Plays: 106 | Plays: 10 | Plays: 12 | Plays: 23 | |||||
| NFL Rank: 26 | NFL Rank: 17 | NFL Rank: 8 | NFL Rank: 31 | NFL Rank: 21 | NFL Rank: 8 | |||||
| Avg Gain: 6.54 | Avg Gain: 6.08 | Avg Gain: 4.12 | Avg Gain: 12.10 | Avg Gain: 9.92 | Avg Gain: 10.39 | |||||
| NFL Rank: 21 | NFL Rank: 12 | NFL Rank: 1 | NFL Rank: 22 | NFL Rank: 6 | NFL Rank: 18 |