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| Team | Points Allowed Per Game |
| Seattle Seahawks | 15.3 |
| San Francisco 49ers | 17.1 |
| Chicago Bears | 17.3 |
| Denver Broncos | 18.1 |
| Atlanta Falcons | 18.7 |
| Pittsburgh Steelers | 19.6 |
| Miami Dolphins | 19.8 |
| Cincinnati Bengals | 20.0 |
| New England Patriots | 20.7 |
| Houston Texans | 20.7 |
| Green Bay Packers | 21.0 |
| New York Giants | 21.5 |
| Baltimore Ravens | 21.5 |
| St. Louis Rams | 21.8 |
| Minnesotta Vikings | 21.8 |
| San Diego Chargers | 21.9 |
| Arizona Cardinals | 22.3 |
| Carolina Panthers | 22.7 |
| Cleveland Browns | 23.0 |
| New York Jets | 23.4 |
| Indianapolis Colts | 24.2 |
| Washington Redskins | 24.3 |
| Tampa Bay Buccaneers | 24.6 |
| Dallas Cowboys | 25.0 |
| Kansas City Chiefs | 26.6 |
| Buffalo Bills | 27.2 |
| Detroit Lions | 27.3 |
| Oakland Raiders | 27.7 |
| Philadelphia Eagles | 27.8 |
| Jacksonville Jaguars | 27.8 |
| New Orleans Saints | 28.4 |
| Tennessee Titans | 29.4 |
As you can see from the table above, the Saints didn't have any problems surrendering points to opposing offenses in 2012. A whopping thirteen points separated them from the Seattle Seahawks who yielded the least amount of points, and they were only one point away from the points allowed kings, the Tennessee Titans.
Rob Ryan comes to New Orleans with a very mediocre defensive resumé, statistically speaking. In the points allowed per game category, the best his unit has ever finished came in 2010 with the Cleveland Browns (13th). So far in Rob's career, this would be his ceiling. But really does that statistic mean anything? Eh, not really. Let's bring some more numbers to the table.
In Rob Ryan's nine year career, his defensive units average 22nd in the league in the points allowed per game category. If you once again refer to the table above, finishing 22nd in 2012 would've had the Saints yielding about four less points per game. That might not seem like a big deal but had the games held with the same results, the Saints would've won two more games in 2012. By this statistic alone, Rob Ryan is an improvement.
You need more convincing material, you say? No worries, I've come prepared.
| Year | Points Allowed Per Game |
| 2004 | 23.3 |
| 2005 | 21.9 |
| 2006 | 22.2 |
| 2007 | 24.0 |
| 2008 | 23.8 |
| 2009 | 23.4 |
| 2010 | 23.6 |
| 2011 | 23.6 |
| 2012 | 24.2 |
The table above depicts the amount of points per game yielded by the team that finished 22nd in the league (Rob Ryan's average finish) dating back to when Rob Ryan began his career as a defensive coordinator in the NFL. You can see that each of these values is handily better than the Saints' number in 2012. If you average up these totals, you get 23.3 points allowed per game by the team that finished 22nd in the NFL. Once again, an improvement is shown.
So for any of you big stats guys out there, these numbers will likely get you excited for the 2013 campaign. Others that don't really care about the numbers game, hopefully you can see the light in bringing Rob Ryan to New Orleans.
If Rob Ryan's cards hold true this year, the Saints will be well on their way to competing for another Super Bowl title.