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Marshall Faulk has a very specific question for us this week. So I thought it would be best to give a very specific answer. In case you're too lazy to watch the 15 second video above to hear Faulk's question, here's what he wants to know:
To be Professional Grade, you must be prepared for every situation. Imagine your team facing its next opponent. You're down by six, with 2 minutes left, on your own 30. I wanna know right now, what does your team do. Do they win, or do they lose?
Thanks to the incredible, searchable database at Pro-Football-Reference we can actually find out exactly how many times the Saints have been in that type of situation and how it's worked out.
And the answer might actually surprise you. It certainly surprised me. I thought for sure the Saints had led more than a few late-game touchdown drives for the win during the Sean Payton/Drew Brees era. Turns out... not so much.
From 2006 to now the Saints have had a total of 9 drives starting from their own 30-yard line or beyond, when trailing by 7 points or less, with under two minutes to play. They've only won one of those games (Washington, 12/6/2009). Surprised? So was I.
Four of those drives ended with time expiring, three ended with Brees throwing an interception, and one of them ended with the Saints turning the ball over on downs.
In case you don't believe me, here are each of those nine drives in detail:
| Drive Start | Drive End | |||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Tm | Year | Date | Opp | Result | Plays | Length | Yds | Qtr | Time | LOS | Tm | Opp | Qtr | Time | Last LOS | Tm | Opp | Result | ||
| NOR | 2009 | 2009-12-06 | @ | WAS | W 33-30 | 5 (5 P, 0 R, 0 Y) | 0:33 | 80 | 4 | 1:52 | Own 20 | 23 | 30 | 1:19 | Own 47 | 29 | 30 | Touchdown | View Drive " | |
| NOR | 2013 | 2013-12-22 | @ | CAR | L 17-13 | 4 (4 P, 0 R, 0 Y) | 0:23 | 34 | 4 | 0:23 | Own 20 | 13 | 17 | 0:00 | Opp 46 | 13 | 17 | End of Game | View Drive " | |
| NOR | 2013 | 2013-11-03 | @ | NYJ | L 26-20 | 4 (5 P, 0 R, 0 Y) | 0:37 | -9 | 4 | 1:58 | Own 19 | 20 | 26 | 1:21 | Own 10 | 20 | 26 | Downs | View Drive " | |
| NOR | 2007 | 2007-12-02 | TAM | L 27-23 | 2 (2 P, 0 R, 0 Y) | 0:14 | 9 | 4 | 0:14 | Own 29 | 23 | 27 | 4 | 0:00 | Own 42 | 23 | 27 | End of Game | View Drive " | |
| NOR | 2008 | 2008-11-30 | @ | TAM | L 23-20 | 2 (2 P, 0 R, 0 Y) | 0:19 | 0 | 4 | 1:55 | Own 27 | 20 | 23 | 1:36 | Own 27 | 20 | 23 | Interception | View Drive " | |
| NOR | 2008 | 2008-09-21 | @ | DEN | L 34-32 | 2 (3 P, 0 R, 0 Y) | 0:08 | 2 | 4 | 0:08 | Own 20 | 32 | 34 | 0:00 | Own 20 | 32 | 34 | End of Game | View Drive " | |
| NOR | 2010 | 2010-10-10 | @ | ARI | L 30-20 | 1 (1 P, 0 R, 0 Y) | 0:14 | 0 | 4 | 0:24 | Own 9 | 20 | 23 | 0:10 | Own 9 | 20 | 29 | Interception | View Drive " | |
| NOR | 2008 | 2008-10-06 | MIN | L 30-27 | 1 (1 P, 0 R, 0 Y) | 0:11 | 0 | 4 | 0:13 | Own 25 | 27 | 30 | 0:02 | Own 25 | 27 | 30 | Interception | View Drive " | ||
| NOR | 2011 | 2012-01-14 | @ | SFO | L 36-32 | 1 (2 P, 0 R, 0 Y) | 0:09 | 4 | 4 | 0:09 | Own 14 | 32 | 36 | 0:00 | Own 14 | 32 | 36 | End of Game | View Drive " | |
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