During the 2025 season, the New Orleans Saints weren’t exactly known for their ability to string together long, successful scoring drives.
Despite that, the Saints surprisingly ranked No. 9 in the NFL last year with 6.11 plays run per drive.
However, they managed only 5.0 yards per play (No. 27) and 1.62 points per drive (No. 28), rendering their frequency of plays run mostly inefficient over the entire story of the season.
During the final five games of the season, New Orleans saw an interesting trend. Although their drives shortened, their scoring potential shot up.
From Weeks 14-18, New Orleans averaged just 6.02 points per drive. They dropped to No. 15 during that stretch. But, it wasn’t necessarily a bad thing as the team’s scoring per drive leapt to No. 14 in the NFL with 2.25 points per drive.
New Orleans also jumped into the top-10 in yards per play during that stretch, tying for the No. 7 spot with playoff teams like the Buffalo Bills and Pittsburgh Steelers at 5.7 yards per play.
This serves as another example of the team’s strong finish last year and another pathway to retaining the momentum going into 2026.
New Orleans struggled early to put drives together, especially ones that ended in touchdowns, often stalling out just beyond midfield. Toward the end of the season, the club found much more success finishing drives even though it ran fewer plays on average.
The team found success through efficiency and more explosive plays rather than with meticulous drives strung together over a longer, sustained drive. Though those 10-plus play drives that ended in points still provided additional value and aren’t to be balked at, the Saints started to find identity in explosive runs and big connections in the intermediate area of the field.
