Stephen Lew-Imagn Images
By Ross Jackson
It won’t be an easy task, but there is one clear objective the New Orleans Saints defense should have on its mind as the unit prepares to take on the Seattle Seahawks: third down defense.
The Saints are currently one of just four teams to have surrendered a third down conversion percentage to opponents through two weeks of the season of 50 percent or higher.
- No. 29: New Orleans Saints – 50%
- No. 30: Cincinnati Bengals – 51.7%
- T-No. 31: Dallas Cowboys – 51.9%
- T-No. 31: Miami Dolphins – 51.9%
That’s not great company for the New Orleans defense that has been working hard to improve with turnover across the coaching staff and on the roster. It’s early in the season and there’s a lot of time to get this corrected.
It’s something that head coach Kellen Moore highlighted after the loss to the San Francisco 49ers in Week 2.
“You have a little bit of an advantage in some third and longs,” he said. “That’s the story. When you get them behind and it’s third and 10-plus, we’ve got to take advantage of those opportunities from a defense perspective.”
Sometimes third down woes are compounded by first and second down woes. However, the Saints have surrendered 40 percent of third downs of seven or more yards to be converted through the first two games of the year. That is where the team has struggled among the most on either side of the ball.
New Orleans is one of the best first down defenses from a yards per play perspective, allowing just 3.2 yards on average. That’s No. 3 in the league. But despite that early down success, New Orleans has struggled.
On second down, the Saints allow an average of 5.9 yards per play, ranking 25th in the NFL. On third down, the team is allowing a tenth-most 6.2 yards per play.
This will be a big barometer for the Saints to show what they can address and how quickly as the season moves along.
