Saints’ painstaking loss to Falcons by the numbers

By Ross Jackson

The New Orleans Saints have fallen to 2-9 following their 24-10 collapse to the Atlanta Falcons. Atlanta now takes the lead in the rivalry with a historical record of 57-56. But those numbers don’t tell the entire story of a frustrating day in New Orleans. 

From red zone stalls to missed field goals, the Saints continue to fall over the same hurdles that have plagued them since the opening week of the season. Despite promise from the defense, who held up its end of the bargain for most of the game, the Saints fall short as the team’s glimmer of hope quickly diminishes as they return from the bye week. 

Here are the numbers that contextualize the Saints’ disappointing showing.

3 – The Saints’ scored only three points with their offense. The Falcons also used three tight ends in 60% of their offensive snaps. The most by a team in a single game since 2016.

5 – Quarterback Tyler Shough was sacked five times by the Atlanta defense. All of the sacks came on plays in which the Falcons rushed with four or fewer players, per Next Gen Stats.

12 – The Saints ran 12 offensive plays in the red zone against Atlanta and attempted two field goals. Nine of those plays were run inside the 10-yard-line. On those plays, New Orleans walked away with just three points.

34.5 – Since 2016 (10 seasons), the Saints’ 34.5% red zone touchdown rate is the fourth-lowest of 320 teams through 12 weeks of a season. It’s the second-lowest among the same span in the last five years.

40 – Shough became only the fourth quarterback in Saints history to complete better than 65% of his passes while charting 40 or more attempts in a single game. He is only the second quarterback to finish that game with no quarterbacks, the other being Drew Brees who had three such games. Their four combined matchups each resulted in losses. 

44.2 – Per Next Gen Stats, the Falcons pressured Shough on 44.2% of his dropbacks when rushing with four or fewer defenders. The visiting defense blitzed at a season-low rate of just 15.7%.

69.2 – Blake Grupe’s 69.2% field goal percentage is the lowest among all kickers in Saints history with at least 25 field goal attempts through the first 12 weeks of a season since 1970. A 55-year low. The previous low of 56.7% took place during Tom Dempsey’s second year.

75 – Wide receiver Mason Tipton’s 75-yard kick return in the first quarter was the longest for the Saints since the 2020 season. 

126 – Defensive end Cameron Jordan now ranks No. 19 in NFL history with 126 career sacks. 

2023 – Safety Justin Reid’s pick-six was the team’s first since 2023 when safety Tyrann Mathieu returned an interception for a touchdown against the New England Patriots.