By Ross Jackson
A tough loss means tough numbers to help tell the story. The New Orleans Saints, 26-13, loss to the Kansas City Chiefs was expected by many. But the manner in which the Saints performed is perhaps most disappointing. Here are some of the most important numbers that came out of their Week 5 loss to the back-to-back Super Bowl champions.
-4 – Saints running back Alvin Kamara didn’t get much help from his offensive line. He ran for 26 yards, gaining 30 of them after contact. Meaning Kamara was treated to -4 yards before contract by the time the game ended. Kansas City’s push in the run game caused a lot of issues for the Saints offensive front.
2 – New Orleans is only the second NFL club to finish the first five weeks of a season with a points differential of 40 or more points with only two wins, per Pro Football Reference.
6 – Of the seven Chiefs pass-catchers that ran 10 or more routes, six of them averaged at least four yards of separation per target.
7 – Saints cornerback Paulson Adebo has been flagged for 7 combined defensive pass interference and defensive holding penalties so far this season. (At the time of publishing, the cited course has not yet updated for Monday Night Football, during which Adebo added his fifth defensive pass interference call)
9 – Saints wide receiver Rashid Shaheed now has nine plays of more than 50+ air yards in his young career. The most of a player since entering the league in 2022.
13 – Saints defenders were credited with 13 missed tackles, their highest total of the season, per Pro Football Focus.
15.79 – Per Next Gen Stats, defensive tackle Khalen Saunders reached 15.79 MPH on his 37-yard interception return against his former team. That speed is the third-highest clocked by any player of more than 320 pounds since 2016.
23.3% – Per PFF, the Saints starting three cornerbacks Marshon Lattimore, Paulson Adebo and Alontae Taylor were in man coverage for only 23.3percent of their coverage snaps, a much lower rate than is typical for a New Orleans defense. The previous low in 2024 was 31.2 percent in Week 2 while Lattimore was out and rookie Kool-Aid McKinstry was called upon.
51.7% – Saints quarterback Derek Carr was under pressure on 51.7 percent of his dropbacks against the Chiefs defense, his highest pressure rate of the season.
251 – Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes piled up 331 passing yards against the Saints zone-heavy approach on defense. 251 of them came after the catch.
