By Ross Jackson
The New Orleans Saints are traveling this weekend to take on the Los Angeles Chargers in an effort to end their five-game losing streak. Meanwhile the Chargers are coming off of a last-second Monday Night Football loss to the Arizona Cardinals. Both teams will be highly motivated to get back in the win column on Sunday.
As the contest nears, let’s take a look at how these two teams compare going into their Week 8 matchup.
Scoring Offense Vs. Scoring Defense:
Saints Offense – No. 11 | Chargers Defense – No. 1
The Chargers have the advantage here as the top scoring defense in the NFL up to this point. Early in the season, the Saints were the No. 1 scoring offense, but they’ve fallen outside the Top 10 over their last few games. They have the scoring potential, but it will be tough to realize against this Chargers defense.
Chargers Offense – No. 26 | Saints Defense – No. 26
An evenly matched bout on this side, but from a points per game perspective, something’s got to give. The Saints’ defense has surrendered 25.7 points per game this season while the Chargers’ offense has only averaged 15.1 points per game scored on offense. So, the ball will bounce one unit’s way, and that could be the deciding factor of this game.
Passing Offense Vs. Passing Defense (Yards):
Saints Offense – No. 28 | Chargers Defense – No. 9
The Saints passing offense has taken a hit without its starting interior offensive line. Then injuries at quarterback and pass-catcher compounded the issue. After two consecutive 40-point outputs, the Saints have struggled to score on offense with their per-game scoring average dropping to 17.2 over their last five contests.
Chargers Offense – No. 24 | Saints Defense – No. 28
Los Angeles has thrown the football the third-least in the NFL with only 166 passing attempts through their six games so far this season. The Chargers have heavily invested in their passing attack in the draft over the last few seasons, but so far, they have not leaned on that area of the game. Expect that to change against a Saints defense which has been susceptible to giving up big plays and a lot of yardage. Rookie cornerback Kool-Aid McKinstry will be a target early and often, and he’ll have to make Chargers quarterback Justin Herbert pay for that.
Speaking of Herbert, something to watch out for is that he appeared to injure his thumb during the Chargers Monday night loss to the Cardinals. He did not leave the game after getting his hand tended to on the sideline, but we’ll see how it impacts his throwing ability on a short week.
Rushing Offense Vs. Rushing Defense (Yards):
Saints Offense – No. 29 | Chargers Defense – No. 9
It’s strength on weakness in the run game, and the advantage looks to go to the Chargers to start. However, New Orleans is hoping to get tight end Taysom Hill back this week. Despite his position designation, his greatest contributions have come in the run game. Between he and running backs Alvin Kamara and Kendre Miller, who made his season debut last week, the Saints will look to get their rushing offense back up and running. A healthier offensive line should be on the way as well, which would be another big benefit.
Chargers Offense – No. 18 | Saints Defense – No. 29
This could be another big factor in this game. The Chargers run the ball at a high rate, ranking No. 10 in the NFL in rushing attempts. That’s a classic Jim Harbaugh team trait. If the Chargers lean more on their passing offense to try to break some big plays, that could cost them in getting their run game going against New Orleans. So, expect instead for the rushing attack to be the top focus for the Chargers while they work to keep the ball out of the Saints offense and rookie quarterback Spencer Rattler’s hands. Rattler is expected to start Sunday if starting quarterback Derek Carr is not yet ready to return from his oblique injury.
Turnover Differential:
Saints – +2 | Chargers – +6
Despite the Saints trailing in this stat, they have created more takeaways (13) than the Chargers (10). But the big difference comes down to the giveaways. The Chargers have only turned the ball over four times, while New Orleans has committed 11 total giveaways through seven games. This is the benefit of leaning more on the run game than the passing game for Los Angeles. The Chargers have done a good job not giving the ball away while the Saints have done a great job taking it away. One will come out on top on Sunday.
Pressure Rate Allowed Vs. Generated:
Saints Offense – No. 25 | Chargers Defense – No. 13
Per Next Gen Stats, the Saints have generated just 81 total pressures, tied for the second-lowest total across the league. The disappointing part about that number, short of its overall count, is that they have two Top 15 pass rushers on their edges. Defensive ends Chase Young (No. 8) and Carl Granderson (No. 15) have combined for 58 pressures alone. They have been outstanding pressure generators thus far. However, that leaves just 23 additional pressures created by the rest of the Saints defense. Unfortunately for New Orleans, the Chargers don’t let up a ton of pressure on their side with one of the better offensive lines in football.
Chargers Offense – No. 30 | Saints Defense – No. 29
This is another area where something has to break. The good news for New Orleans is that, seemingly for the first time this year, it may be on the right side of the injury conversation. The Saints are expecting to get players back from injury ahead of this game after a long week. Among those players are offensive linemen Lucas Patrick and Cesar Ruiz, both of whom man the interior. Meanwhile, the Chargers are monitoring the health of defensive lineman Otito Ogbonnia, who has been an important piece on the inside. He suffered an injury in the fourth quarter of Monday’s game. If the Saints can keep Rattler clean, they may finally get an evaluation of the young quarterback and, most importantly, could put themselves in position to rebound on offense.
