Numbers to Know: Raiders roll Saints

By Ross Jackson

It was another disappointing loss for the New Orleans Saints on Sunday. The team is now 5-11 after their 25-10 loss to the Las Vegas Raiders (4-12). Despite the loss, New Orleans has not improved in terms of draft position, still holding strong with the No. 10 overall selection. The loss to the Raiders is now the second time that New Orleans has lost to a team drafting within the Top 10.

Here are some numbers that help tell the story of the team’s loss:

0 – While the Saints have committed eight giveaways in the last seven games, they have generated 0 takeaways in five of their last seven. Since firing coach Dennis Allen, the team has gone from a plus-3 turnover differential to minus-3.

5 – After a strong start to the season for right tackle Trevor Penning, he has hit a rough patch late in the season. Before Week 16, he allowed more than four pressures just once this year in Week 7. However, of his 52 total pressures, he’s surrendered 26 (with two sacks) over the last five games. That’s 50% of his season’s pressures allowed since Week 13.

6 – After reviewing the game film, LouisianaSports.Net charted six occasions in which a pass-catcher had his hands on a pass but could not come up with a catch. Whether because of drops or defender contact, one of the costliest self-inflicted wounds New Orleans suffered Sunday were dropped passes.

9.7 – New Orleans’s offense gained 9.7 yards per play in the first half. That number sunk significantly to 3.1 in the second half, including just a 1.2 yard per play average in the third quarter. 

10 – The Saints matched their number of points scored (10) with missed tackles in Sunday’s matchup. Per Pro Football Focus, New Orleans missed 10 tackles against the Raiders.

86 – Saints pass-catchers were charted with seven contested catch opportunities by Pro Football Focus. Of those seven contested chances, only one was caught. 86% of contested opportunities went the way of the Raiders on Sunday. On the reverse, Raiders pass-catchers reeled in six of their nine contested catch opportunities, leaving only 33.3% uncaught.

91 – New Orleans scored 91 points in its first pair of games, tied for the second-most in NFL history over an opening two-game span. In order to reach that point total again, the Saints would have to add up their last six games’ scores (92).

120 – Of Raiders quarterback Aidan O’Connell’s 242 passing yards against the Saints defense, 120 yards came on passes that traveled at least 10 air yards. Per Next Gen Stats, O’Connell was 6-for-14 with a touchdown thrown on such passes.

121.5 – Saints defensive end Cameron Jordan extended his lead as the Saints’ all-time sack leader with another sack on O’Connell Sunday. His 121.5 sacks are now 6.5 ahead of previous record holder, linebacker Rickey Jackson (115). O’Connell became the 49th NFL quarterback to be sacked by Jordan.

2017 – Going into this game, the only time Raiders running back Ameer Abdullah gained more than 90 rushing yards was in Week 4 of the 2017 season. On Sunday against the Saints, he accumulated 115 rushing yards at a 5.8 yard per carry clip.