A statistical summary showing how the Saints offense performed in comparison to the league as a whole.

It’s no secret that the offensive line of the New Orleans Saints had trouble getting anything going this season, but how terrible was it in comparison to some of the other teams in the league?

Today, we set out to answer that query. In order to determine how excellent or bad the Saints offensive was in 2023, we’ll look at each statistic separately.

Tenth point in the game

The Saints offense, which averaged 23.6 points per game, was, shockingly, placed 10th in the NFL in terms of points scored per contest. They were ranked somewhat lower than some of the best offenses, including the Buffalo Bills, Green Bay Packers, Los Angeles Rams, and Philadelphia Eagles.

Now, this number is a bit inflated due to a bunch of late offensive surges when they were trailing by two scores, but either way, this number is much higher than I thought it would be. I imagined the Saints being around the 17-20 range, but some high scoring games late in the season helped boost their average.

13th in yards per game

With respect to total yards per game, the Saints were ranked No. 13 in the league, which was marginally lower than PPG. They had their highest total since Drew Brees retired before the 2021 season, averaging 337.2 yards per game.

Again, their late “comebacks” that were always short of the mark may exaggerate this metric, but 13th in the NFL in YPG isn’t too awful.

Passing Yards Per Game – 11th

Derek Carr managed to help lead the Saints to the 11th ranked passing offense, throwing for 234.7 yards per game. In most years, that number would rank a lot lower, but in the past couple of seasons, we’ve seen passing numbers take a bit of a decrease across the league.

I would say this spot feels about right. There were quite a few games where Carr threw for 250+, but only threw one or no touchdowns, so 11th feels pretty correct.

Rushing Yards Per Game – 21st

I was honestly expecting this number to be a lot lower. The Saints, despite having what felt like one of the worst rushing attacks in the league, finished 21st in rushing yards per game with 102.5.

A lot of this was thanks to Taysom Hill’s rushing ability, but I still felt they should’ve finished lower than 21st. I guess they just had a larger volume than most teams, because the Saints finished 31st in the league in yards per carry (3.6).

18th place for Redzone Touchdown Percentage

This season’s Saints redzone performance was really unpredictable. then were among the worst redzone teams in the league to start the season, but then went on a five-week streak during which they scored touchdowns on redzone drives 90% of the time.

With a 53.33% conversion rate, they finished the season in 18th place despite beginning the season near the bottom of the league in redzone touchdown percentage.

Average Margin of Score: 7th

The Saints were among the top teams in the league in terms of score difference; I became aware of this a few weeks before the season concluded. The Saints had an average scoring margin of +4.4, which meant they were outscoring opponents by almost 5 points each game even though they finished 9-8.

Of course, it helps when you thrash a club 34-0, 28-6, and 24-6, but even so, I was shocked to see them included among the Miami Dolphins, Dallas Cowboys, Kansas City Chiefs, and Bills. It just goes to illustrate how important coaching is.

Read more on sportupdates.co.uk