Comparison, Saints and Packers

[morningwood]

Offense.
Total yards per game NO 1 GB 3
Rushing yards per game NO 8 GB 26
Rushing yards per rush NO 4 GB 27
Passing yards per game NO 1 GB 3
Passing yards per pass NO 4 GB 1
Third down efficiency NO 1 GB 2
Points per game NO 2 GB 1

Defense.
Opp. yards per game NO 27 GB 31
Opp. rushing yards per game NO 15 GB 12
Opp. passing yards per game NO 30 GB 31
QB sack percentage NO 26 GB 28
Third down efficiency NO 6 GB 27
Opp. points per game NO 17 GB 15
Point differential NO 2 GB 1
Percentage of passes intercepted NO 32 GB 1
Turnover edge NO 18 GB 2
The most obvious difference is turnovers. And, of course, before anyone else points it out -- wins.

 

[CarolinaPackerFan]

I would like to see your Home vs Away splits. It just seems like the Saints are a completely different team when on the road and in the elements.... especially when it's cold.

 

[Forget Favre]

Hasn't just about any team the Packers faced had better stats then the Pack?

 

[morningwood]

Hasn't just about any team the Packers faced had better stats then the Pack?

I don't know, I wasn't really trying to suggest that the Saints have "better" stats than the Pack -- just that they are very similar in stats, both in terms of strengths and weaknesses. I am sure that one could go deeper and point out differences they deem more meaningfull. Again, the biggest difference I see is the advantage GB has on defense in turnovers -- particularly interceptions.

 

[SpartaChris]

This Packers D is more reminiscent of the 2009 Saints defense, where they give up a lot of yards but are very opportunistic when it comes to taking away the football.

All in all though, these are definitely two evenly matched teams, which surprises me from the defensive side of the ball. I admittedly hadn't paid much attention to defensive stats, so I am a bit surprised to see how close they are, at least on paper.

 

[BillyBoy]

Despite what the numbers say, you've gotta love that intangible X-factor in Aaron Rodgers and the ability to get yards after the catch early on. You can just feel the momentum building for us as soon as we get a few early completions, especially lately when we've been running the no-huddle to start games. I love that strategy of getting a good head of steam early and McCarthy implements it so well. The Saints are very similar in that respect, which is what makes both these teams so great IMO.

 

[Southpaw]

The real X factor is how well the Saints play on the road, which, compared to home games, are pretty average.

Homefield Advantage is going to be a big advantage for us, IMO.

 

[SaintItSweet]

Rodgers: 123.3 quarterback rating. This is the big edge Rodgers has and the reason he will get the MVP.
Brees: 105.9. Brees has 6 more ints, 7 less touchdowns.

Brees: 4368 yards in the air (alongside the #8 rushing attack in the NFL). On pace for 5376. Marino's record.
Rodgers: 4125 yards in the air (alongside the #26 rushing attack). On pace for 5076. Record is 5084.

And yes, Brees has sat out the 4th quarter this year in blowouts and run 100% run in the last 10 minutes of at least 4 games this year.

Brees: 70.9% completion percentage. Record is 70.6%... held by Drew Brees.
Rodgers: 69.6% completion percentage.

Brees: Most games with 300+ yards in a season. Record belongs to Brees, but he already has 10 with 3 games left to break his own record.
Rodgers: Has 8 300+ yard games with 3 games left.

Brees: 385 completions. On pace for 473. Record is 450 held by Peyton Manning.
Rodgers: 305. On pace for 375.

Saints team: Averaging 447.8 yards a game, on pace for 7164.8. Record for most yards by a team is the 2000 Rams with 7075. Packers average 404.

Saints team: 53.71% 3rd down conversion percentage. Green Bay 48.7%. Record is 56.7 by the 2007 Colts. We were at 57.4% before the Rams game, lol

• Other records. 6 seasons in a row with over 4500 yards. Record is 6 held by Peyton Manning. Rodgers stands at 1
• Has the 2nd best streak of games with a touchdown (40), passing Favre at 36 and reaching Unitas at 47.
• Most consecutive games with 350+ yards passing - 4 (2011). This record was ended by Brees sitting out the entire 4th at 270 yards against the Colts.
• Most consecutive games with at least 20 completions - 32
• Only QB to throw over 5000 yards other than Marino.

Amongst others

Breaking his own completion percentage, leading the passing yardage marker and # of completions. And leading the soon to be #1 offense every to play the game. Yup, Breesus is just alright with me.

 

[SaintItSweet]

The real X factor is how well the Saints play on the road, which, compared to home games, are pretty average.

Homefield Advantage is going to be a big advantage for us, IMO.

Mmmm.. last week @TEN the Saints had 437 yards total (while playing Prevent during the 4th quarter).
Brees threw 36 for 47 (76.3% completion percentage) for 337 yards.
Rushing for 114 yards.

In an OUTDOOR stadium. Against Tennessee's 6th ranked defense.

Not bad for a "Dome Team" that's "average" on the road....

If we meet you folks in the Championship game it's going to come down to this: What will count for more, the Packers superior ability to create turnovers or the Saints superior run game? Because everything else is pretty darn even.

 

[ExpatPacker]

SaintItSweet: Stats are one thing. How things are trending is another.

Brees has really turned it up in the second half of the season and he's playing as well as any QB in the league IMO. Rodgers numbers have gone down, and he doesn't seem to be quite as flawless as he was in the first half of the season. The big reason for that is because of OL adjustments due to injuries. GB's offensive line is not yet where it should be but it is showing signs of improvement. Newhouse is the big question here. Most of the hits on Rodgers have come from his side. If Josh Sitton comes back, the OL could very well be in good shape come playoff time. Rodgers has shown that he can take hits and keep on rolling. If the OL buys Rodgers a little more pass protection, ARod will kill.

Statwise, NO has the better run attack, but last week against the Raiders the GB running attack was huge. Trending-wise, if that keeps up the Packers are in great shape. Ryan Grant says he feels 100% healthy for the first time in a long time. That bodes very well for the Packers and for ARod.

Defensively the Packers also seem to be coming together. If this can continue then the big question marks that the Packers had will become question marks no more.

Having said all that, I agree that Sunday's win against Ten was a BIG-time win for the Saints because it was on the road and they need that confidence. Still let's face it, the Titans ain't the Packers. NO defense made two key stops against the Titans but TEN really didn't have much of a passing attack. Also, TEN did not generate any kind of pass rush on Brees. He sat back in the pocket pretty much all day and he hardly got touched.

 

[ozbuc]

Scoreboard baby scoreboard!

 

[SaintItSweet]

SaintItSweet: Stats are one thing. How things are trending is another.

Brees has really turned it up in the second half of the season and he's playing as well as any QB in the league IMO. Rodgers numbers have gone down, and he doesn't seem to be quite as flawless as he was in the first half of the season. The big reason for that is because of OL adjustments due to injuries. GB's offensive line is not yet where it should be but it is showing signs of improvement. Newhouse is the big question here. Most of the hits on Rodgers have come from his side. If Josh Sitton comes back, the OL could very well be in good shape come playoff time. Rodgers has shown that he can take hits and keep on rolling. If the OL buys Rodgers a little more pass protection, ARod will kill.

Statwise, NO has the better run attack, but last week against the Raiders the GB running attack was huge. Trending-wise, if that keeps up the Packers are in great shape. Ryan Grant says he feels 100% healthy for the first time in a long time. That bodes very well for the Packers and for ARod.

Defensively the Packers also seem to be coming together. If this can continue then the big question marks that the Packers had will become question marks no more.

Having said all that, I agree that Sunday's win against Ten was a BIG-time win for the Saints because it was on the road and they need that confidence. Still let's face it, the Titans ain't the Packers. NO defense made two key stops against the Saints but TEN really didn't have much of a passing attack. Also, TEN did not generate any kind of pass rush on Brees. He sat back in the pocket pretty much all day and he hardly got touched.

You could say the same thing about New Orleans mid-season losses to TB and the Rams. Olin Kreutz had nothing left in the tank, and Strief went out for a few games and his backup, Charles Brown got owned for a few games straight. You can pretty much chalk up the entire Rams game to Charlie Brown letting Howie Long's kid run loose on Brees. We're 100% healthy, and Olin's backup, Brian De La Puente is playing surprisingly well.

But you can play the if and but game. The point is... it's going to be a great game. Hopefully we make you bunch of northern ****** socialist "everybody's an owner" hippies sit out the Super Bowl and show ya what the advantages of QB-led offseason conditioning programs really are...

And hey, if we don't... I'm cool with that as long as its not the Cowgirls or the Falcons going to the big game.

 

[Jules]

Mmmm.. last week @TEN the Saints had 437 yards total (while playing Prevent during the 4th quarter).
Brees threw 36 for 47 (76.3% completion percentage) for 337 yards.
Rushing for 114 yards.

In an OUTDOOR stadium. Against Tennessee's 6th ranked defense.

Not bad for a "Dome Team" that's "average" on the road....

If we meet you folks in the Championship game it's going to come down to this: What will count for more, the Packers superior ability to create turnovers or the Saints superior run game? Because everything else is pretty darn even.

Aaron Rodgers.

 

[Greenbayphil]

leading the soon to be #1 offense every to play the game. Yup, Breesus is just alright with me.

Your forgetting one very important Stat.
what do offenses do?
Score Points.
What do the Pack lead in?
Points per game.

Hold your horses before you start saying that the Saints are the no.1 offense to ever play the game.

As for the other stats, lets say Yardage.
Now, yes, Drew Brees has thrown for more yardage than Rodgers, reason being?
He has had 96 more attempts at throwing the ball, 80 of which were completed.

The real stat here to look at is yardage per attempt in which Rodgers is 9.4 yards and Brees is 8.0 yards.

If you want to be hypothetical lets say Rodgers was given the amount of attempts that Brees has had then rodgers yardage looks like this.

5,104 yards, with 3 games to play.

On the flip side, lets say Brees was given the same amount of attempts to throw the ball as Rodgers has had.

3504 yards with 3 games left.

So the yardage stat all comes down to attempts, and if you give the ball to Rodgers the same amount of times as brees, then Rodgers will throw for more yardage.


Note also NO were playing against a rookie Jake Locker who managed to throw for nearly 300 yards against, didnt even play 4 quarters and was inches close to winning the game for the Titans

 

[FrankRizzo]

The thing about the Saints is that on the road, they throw in some clinkers every now and then.
They LOST TO THE RAMS THIS YEAR.
They also LOST TO THE BUCS this year.

That's why it's important for them to beat out the 49ers for that #2 seed, because it makes them get a free win with the bye.
The Saints are lucky the Cardinals came back and beat SF last week.
SF needs to win at home vs Pitt this week.

The Saints are FOR SURE a challenge for us, and they can beat us. In Green Bay. The same place that we barely beat them in week 1 this year, game down to the final play. We had Nick Collins then, not now.

They also have a strong RB group right now, all somehow still healthy. As is Jimmy Graham. As are all their WRs. Somehow, they seem to have better luck with injuries than we do.

 

[ExpatPacker]

The thing about the Saints is that on the road, they throw in some clinkers every now and then.
They LOST TO THE RAMS THIS YEAR.
They also LOST TO THE BUCS this year.

That's why it's important for them to beat out the 49ers for that #2 seed, because it makes them get a free win with the bye.
The Saints are lucky the Cardinals came back and beat SF last week.
SF needs to win at home vs Pitt this week.

.

I think the Saints will beat the 49ers regardless of whether it's in SF or the Big Easy. Saints are just a better team and the 9ers don't have the offense. They may slow down the NO offense a bit but they won't stop them.

Saints have laid some eggs, but they seem to be on a roll now, so I wouldn't count on them doing the same in January.

 

[bozz_2006]

I remember before week one a (almost) friendly argument about Finley and Jimmy Graham. Saints fans were saying that Graham was going to be something special and might challenge Finley as the most uncover able matchup-nightmare TE in the league. Many Packers fans simply dismissed the notion as ridiculous. But what's been ridiculous this season is how good Graham has been. Undoubtedly an amazing talent. He's outplayed Finley all season long.

Having said that, I'm really hoping to see Finley shine in these final three weeks, as he's certainly set to carry much more of the load as the focal point of the passing attack.

 

[greenandgold]

How about the most important stat I haven't seen mentioned?

Head to head Play this year, Packers 1 Saints 0

 

[longtimefan]

I think the Saints will beat the 49ers regardless of whether it's in SF or the Big Easy. Saints are just a better team and the 9ers don't have the offense. They may slow down the NO offense a bit but they won't stop them.

Saints have laid some eggs, but they seem to be on a roll now, so I wouldn't count on them doing the same in January.

Just fyi, Niners havent allowed a rushing TD all season, next closest have allowed 5....

Packers have allowed 9

 

[Southpaw]

The only reason the Saints are leading the league in yards and other offensive stats is because of those two games against the Colts and Giants where they ran up the score. If it weren't for those two games they might not be ranked as high.

In any light yards, completetions, whatever/whatever is really all irrelevant if you aren't getting in the end zone

 

[bozz_2006]

The only reason the Saints are leading the league in yards and other offensive stats is because of those two games against the Colts and Giants where they ran up the score. If it weren't for those two games they might not be ranked as high.

In any light yards, completetions, whatever/whatever is really all irrelevant if you aren't getting in the end zone

Come on. Give them their due. The Saints are an excellent offensive football team.

 

[realcaliforniacheese]

Brees is no good in cold weather. This is a little stat from Dec 5 of 09. I went and looked and since this stat he has won one game in Dec or January when he has to play outside in the elements.

"Since 2005, Brees is 0-5 in games where the temperature at kickoff was less than 45 degrees. That includes the postseason and Brees’ passer rating dips to 79.0 in cold-weather games."

Conversely, we have a QB who has the strength to not only throw accurately on the run, but he can cut thru the wind. If the Saints come marching into Lambeau on January 22 this saint going to be a shootout in balmy weather like the opener.

 

[Southpaw]

Come on. Give them their due. The Saints are an excellent offensive football team.

Did I say they weren't? I'm saying these stats that are being posted in favor of the Saints are skewed because of blowout games against teams where they ran up the score.

 

[Jules]

Did I say they weren't? I'm saying these stats that are being posted in favor of the Saints are skewed because of blowout games against teams where they ran up the score.

A lot of the Saints stats shot up nicely after playing the Colts in that SNF beatdown for the ages. Ironically which then followed up with them losing to the Rams on the road.

Honestly, nothing in the first post is real news to me or truly relevant to me if I was picking a winner between these two teams.

 

[FrankRizzo]

Brees is no good in cold weather. This is a little stat from Dec 5 of 09. I went and looked and since this stat he has won one game in Dec or January when he has to play outside in the elements.

"Since 2005, Brees is 0-5 in games where the temperature at kickoff was less than 45 degrees. That includes the postseason and Brees’ passer rating dips to 79.0 in cold-weather games."

Conversely, we have a QB who has the strength to not only throw accurately on the run, but he can cut thru the wind. If the Saints come marching into Lambeau on January 22 this saint going to be a shootout in balmy weather like the opener.

This makes me happy!
Good work RCC!