Welcome everyone to the latest edition of #4Downs where I break down what went right and what went wrong for the New Orleans Saints! This week, I look at the Saints big win inside of Lambeau Field over the Green Bay Packers.
1st Down: Early Woes for Brees
The Saints offense was due to have a bad game turnover wise sooner or later right? After going through the first four games of the season without a giveaway, the Saints had two more turnovers to add to their three from last week’s win over Detroit.
Drew Brees started off strong, going 5-for-5 to start the opening drive, but ended up getting picked off in the endzone on a deep ball. He was picked off yet again on a deep ball later in the quarter. It seemed like the veteran was going off the rails, but he was able to get back into a groove and help this team stay in the game.
2nd Down: Controlling Time
One of the biggest factors in the Saints bouncing back from a slow start was controlling the time of possession. In the 11 drives the Saints had, only two went less than two minutes. Even the first drive for the Saints went for six and a half minutes.
With those kind of numbers offensively, that could be crucial for winning some of the more difficult ballgames that are still to come in the schedule.
3rd Down: Defense Comes Up Big
Looking back at those early interceptions, the defense came up huge in those drives by forcing three and outs. While both of those turnovers were very deep in Green Bay’s territory, having a defense that has been holding serve as of late.
Preventing Green Bay from increasing their early lead after a pair of INTs shows that this defense is way better than they looked during the first two weeks of the season. Also intercepting Hundley on the last drive didn’t hurt things either.
4th Down: Improved on 3rd Down
The Saints had a big issue late in last week’s matchup against Detroit and that was converting on third down and getting that final nail in the coffin. That wasn’t an issue as they converted 53 percent of their third downs and only wound up punting twice in the game.
Another interesting stat is that the Saints never went three-and-out in the ballgame. If this can do that, it’ll help out several different phases of the game. The longer drives means that the defense can get some much needed rest and the offense can control the pace of the ballgame.
-Clint Domingue