Analyzing Saints quarterback Drew Brees

The New Orleans Saints had their best offensive output against the defending Super Bowl Champion Philadelphia Eagles in their 48-7 win back in Week 11. In fact, their 546 yards of offense was their best dating back to November of 2016.

Not everything has been rainbows and lollipops for the Saints’ offense. Football Outsiders highlighted the Saints recent struggles in their NFC Divisional Round Preview.

“Even excluding their Week 17 rest game, the Saints have seen their offensive DVOA drop from 26.6% in their first 11 games of the year to -3.8% in their next five, with three of those games having a negative offensive grade. They seemed to have righted the ship in their last game in which they tried, Week 16’s win over Pittsburgh, but there are certainly more questions today than there were in mid-November. Was it a three-game blip, or did the Saints peak too early?” - Bryan Knowles

That regression has been tied to a drop off in production and effectiveness from future Hall of Fame quarterback Drew Brees.

• Drew Brees, Weeks 1-11: 76.4% completion, 8.8 yards per attempt, 29 touchdowns, 2 interceptions, 127.3 QB Rating
• Drew Brees, Weeks 12-16: 69.2% completion, 6.4 yards per attempt, 3 touchdowns, 3 interceptions, 84.7 QB Rating

As always with quarterbacks stats there are several factors to consider. The Saints have lacked a solid number two receiver, but have recently gotten back deep threat Ted Ginn Jr. They’ll not only use him as a deep threat, but will also work him as an intermediate target in vertical stretching three-man route combinations.

That could be trouble for an Eagles’ defense that allowed 8 explosive passing plays against the Saints. Not all is the same for them either though, as their struggles with injuries in the defensive backfield are well documented.

To help paint a better picture of what’s going on with the Saints, I spoke with two analysts I trust. The first is my usual host on The QB Scho Show, Mark Schofield. The next was Seth Galina, who knows the Saints’ offense inside and out.

You can listen to their thoughts on the matter by lending your ears to The QB Scho Show #10! You can listen to it on the media player below or by clicking here if the player doesn’t load. FLY EAGLES FLY!