Two games left, and the Saints have already allowed more touchdown passes than any team in the last 50 years. When Blake Bortles throws his first touchdown on Sunday, it will be No. 40 against that secondary. Yards and scoring are up all over, so it’s fare to wonder how some of these leaky defenses will finish on the all-time list of futility.
But upon further review, they’re not as historically bad as I suspected.
Since the NFL moved to a 16-game season in 1978, 72 teams have allowed at least 27 points per game. (And I’m setting aside the two strike-shortened seasons for this one). Prior to looking up the numbers, I expected maybe six of the 20 worst defenses to be from the 2015 season.
But that isn’t the case. Instead, there are only two in the top 70.
The Saints are allowing plenty of points, but they’re not in contention to finish anywhere close to the 1981 Baltimore Colts or 2008 Detroit Lions. Maybe they finish up in the No. 3 spot, but no higher.
The next offering from 2015 are the Browns, and they’re sitting behind 44 other defenses right now, at 27.6 points per game.
Jacksonville, at 27.1 points, is the only other team over 27 points per game.
What we have, it seems, isn’t a scoring explosion, but more accurately a shift to more of the stats being generated on pass plays.
Those two worst defenses both allowed 30-plus rushing touchdowns, and that’s something I don’t believe we’ll see again.
MOST POINTS ALLOWED, 16-GAME SEASON | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|
Year | Team | Points | TDR | TDP |
1981 | Baltimore Colts | 33.3 | 30 | 37 |
2008 | Detroit Lions | 32.3 | 31 | 25 |
2009 | Detroit Lions | 30.9 | 18 | 35 |
2011 | Tampa Bay Buccaneers | 30.9 | 26 | 30 |
2015 | New Orleans Saints | 30.9 | 12 | 39 |
1980 | New Orleans Saints | 30.4 | 28 | 31 |
2001 | Indianapolis Colts | 30.4 | 20 | 30 |
1984 | Minnesota Vikings | 30.3 | 20 | 35 |
2013 | Minnesota Vikings | 30.0 | 14 | 37 |
2013 | Washington Redskins | 29.9 | 11 | 29 |
2013 | Chicago Bears | 29.9 | 22 | 25 |
1986 | Tampa Bay Buccaneers | 29.6 | 31 | 23 |
2000 | St. Louis Rams | 29.4 | 18 | 32 |
2010 | Denver Broncos | 29.4 | 26 | 26 |
2008 | St. Louis Rams | 29.1 | 26 | 20 |
1990 | Cleveland Browns | 28.9 | 21 | 32 |
1983 | San Diego Chargers | 28.9 | 26 | 28 |
1996 | Atlanta Falcons | 28.8 | 18 | 26 |
1999 | Cincinnati Bengals | 28.8 | 22 | 28 |
1983 | Houston Oilers | 28.8 | 23 | 26 |
2002 | Cincinnati Bengals | 28.5 | 16 | 30 |
1996 | New York Jets | 28.4 | 19 | 33 |
1984 | Buffalo Bills | 28.4 | 19 | 32 |
2012 | New Orleans Saints | 28.4 | 18 | 31 |
1999 | San Francisco 49ers | 28.3 | 11 | 36 |
2013 | Oakland Raiders | 28.3 | 15 | 33 |
1985 | Atlanta Falcons | 28.3 | 24 | 32 |
2014 | Oakland Raiders | 28.3 | 17 | 29 |
2003 | Arizona Cardinals | 28.3 | 17 | 29 |
2004 | San Francisco 49ers | 28.3 | 22 | 27 |
1998 | Cincinnati Bengals | 28.3 | 23 | 23 |
2002 | Detroit Lions | 28.2 | 19 | 27 |
2011 | Minnesota Vikings | 28.1 | 10 | 34 |
2013 | Jacksonville Jaguars | 28.1 | 20 | 29 |
2008 | Denver Broncos | 28.0 | 26 | 20 |
1985 | Tampa Bay Buccaneers | 28.0 | 28 | 18 |
1990 | New England Patriots | 27.9 | 29 | 21 |
2012 | Philadelphia Eagles | 27.8 | 11 | 33 |
2007 | Detroit Lions | 27.8 | 19 | 32 |
1998 | Indianapolis Colts | 27.8 | 20 | 27 |
2012 | Jacksonville Jaguars | 27.8 | 19 | 21 |
2013 | Atlanta Falcons | 27.7 | 14 | 31 |
2012 | Oakland Raiders | 27.7 | 18 | 28 |
2000 | Arizona Cardinals | 27.7 | 29 | 19 |
2015 | Cleveland Browns | 27.6 | 11 | 29 |
2014 | Chicago Bears | 27.6 | 12 | 34 |
2002 | Minnesota Vikings | 27.6 | 15 | 33 |
2004 | Oakland Raiders | 27.6 | 21 | 30 |
2003 | San Diego Chargers | 27.6 | 12 | 36 |
1996 | Baltimore Ravens | 27.6 | 18 | 27 |
2000 | San Diego Chargers | 27.5 | 10 | 33 |
2008 | Kansas City Chiefs | 27.5 | 25 | 21 |
2004 | Tennessee Titans | 27.4 | 18 | 29 |
1983 | Green Bay Packers | 27.4 | 28 | 20 |
2014 | Washington Redskins | 27.4 | 11 | 35 |
2014 | Tennessee Titans | 27.4 | 17 | 28 |
2007 | St. Louis Rams | 27.4 | 17 | 25 |
2007 | Miami Dolphins | 27.3 | 18 | 28 |
2012 | Detroit Lions | 27.3 | 13 | 26 |
1985 | Cincinnati Bengals | 27.3 | 23 | 26 |
1984 | Houston Oilers | 27.3 | 27 | 23 |
1989 | Atlanta Falcons | 27.3 | 26 | 19 |
1999 | Cleveland Browns | 27.3 | 29 | 17 |
2010 | Dallas Cowboys | 27.3 | 11 | 33 |
2009 | St. Louis Rams | 27.3 | 24 | 22 |
2004 | Kansas City Chiefs | 27.2 | 18 | 32 |
1985 | San Diego Chargers | 27.2 | 25 | 28 |
1991 | Cincinnati Bengals | 27.2 | 20 | 26 |
2012 | Buffalo Bills | 27.2 | 23 | 25 |
2015 | Jacksonville Jaguars | 27.1 | 12 | 25 |
1999 | New Orleans Saints | 27.1 | 15 | 34 |
2011 | Buffalo Bills | 27.1 | 19 | 30 |
2010 | Arizona Cardinals | 27.1 | 19 | 22 |
2011 | Oakland Raiders | 27.1 | 15 | 31 |
2013 | Dallas Cowboys | 27.0 | 17 | 33 |
—Ian Allan