What Happens When the Saints' Offense Scores First?

Scoring offensive touchdowns on opening drives has been a conundrum for the New Orleans Saints offense.

Scoring offensive touchdowns on opening drives has been a conundrum for the New Orleans Saints offense. After fourteen games, New Orleans finding the endzone has become is a perplexing statistic for a Sean Payton-led team.

Nov 14, 2021; Nashville, Tennessee, USA; New Orleans Saints head coach Sean Payton after a call by the officials during the second half against the Tennessee Titans at Nissan Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Christopher Hanewinckel-USA TODAY Sports

Yet, devoid of scoring touchdowns on opening possessions did not damage the Saints' chances for winning.

FiveThirtyEight's Josh Hermsmeyer offered these questions, "Does scoring first in the NFL makes you a good team? Or, do good teams score first?"

Here are three points from Hermsmeyer that relate to New Orleans?

1. Does scoring first give the team an advantage with over three quarters remaining in the contests?
2. Does scoring 3 points vs. 7 points help or hurt the Saints?
3. Does New Orleans have a "good offense?"

Dec 19, 2021; Tampa, Florida, USA; New Orleans Saints kicker Brett Maher (19) lines up to attempt a field goal in the second half against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers at Raymond James Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Nathan Ray Seebeck-USA TODAY Sports

About the Saints' Offense

• No offensive touchdowns on the first possession.
• 12 points on drives where New Orleans scored first.
• PFF for Week 16: Since Week 11, the Saints offense ranks 27th in EPA per play and 27th in successful play rate.
• Teams that scored first have won 63.2 percent of the time.
• New Orleans has scored first in four games and won 100% of those contests.
• The Saints are 3-7 in games they don't score first.

Top 10 NFL Teams in Scoring First in the NFL through Week 15; Credit: FiveThirtyEight.com, Josh Hermsmeyer

For Josh, scoring first doesn't correlate to if a team has a great offense, but it still increases a team's probability of winning in the NFL. 

Read More Saints News

• Saints Fans Encouraged to 'BLACKOUT' Caesars Superdome on MNF
• Saints Have Four Players Headed to the 2022 Pro Bowl
• Saints-Dolphins Series History
• Saints TE Trautman Added to Reserve-Covid List
• Saints TE Juwan Johson Sidelined, Placed on Reserve/Covid-19 List
• Cam Jordan Named NFC Defensive Player of the Week in Week 15
• Saints Blitzed, Sacked, and Blanked Tom Brady and Buccaneers, 9-0
• Saints Are Tom Brady, Bucs Kryptonite, Again
• Saints-Bucs Halftime Report
• Cam Jordan 'Stacks' 100 Sacks in His Career