The Saints have never lost four straight to the Lions
Sean Payton was ready for the question on Wednesday because he was clearly curious about it, too.
The New Orleans Saints have lost to the Detroit Lions in each of the past three seasons, and Payton did a study evaluating why the Saints have struggled so much with the NFC North foe. Payton listed the reasons, combining stats from the three games:
Points: Detroit 87, Saints 63.
Third-down conversions: Detroit 46 percent, Saints 36 percent.
Rushing yards: Detroit 294, Saints 192.
Takeaways: Detroit 5, Saints 3.
QB hurries, hits, sacks: Detroit 42, Saints 27.
“Pick a category,” Payton said. “It hasn’t been good.”
Obviously, stats don’t tell the entire story as the Saints out-gained the Lions in two of the three games.
In 2014, the Saints led 23-10 before the Lions scored two touchdowns in the final 3:38 of the fourth quarter. The games were much less gut-wrenching in 2015 and 2016 as the Lions never trailed.
“I can remember each one of them, too,” Saints quarterback Drew Brees said. “I think last year was probably one of our more poor performances that we’ve ever had, certainly that I can remember. That’s not the type of team we are and certainly that’s a bad taste in our mouth right now.”
Last season’s 28-13 loss was embarrassing for several reasons. Brees threw three interceptions in the second half. The Saints opened the game with a three-and-out and then gained just one first down on each of their next three possessions, scoring with just one field goal. Meanwhile, the Lions scored a touchdown or field goal on seven of nine possessions in the game.
Although Detroit seems to have the Saints’ number in recent years, coach Jim Caldwell doesn’t see any commonalities between his team’s recent winning streak against New Orleans.
“Totally different team,” Caldwell said. “We have so many different guys on this team; last year doesn’t mean a whole lot.”
Wide receiver Golden Tate and safety Glover Quin are still with the Lions, though, and they’ve played key roles in the victories over the Saints. In the past three games, Tate had 24 catches for 344 yards and four touchdowns while Quin had an interception in two of the three games.
Quarterback Matthew Stafford has been excellent against the Saints in recent years, too, with a passer rating of better than 110 in each of the past two games, including a near-perfect 22 of 25 for 254 yards with three touchdowns and a 148.6 rating in 2015.
In the Saints’ 25-game history against the Lions, Detroit has never won four straight games. New Orleans had won four in a row before the Lions’ recent winning streak.
Looking at this year’s teams on a per-game basis, the Saints rank seventh in yards, 12th in points, 29th in yards allowed and 12th in points allowed. The Lions are 29th in yards, 10th in points, 18th in yards allowed and tied for 10th in points allowed. On paper, there’s no distinct advantage for either team.
New Orleans knows how important a win would be. After winning their past two games, the Saints have a chance to be better than.500 for the first time since 2013. Ending the losing streak to Detroit is important, but the Saints would also like to beat a team that’s 3-2 — with losses to winning teams by an average of 3.5 points — and coming off a playoff berth last year.
“We always have a lot to prove,” Brees said. “We certainly have a lot to prove right now being that I think that we’ve turned the corner this year. … This will be a great test for us because I think that the Lions are a very good football team.
“Certainly, I’d say they probably have some confidence coming in knowing that they’ve beat us the last three times, but we got to put together our best plan in order to beat them.”
