Tag: opening drive

WATCH: Saints score their first opening-drive TD of 2023 season

The Saints scored their first opening-drive TD of the 2023 season in Week 17 against the Buccaneers. Better late than never:

The New Orleans Saints and Tampa Bay Buccaneers went face-to-face in their Week 17 matchup and the Saints had an uncharacteristic start. For the first time this season, Derek Carr and Taysom Hill led the Saints down the field for their first opening-drive touchdown of the season.

Of the Saints’ first 14 opening possessions, nine ended with punts, three ended with missed field goals, and one each ended with a successful field goal and an interception.

It was a team effort. The drive included Hill finding Juwan Johnson on a pass as well as Hill catching a pass himself. Alvin Kamara found some success on the ground as well. It was capped with Carr finding Johnson for a 4-yard touchdown pass, giving the Saints an early 7-0 lead after Blake Grupe banged the extra point attempt.

But as luck would have it, the best start of the season also came with bad news. Johnson hurt his shoulder on the touchdown catch and was announced as questionable to return, but he was able to get back in the game and helped out in a big way — he bailed the Saints out of the shadow of their own goalpost with a huge 32-yard reception.

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Saints’ opening drive touchdowns drought extends to 13 games

The Saints’ opening drive touchdowns drought extended to 13 games against the Panthers:

This isn’t how you play a winning brand of football. The New Orleans Saints ended their opening drive against the Carolina Panthers with a missed field goal from the 29-yard line — alone, that’s a bad thing (especially for rookie kicker Blake Grupe, who is now the only specialist in the NFL with multiple misses inside 30 yards), but in the big picture it’s part of a concerning trend.

It meant the Saints offense extended its opening-drive touchdowns drought to 13 consecutive games. Like every team, the Saints scrip their first 12 to 15 plays each week to test the opponent’s vulnerabilities and gauge how the defense will react to what they’re being shown. These are often your staple plays that can reliably pick up yards and, hopefully, put points on the scoreboard.

But the Saints haven’t scored a single touchdown during their opening drives with Derek Carr at quarterback. Look at the results through 13 games, as noted by ESPN’s Katherine Terrell:

  • Week 1: Successful field goal
  • Week 2: Punt
  • Week 3: Punt
  • Week 4: Missed field goal
  • Week 5: Punt
  • Week 6: Missed field goal
  • Week 7: Missed field goal
  • Week 8: Punt
  • Week 9: Punt
  • Week 10: Punt
  • Week 12: Punt
  • Week 13: Interception
  • Week 14: Missed field goal

That’s discouraging. It’s downright dispiriting that this same play caller, Pete Carmichael, organized touchdown-scoring drives on his first possession in three of the last four games last year with Andy Dalton at quarterback. The receiving corps and offensive line are near-identical to what the Saints finished the season with. So why are they regressing? Carr has a lot of work to do to prove the critics who said the Saints were making a lateral move wrong.

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Opening drives: Tracking the Detroit Lions offense and defense in 1st drives in 2022

Breaking down the opening drives for both the Lions offense and defense in each of the first 15 games of the 2022 season.

Getting off to a strong start is something every football coach from the beginning of the sport has preached. Detroit’s Dan Campbell is no exception.

But how are his Lions faring at the start of games?

Poring over the data and game notes, I went back and looked at the opening drive for both the Lions offense and defense in each of the first 15 games of the 2022 season.

Thus far, the Lions defense has been better than the offense to open games. The offense has scored on six opening drives this year. Detroit’ defense has allowed points on just four opposing opening drives.

Here’s how those units got to those figures with two games left on the schedule.