Is the Saints Offense really that Good? Some numbers...

A couple of notes on the vaunted Saints Offense. For context, I use points allowed as a ranking for defenses as using yards is idiotic. I'll take a defense that gives up stats over points any day. I generally looked at the opponents defensive rating, home vs. away and dome vs. outside.

POINT 1. They are on a roll. They have scored over 40 in each of their last 4 games. But...three of the four were at home and the lone road game was in a dome against the 31st ranked MIN defense. Of the other three games, the best defense was the 18th ranked Falcons. The game before this roll started was outside against the 8th ranked Titans defense and they scored 22.

POINT 2. They are better in the dome. In dome games they averaged 14 points more than the average points allowed by the defenses they were playing (ie. if the team usually allows 25, the Saints scored 39). In their 5 outdoor games they averaged 2 points above the average points allowed by the defenses they were playing. The Niners give up 14 points per game on average.

POINT 3. They aren't nearly as good away from home. The five lowest point totals for the year from the Saint's offense were away from home. They averaged 20-26 points per game with the best defense being the aforementioned Titans. The only game they scored over 40 away from home was against the 31st ranked Vikings.

SUMMARY: No real point other than to refute the notion that in order to win, the Niners will have to put the game on Alex Smith's shoulders to score 30 or 40. It's not about keeping up with the Saints. This game will rest on the shoulders of Justin and Aldon Smith. If they get pressure then we can win this game with maybe 25 points on the board.