SB Nation - Martin Gramatica

Why History Won't Have a Way of Repeating Itself with the 2009 Denver Broncos

TJ Johnson — Sat, 14 Nov 2009 18:30:31 -0000

More photos » by Chris Schneider - AP

about 1 month ago: Denver Broncos head coach Josh McDaniels signals a play during the first half in an NFL football game against the Pittsburgh Steelers Monday, Nov. 9, 2009, in Denver. (AP Photo/Chris Schneider)

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Note: This post is a joint collaboration between Douglas Lee and myself. You can't gather this much data in such a short amount of time by yourself. So hats off to the guy that not only brings us "Horse Tracks" everyday, but gave me the very idea for this post.

Now that the Broncos, Captain McDaniels, and First Mate Orton are sailing through some rough seas (a 2-game losing streak), you knew it was bound to happen.

Mutiny.

This shouldn't surprise you. Perhaps you should be more surprised it took so long, given the unexpected sinking of the 2008 season, in which the Broncos drowned themselves after holding a 3-game lead through 14 weeks.

The whispers are now circulating through all of Broncoland that something like this is going to happen again. The sirens of the 2008 Broncos season are still with us. Perhaps the current 2009 season is also destined to end with a shipwreck into a rocky coastline.

Even the landlubbers in the mainstream media, who had fallen all over themselves to praise the Broncos after a 6-0 start, are bringing up the idea of another late-season meltdown. Here is what Jason Cole had to say on Tuesday:

The Broncos and coach Josh McDaniels have been a great story this season, but I just don’t trust what I’m seeing. In particular, the limitations of the Broncos offense have been badly exposed the past two weeks against the Baltimore Ravens and Pittsburgh Steelers (Denver scored a combined 10 offensive points in those two losses). Quarterback Kyle Orton has done a nice job most of this season, but he’s simply too limited to beat good defensive teams when the Broncos can’t run. Denver also has four pretty tough games on its schedule (San Diego Chargers, New York Giants at home; at Indianapolis Colts,Philadelphia Eagles). That 6-0 start could quite easily become a 10-6 finish, if not worse."

And the boys over at RealScouts just this morning had this bucket of cold water:

A precipitous fall awaits the Broncos, who were the surprise of the early season, because teams have figured out Denver's soft spots. On offense, the passing game features a ball-control philosophy, and opponents have stacked the box, daring Kyle Orton to throw downfield. That's not his strength. Unless Denver can stretch things out a bit, the offense will struggle. The defense has also sprung leaks against no-huddle schemes. The schedule is not kind, either. The Broncos have road games against the Colts and Eagles and home games against the Chargers and Giants.

While it's true that Denver will lose another game or two, and furthermore, that Denver's schedule isn't exactly Ohio State's, the idea that the Broncos are going to finish worse than 10-6 is completely silly. There are several reasons for this. First, despite some perceived limitations, Kyle Orton's career winning percentage (66%) would suggest (not predict) that Orton will win 5 of the remaining 8 games. Second, this schedule still has Oakland and Kansas City (twice) on it. Third, the Chargers, Giants, and Eagles have been as erratic as a JaMarcus Russell seam pass. So who knows which version of those teams will show up. 10 wins appears achievable and 11 wins possible.

Yet there's an even deeper magic at work this year that should put your mind at ease. You might not even be aware of its obvious and awesome power.

This mammoth force is not Jay Cutler's ego. It is Points Differential.

As it turns out, the most important statistical measure of any team (aside from wins and losses, of course) is Points Differential. This applies to all team sports. Now, this isn't exactly a surprise. I can see you saying, "Sure, the team that scores the most points wins. Thanks for such deep insight. I think I'll go read another Orton vs. Cutler post." But before you do this, let me tell you that we are not talking about each individual game. We are talking about the size of the margin. It's not a number we ever hear/read from NFL Network or ESPN or any other mainstream media outlet, which is exactly why you should focus on it. Again, don't look at it as an individual game statistical, but as a running total. It's this running total that will serve our purpose.

Correlation Between Points Differential and Season Wins

In a previous post on punting statistics and winning percentage, we explained the concept of the correlation coefficient. It's a statistical method for understanding how one variable affects another in a linear fashion. Throw this definition in the trash now (no need for more stats people in the world, they are like lawyers) and focus on the idea of correlation. Just remember the scale runs from -1 to +1. As such, a negative number shows us a greater negative relationship between two variables. A positive number shows us a greater positive relationship. The greater the number as it approaches -1 or 1, the stronger the relationship between the two variables.

A quick example should suffice. Let's say you wanted to know if there was a relationship between the number of punches thrown between coaches in a typical Raiders practice and the number of times Al Davis smiles during the day. And after looking at the data you determined that the correlation between the two variables was .853. This would indicate a strong relationship between Al's happiness and his coaches engaging in Raiders Fight Club. While we wouldn't say the fighting actually caused him to be happy (correlation is not causation), we would be pretty safe in assuming that the more more Tom Cable thrashes Randy Hanson, the happier Al gets.

So now that you understand correlation, let's go back to the correlation between Season Wins and and Points Differential. For our data, we looked at all NFL seasons between 1999-2008, which is a very nice sample size. This is the result:

The correlation between Points Differential and Wins was 0.91

This is an extremely strong correlation. It seems that it's not just scoring more points that matters, but how many more points you score. Those that have the largest margins of victory win more often than those with smaller margins of victory.

A History Lesson

In 2008, we were conditioned as Broncos fans to focus on yards. We heard countless times that the Broncos were the 2nd-ranked offense in football, that Denver was just an average defense away from being a Super Bowl contender. Several factors clouded our view of 2008. First, the Broncos had the same won/lost record as the division champs (San Diego). Second, the season-deciding game happened to occur in the final week of the season. Third, Denver had a 3-game lead after 14 weeks. These factors all contributed to a very strong misconception among Broncos fans; we thought the 2008 Broncos were better than they actually were.

The 2008 Broncos scored only 370 points (16th-best out of 32 teams) despite having that "elite offense". They allowed a staggering 448 points, which placed them 30th in the league. This resulted in a points differential of minus-78; that is minus seventy-eight.

-78 is a significant number because when looking at the past 25 NFL seasons (1984-2008), a points differential of minus-78 means the 2008 Broncos were barely better than your average 5-win team. How's that, you ask? Since 1984, 62 different teams have managed to win exactly 5 games. The average points differential for those 62 teams was -84, which means the Broncos were a mere 6 points better than an average 5-win team from the past 25 years. Have a look for yourself:

You can see that during the last 25 years the teams at the top of the NFL food chain have shown an average Points Differential of +195. Further, their Points/Points Allowed Ratio was about 1.77. This means on average, the top teams scored 1.7 times more points than they allow. This is an important ratio and we will return to it shortly. It's also interesting to see that 8-8 teams averaged a point differential of +4 and had a Points/Points Allowed Ratio of 1.01. This makes sense, since they were .500 teams. Lastly, the teams battling for the overall #1 draft each year pick were averaging a Points Differential of -174 and their Points/Points Allowed Ratio was .59. In short, the worst teams in the NFL scored a little more than half of what they allowed.

The point in giving you this information is twofold. First, it's clear the 2008 Broncos were extremely lucky to be 8-8, with a gift win against the Chargers in Week 2 (Merci, Monsieur Hochuli). They were helped out by a missed field goal (our gratitude to Martin Gramatica) the next week versus New Orleans, and a dropped TD pass in Week 11 versus Atlanta (thank you, Roddy White). There were no games which went the other way in similar fashion; every Broncos loss was by at least a touchdown (four losses were by at least 20 points). So, take away those strokes of luck and the 2008 Broncos would have been a 5-11 team, or exactly what their points differential says they were.

The other reason for this chart is to show what the Points/Points Allowed Ratios are for each level of wins. We can use this ratio to then look at our 2009 Broncos in order to assess if they are heading for the 2009 post season or for Davy Jones' Locker.

So let's now take a look at every team in the NFL through week 9 with at least a 5-3 record:

A few things immediately jump out from this table. First, the Colts, Pats, and Saints really are the three best teams in football, with ratios suggesting they will each win 12 games. Second, Denver has a 4-1 record against the teams on this list. This certainly would indicate legitimacy. And third, Denver's own Points/Points Allowed Ratio (1.21) shows they belong with a least the second tier of elite teams in the NFL.

San Diego, in all fairness, isn't far behind Denver, with ratio of 1.15, so it's not as if the Broncos have a lot of room for error. However, their ratio is lower, and likely signal a 9- or 10-win season. Given that their schedule comprises games against Denver, Dallas, Philadelphia, and Cincinnati, one could easily see them ending up 9-7.

Of course, at the end of the day, it doesn't really matter what the Chargers do if Denver simply continues at its current Points/Points Allowed Ratio, because their current ratio corresponds to a 10- or 11-win season through all 16 games. Since they already have 6 wins (instead of the 5 wins their ratio would indicate they deserve through 8 games), an 11-win season is more likely.

Relax, Broncos Fans. There's no need to bring out your cutlass and force Kyle Orton to walk the plank. Everything is shipshape in the capable hands of seadogs McDaniels and Nolan. Brian Dawkins is in the crow's nest, and if he sees anything on the horizon, he's going to hold a team meeting so all the scurvy dogs fall into line.

This isn't 2008. This is 2009, and these Denver Broncos are for real. The correlation between Points Differential and Winning is simply too powerful to suggest anything other than a Division Title.

Go Broncos!!!

Forget Tebow, when does Sturgis come out?

Niko Houllis — Sun, 01 Nov 2009 10:00:14 -0000

Strugis would have Bucs fans forgetting all about Nugent, and Bryant (and Gramatica too).

View full size photo »

The answer of course is he is a sophomore, and will be available no earlier than 2011 draft.

Caleb is 14 out of 17 at the time of this writing, and just hammered home a 56 yard field goal for the Florida Gators. Its not all uncommon for a kicker to go high in the draft... just ask the school a little bit north of where Sturgis attends. Sebatian Janikoski was the Oakland Raiders 1st round pick in the 2000 NFL draft, and is still with the team, and probably will be for life. He was taken at #17, and though unlikely Sturgis would go that high, he does still have another year to go to beef up his already impressive resume.

Tampa Bay picked up a placekicker as early as the 3rd round; with the 80th pick in the 1999 draft, the Bucs selected Martin Gramatica who kicked them all the way to the Superbowl before erratic kicking ended the kickers career with Tampa Bay in 2004.

Tampa Bay likely will give current kicker Shane Andrus a chance this year; while he has virtually no official stats, he was impressive kicking in the preseason for the Indianapolis Colts when their famous kicker Adam Vinatieri required time off for injury.

Although there is a very good chance placekicker may not be on their list then, Tampa Bay could do worse than not consider the highly talented Strugis from Gainesville.

Colts working out Matt Stover, possible concerns over Adam Vinatieri's knee

BigBlueShoe — Tue, 13 Oct 2009 13:38:30 -0000

All kinds of speculation are swirling around the Colts complex at West 56th Street today concerning Adam Vinatieri. We saw Adam Shefter on the Monday Night Football pre-game show last night say the Colts are having Vinatieri's knee re-examined after Indy's 31-9 victory over the Tennessee Titans. I can't find any link to this story on ESPN.com, and Shefter's Twitter page seems to make no mention of this.

What does seem fairly certain is the Colts are bringing in veteran kicker Matt Stover for a workout today.

The Stover workout could possibly corroborate the concerns about Vinatieri, or it could be a "back-up" plan due to the fact that Shane Andrus, Indy's kicker during pre-season while Vinatieri healed up from off-season knee and hip surgery, signed with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers last week.

If Adam is significantly hurt, we should hear something about it pretty soon, likely in the form of Adam getting placed on IR and Stover getting signed. It is entirely possible that Stover could be signed and Adam would just be inactive until he heals up. The Colts did that in 2006, using Martin Gramatica as the kicker for several early season games.

The key here is the health of Vinatieri. Regardless of what some of you think, the Colts need him healthy if they want to push deep into the playoffs. However, if Adam cannot go, Stover is a very solid replacement. With Pat McAfee booming kickoffs, the place kicker's job is to make big, clutch, money field goals. Like Vinatieri, Stover has shown that ability.

Shayne Graham likely out for the preseason; Bengals look to sign kicker this week

Kirkendall — Sat, 22 Aug 2009 21:04:49 -0000

More photos » by Charles Krupa - AP

4 months ago: Cincinnati Bengals wide receiver Chad Ochocinco (85) kicks the extra point after a touchdown by teammate Chris Henry in the second quarter of their preseason NFL football game in Foxborough, Mass., Thursday Aug. 20, 2009. Holding is punter Kevin Huber. (AP Photo/Charles Krupa)

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Many people think that Chad Ochocinco Johnson's point after touchdown kick was simply a stunt. A ruse. A way to be featured on Hard Knocks. Others ripped into him because "why risk injury", they asked. First off, did you see the kick? Second of all, it wasn't like he's never kicked before; he says he kicked in high school. Thirdly, Johnson is a trained professional athlete. If we're getting worked up about him kicking a football... Finally, if preseason proved anything, Lewis learned something about his personnel. If worse comes to worse, he knows that in an emergency, Johnson can, at least, make an attempt without doing a Paul Janish (make an actual attempt; not just going through the motions to end the game).

If you're a football coach, don't you want to learn all that is learnable in the preseason? Stunt or not, Johnson can kick when we need a place kicker for a game.

However, don't expect Johnson to be a regular during the preseason, writes Joe Reedy. "Shayne Graham (groin) is probably out for the remainder of the preseason." Marvin Lewis told Reedy that the team will likely sign a place kicker this week.

As of an August 11th posting at Scout.com, Matt Stover, John Carney and Martin Gramatica are available. I wouldn't expect the Bengals to eat the $2.48 million salary cap hit with Shayne Graham being the franchise player this year, to sign and keep one of the more high-profile kickers who could ask for significant money.

15 Reasons Why the 2009 Saints Season has to be Better than 2008

Saintsational — Thu, 09 Apr 2009 11:00:11 -0000

Player	Pos.	Status	Date
DeMario Pressley	DT	Placed on Injured Reserve	July 27, 2008
Adrian Arrington	WR	Placed on Injured Reserve	August 29, 2008
Hollis Thomas	DT	Placed on Injured Reserve	September 9, 2008
Mark Simoneau	LB	Placed on Injured Reserve	September 12, 2008
Tracy Porter	CB	Placed on Injured Reserve	October 7, 2008
Martin Gramatica	K	Placed on Injured Reserve	October 8, 2008
Charles Grant	DE	Placed on Injured Reserve	November 3, 2008
Mike McKenzie	CB	Placed on Injured Reserve	November 10, 2008
Brian Young	DT	Placed on Injured Reserve	November 15, 2008
Aaron Stecker	RB	Placed on Injured Reserve	November 18, 2008
Mark Campbell	TE	Placed on Injured Reserve	November 19, 2008
Aaron Glenn	CB	Placed on Injured Reserve	November 27, 2008
Kevin Kaesviharn	S	Placed on Injured Reserve	December 4, 2008
Courtney Roby	WR	Placed on Injured Reserve	December 8, 2008
Reggie Bush	RB	Placed on Injured Reserve	December 17, 2008

I understand that some of these players aren't on the team anymore or weren't much of a help in 2008 but the point is that being forced to deal with this incredible amount of injury in one season makes it damn near impossible to have a sucessful year.

Saints Free Agency Signings Going Well?

Saintsational — Sat, 28 Feb 2009 20:59:21 -0000

The fellas over at the Times-Pic are keeping track of the Saints free agency moves to date and Mike Triplett seems to think so far, so good.

I definitely expect the Saints to re-sign backup quarterback Joey Harrington, assuming he doesn't get a significant opportunity elsewhere. Other than that, there aren't a lot of high-priority guys left to be re-signed.

Umm, hello! What about Josh Bullocks and Martin Gramatica!?!?! We need to get those two locked up toot sweet!

By the way, you can now keep up with the Saints free agency moves with our state-of-the-art free agency tracker in the right sidebar just below the regular poll. This comes courtesy of MtnExile. Thank you!!

Poll

If you had to keep one of them on the Saints, who would you choose?

Martin Gramatica

34 votes

Josh Bullocks

218 votes

Please don't make me choose

213 votes

465 votes | Poll has closed

Saints Free Agent Review - Special Teams

Saintsational — Mon, 09 Feb 2009 20:00:09 -0000

Special Teams

Player

Position

Years Exp.

FA Status

Comment

Garrett Hartley

ERFA

This kid is a lock to make the team next year. The Saints will get a cheap deal on Hartley because he's an exclusive rights free agent. This should be the end of the Saints kicking woes.

CSC says: Keep him!

Player

Position

Years Exp.

FA Status

Comment

Martin Gramatica

UFA

We've seen the last of Martin. Gramatica will be free to look for a new home come the start of the free agency period. He's certainly notwanted needed here. Good luck to him and all his endeavors. It's been real.

CSC says: See ya!

Player

Position

Years Exp.

FA Status

Comment

Courtney Roby

UFA

I'm actually a big fan of Pierre Thomas returning kickoffs but when Roby was signed and filled in for Thomas, I thought he did a pretty darn good job. In fact, I would have put good money on Courtney breaking one for a touchdown. He never did but he was still impressive last season. If it doesn't cost too much it's definitely worth keeping him around.

CSC says: Keep him!

Poll

Is Garrett Hartley really the future?

Absolutely

58 votes

Nah

3 votes

61 votes | Poll has closed

2008 Season Autopsy: Kickers

Saintsational — Mon, 02 Feb 2009 12:00:09 -0000

Wait...what? That's not Gramatica!? (Photo Source)

The Saints' search for a consistent kicker may be finally over after two long years. Though we all thought the same thing before last season, 2008 saw Payton carousel through not one, not two but three kicker/punter tandems. But it wasn't the punting game causing a stir so much as the failures of the Saints kickers. With out a reliable kicker for much of the season, field goals were never a sure thing. So did not having a dependable kicker really affect the Saints chances of making the playoffs in 2008? Did Payton finally find the right guy in time or was the damage already done? Let's take a look.

Despite drafting Taylor Mehlhaff in the sixth round of the 2007 draft, Martin Gramatica remained the Saints starting kicker as they headed into week one of the season. Gramatica was perfect in his time with the Saints last year but 2008 brought injury and inconsistency and he just wasn't dependable with games on the line and time running out. A quick glance at his stats reminds us all of the pain.

Field Goals	1-19	20-29	30-39	40-49	50+
M.Gramatica	0/ 0	0/ 0	3/ 3	2/ 5	1/ 2

Gramatica was fine in the few short range situations he faced but anything over 40 yards was a crapshoot. His missed field goal in Denver had Saints fans cursing him. Martin followed up that performance with a blocked field goal (probably not really his fault) and a missed go-ahead shot on Monday night against the Vikings. Injury or nerves, Payton just couldn't trust him.

Instead of being cut, Gramatica was mercifully placed on IR ending his 2008 campaign. Yes...he's still on the team. His punting counterpart Steve Weatherford was also released. In an attempt to salvage a wasted draft pick, Taylor Mehlhaff was brought in as a replacement. His time was brief however, and he couldn't seem to control his nerves.

Field Goals	1-19	20-29	30-39	40-49	50+
T.Mehlhaff	0/ 0	1/ 1	1/ 2	1/ 1	0/ 0

At first glance his stats don't appear too terrible but missing an extra point in London was the final straw for Payton. Mehlhaff packed his bags shortly thereafter. His buddy, punter Ben Graham, was also shown the door.

With two pairs of kicker/punter combo's already gone, Payton tried one more kicking duo: Garrett Hartley and Glenn Pakulak. There's no need to even discuss new kicker Garrett Hartley in this post I just feel obligated to mention him. Check out his numbers; the kid is perfect.

Field Goals	1-19	20-29	30-39	40-49	50+
G.Hartley	0/ 0	5/ 5	4/ 4	4/ 4	0/ 0

Hartley has only been a positive factor for the Saints in his short time on the squad and hopefully he doesn't continue this vicious cycle of inconsistent kickers as we head into next season.

There's a light at the end of this tunnel. (Photo Source)

Dr. Michael Baden's Post Mortem Report: The new kid is great so we know he's got nothing to do with the Saints failures. Mehlhaff didn't last long enough to even do any damage. But Gramatica's missed field goals late in the games against Denver and Minnesota really screwed the Saints. Those kicks could have single-handedly turned those L's to W's. Martin definitely makes the short list of possible causes of death for the 2008 Saints.

Poll

Do you think the Saints would have made the playoffs without Gramatica?

Yes

54 votes

No

14 votes

68 votes | Poll has closed

Most Forgettable Moments of the 2008 Saints Season

Saintsational — Fri, 23 Jan 2009 12:00:09 -0000

We've already discussed the most memorable moments of the past year so you know it's gotta be time to talk about the seasons not so memorable moments. With so many poor plays, stupid penalties and dumb turnovers to choose from, I had a difficult time narrowing it down. Below is my list of the more forgettable moments from the 2008 Saints season that alcohol just won't seem to erase from my memory. I'm sure you've got your own to add.

Short Yardage Suckage

Perhaps the most frustrating moments of the season came when the Saints only needed to pick up a single yard. Two of the following short yardage situations below came late in the game and could have completely changed the outcome of the games had they been converted. Allow yourself to take a walk down memory lane with these three less than memorable plays.

Third and 1 in Washington - The Saints are up by two points against the Redskins and have the ball. They need only to run out four and half minutes of clock to leave with a victory. Pierre Thomas gains no yards on a run off right tackle and have to give the Skins the ball back. Jason Campbell throws the game-winning touchdown on the very next play.
Third and 1 in Denver - Down by two with just over two minutes remaining and no timeouts for the Broncos, the Saints need just one yard for a first down to kill more clock and give them a shorter field goal try at the least. Pierre Thomas attempts the right side but gets stuffed for a loss of 1. The Saints are forced to kick a field but miss. The game is lost.
4th and 1 against Tampa Bay - On their first possession of the game the Saints get cute and run Devery Henderson around the right side. He has nowhere to go and losses three yards.

Another injury? Are you serious?

By the middle of the season it was becoming laughable the amount of injuies the Saints were dealing with. The IR list grew longer and longer as every day brought a new surprise and much roster shuffling was needed. In all honesty, the amount of injury the Saints were forced to endure this year might have destroyed other teams but the Saints finished 8-8; pretty respectable considering. Still, any team with a weak pass defense can't afford to lose it's two starting cornerbacks. The Saints had such a promising 2008 in front of them by the end of last summer. We should have known it would all fall to pieces.

Roman Harper's penalty against Chicago

It's week 15 and the Saints playoff hopes are still alive when they battle it out against their most recent rival - Chicago. With two seconds remaining in the game Sedrick Ellis stupidly sacked Kyle Orton, allowing the Bears to tie the game up with a field goal and force overtime. The Saints lost the coin toss but held the Bears to third and 7 on their 47-yard line. Devin Hester takes off and burns the Saints secondary on the play. Roman Harper makes contact and gets flagged for a 38-yard pass interference penalty and the Bears need nothing more than a quick field goal to win the game. The loss officially marked the end of the Saints 2008 playoff chances.

Kicking carousel

Martin Gramatica appeared to be the solution to the Saints kicking woes in 2007 after Olindo Mare turned out to be a bust but this season found Gramatica to be the problem - not the solution. He missed key field goals in Denver and against Minnesota that could very well have turned those Saints losses into wins. After putting Martin on IR (instead of cutting him) Payton went to Plan B: He brought back 2008 draft pick Taylor Mehlhaff. After a few games it was obvious Mehlhaff didn't have the nerves and was also sent packing, a valuable draft pick now wasted. But alas, there is a happy ending to this sad, sad story. The Saints finally hit the jackpot when they signed Garrett Hartley. He hasn't missed yet while wearing the black and gold. We can only hope Hartley doesn't start the cycle all over again in 2009.

Drew's pass falls short

While the Saints playoff hopes diminished earlier than we all would have liked, Drew Brees still gave Saints fans something to cheer for as he attempted to break Dan Marino's single-season passing record. So it especially sucked when fate stepped in to give Drew one more chance to break the record only to have the ball - and his attempt at the record - fall short. Following a game-winning field goal by the Panthers only one second remained in the Saints season and the clock would surely expire on the ensuing kickoff. But by some stroke of luck John Kasay's kick sailed out of bounds, giving Drew one last throw to win the game and/or gain the 15 yards he needed to break the record. The pass to the right - intended for Lance Moore - hit the turf on what seemed to be a miscommunication. Sadly, Marino's record still stands but watch out Dan...there's always next year.

Misery against Minnesota

This October 7th game had it all and though it was arguably the most exciting match-up of the season it was also the most heartbreaking and gutwrenching as well. A blocked Gramatica field goal that was returned for a touchdown started it all. Then Hochuli's officiating crew missed a Vikings pass interference call followed by a Viking facemask that led to a turnover. Even though Reggie did his best trying to keep the Saints in the game it just wasn't enough. With a little over two minutes left Gramatica missed a clutch go-ahead field goal. The Vikings finished it off by kicking the game winning field goal with 16 seconds left.

So what was your most forgettable moment of the 2008 season?

Poll

What was the most forgettable moment of the 2008 Saints season?

The short yardage situations

14 votes

The Minnesota game

20 votes

The injury bug

11 votes

Roman Harper's pass intergerence penalty

10 votes

Inconsistent kicking

11 votes

Drew missing the record

10 votes

76 votes | Poll has closed

Final Defensive and Special Team Stats for the 2008 Saints Season

Saintsational — Tue, 06 Jan 2009 12:00:07 -0000

As promised, here are the final defensive and special teams statistics for the 2008 season. As you would expect, these aren't as impressive as their offensive counterparts.

Rushing Defense

Left End

Left Tackle

Left Guard

Up the Middle

Right Guard

Right Tackle

Right End

Plays: 62

Plays: 58

Plays: 65

Plays: 87

Plays: 62

Plays: 51

Plays: 45

NFL Rank: 10

NFL Rank: 15

NFL Rank: 3

NFL Rank: 28

NFL Rank: 4

NFL Rank: 23

NFL Rank: 20

Avg Gain: 5.19

Avg Gain: 4.72

Avg Gain: 3.66

Avg Gain: 3.75

Avg Gain: 4.32

Avg Gain: 3.86

Avg Gain: 5.89

NFL Rank: 15

NFL Rank: 24

NFL Rank: 12

NFL Rank: 22

NFL Rank: 13

NFL Rank: 26

Passing Defense

Short Left	Short Middle	Short Right	Deep Left	Deep Middle	Deep Right


















Plays: 165	Plays: 82	Plays: 161	Plays: 55	Plays: 29	Plays: 35
NFL Rank: 7	NFL Rank: 27	NFL Rank: 23	NFL Rank: 1	NFL Rank: 9	NFL Rank: 20
Avg Gain: 5.80	Avg Gain: 7.09	Avg Gain: 5.87	Avg Gain: 8.00	Avg Gain: 18.10	Avg Gain: 8.03
NFL Rank: 13	NFL Rank: 24	NFL Rank: 25	NFL Rank: 7	NFL Rank: 31	NFL Rank: 2

Team Rankings

Team	Yds / Game	Yds / Play	Rush Yds / Game	Rush Yards / Play	Pass Yards / Game	Pass Yards / Play	Int. Rate	Sacks / Pass Att	First Downs / Game	Punt Return Avg	Kickoff Return Avg	3rd Down Pct	4th Down Pct	Red Zone Pct	Goal to Go%	Points / Game	Point Diff. / Game	Yard Diff. / Game
NO	339.5	5.44	117.8	4.24	221.7	6.74	2.85%	5.32%	18.7	10.7	24.0	39.81%	57.14%	48.33%	70.97%	24.6	4.4	71.2
Rank	23	22	17	19	23	21	14	22	18	25	23	19	19t	9	21	26	10	3

Individual Stats

Interceptions	No.	Yds	Avg	Long	TD
J.David	5	83	16.6	42	0
S.Fujita	2	19	9.5	17	0
K.Kaesviharn	2	13	6.5	13	0
U.Young	2	3	1.5	3	0
T.Porter	1	25	25.0	25	0
J.Bullocks	1	23	23.0	23	0
M.McKenzie	1	14	14.0	14	0
J.Vilma	1	8	8.0	8	0
Team	15	188	12.5	42	0
Opponents	18	270	15.0	95t	2

Punting	No	Yds	Avg	Net	TB	In	Lg	B
S.Weatherford	26	1094	42.1	34.2	3	5	61	0
G.Pakulak	24	1144	47.7	37.8	2	3	70	0
B.Graham	3	126	42.0	35.3	0	1	44	0
Team	53	2364	44.6	35.9	5	9	70	0
Opponents	66	2711	41.1	35.2	4	23	65	0

Punt Returns	Ret	FC	Yds	Avg	Long	TD
R.Bush	20	3	270	13.5	71t	3
L.Moore	6	13	40	6.7	11	0
S.Green	0	1	0	0	0	0
Team	26	17	310	11.9	71t	3
Opponents	34	7	363	10.7	42	0

Field Goals	1-19	20-29	30-39	40-49	50+
G.Hartley	0/ 0	5/ 5	4/ 4	4/ 4	0/ 0
M.Gramatica	0/ 0	0/ 0	3/ 3	2/ 5	1/ 2
T.Mehlhaff	0/ 0	1/ 1	1/ 2	1/ 1	0/ 0
Team	0/ 0	6/ 6	8/ 9	7/ 10	1/ 2
Opponents	0/ 0	13/ 13	15/ 16	5/ 7	1/ 3

Kickoff Returns	No.	Yds	Avg	Long	TD
P.Thomas	31	793	25.6	88	0
C.Roby	19	472	24.8	62	0
S.Green	4	133	33.3	60	0
T.Copper	2	35	17.5	18	0
A.Stecker	2	10	5.0	10	0
L.Moore	1	36	36.0	36	0
R.Meachem	1	9	9.0	9	0
B.Ortega	1	8	8.0	8	0
M.Campbell	1	0	0.0	0	0
M.Karney	0	0	0	0	0
Team	62	1496	24.1	88	0
Opponents	76	1827	24.0	83t	1

Defensive Player Statistics

Player	Tkl	Ast	Comb	Sack	Sk Yds	QH	Int	PD	FF	FR
J.Vilma	98	34	132	1	5	4	1	6	2	3
S.Shanle	60	27	87	2	12	3	0	5	1	0
R.Harper	73	7	80	0	0	1	0	9	1	0
S.Fujita	62	18	80	0	0	0	2	3	1	0
W.Smith	43	19	62	3	23	11	0	1	1	0
K.Kaesviharn	47	14	61	0	0	1	2	4	0	0
R.Gay	49	4	53	1	6	1	0	15	0	0
J.Bullocks	28	7	35	0	0	1	1	6	0	0
K.Clancy	26	8	34	2	8	4	0	3	0	1
C.Grant	27	6	33	3	20	9	0	2	0	0
U.Young	27	6	33	0	0	0	2	8	0	0
S.Ellis	20	10	30	4	16	8	0	4	0	0
B.McCray	25	4	29	6	35	13	0	0	1	0
T.Porter	23	2	25	1	8	1	1	5	0	0
J.David	21	2	23	0	0	0	5	10	0	1
M.McKenzie	21	1	22	0	0	0	1	3	0	0
B.Young	11	2	13	1	0	0	0	0	1	0
J.Charleston	9	1	10	3	25	3	0	0	0	0
A.Glenn	6	1	7	0	0	0	0	1	0	0
H.Thomas	6	1	7	0	0	0	0	1	0	0
J.Dunbar	4	3	7	0	0	0	0	2	0	0
J.Craft	2	4	6	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
L.Torrence	4	1	5	0	0	0	0	2	0	0
A.Lake	4	1	5	0	0	1	0	0	0	0
C.Reis	3	1	4	1	3	1	0	0	0	0
R.Ayodele	2	1	3	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
J.Savage	1	2	3	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
T.Evans	1	0	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
M.Mitchell	0	1	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Team Totals	703	188	891	28	161	62	15	90	8	5
Opponent Totals	724	172	896	13	92	55	18	107	10	7

**Tkl=Tackle Ast=Assist FF =Forced Fumble FR=Fumble Recovery BL=Blocked Kick**

Special Teams Defensive Stats

Player	Tkl	Ast	FF	FR	BL
U.Young	15	2	0	1	0
J.Dunbar	13	0	0	0	0
T.Evans	12	1	0	1	0
C.Reis	9	1	1	0	0
R.Harper	9	0	0	0	0
M.Mitchell	8	1	0	1	0
J.Charleston	6	2	0	0	0
B.Ortega	5	1	0	0	0
J.Bullocks	5	0	1	0	0
P.Thomas	4	1	0	0	0
L.Torrence	3	1	0	0	0
A.Stecker	3	0	0	0	0
K.Kaesviharn	2	1	0	0	0
J.Craft	2	1	0	0	0
C.Roby	2	0	0	0	0
S.Weatherford	2	0	0	0	0
S.Fujita	1	0	0	0	0
A.Glenn	1	0	0	0	0
J.Savage	1	0	0	0	0
D.Barnes	1	0	0	0	0
G.Hartley	1	0	0	0	0
G.Pakulak	1	0	0	0	0
T.Holt	0	1	0	0	0
Team Totals	106	13	2	3	0
Opponent Totals	85	12	1	2	1

**Tkl=Tackle Ast=Assist FF =Forced Fumble FR=Fumble Recovery BL=Blocked Kick**

Turnovers

Fumbles Lost: J.Shockey 2, R.Bush 2, S.Green 1, P.Thomas 1, O.Sobomehin 1, D.Brees 1 Total: 8

Opponent Fumble Recoveries: J.Vilma 3, J.David 1, U.Young 1, K.Clancy 1, T.Evans 1 Total: 7