The New Orleans Saints defense is finally out of the cellar.
Sparked by a young, big-play secondary and led by Dennis Allen's aggressive, attacking scheme, the Saints made big strides against the pass, making life so difficult on opposing passers that New Orleans ranked seventh in the NFL in passer rating allowed, the team's highest finish in that important statistic since the 2009 Super Bowl run.
And led by Cameron Jordan's All-Pro season, the Saints put quarterbacks on their backs over and over again.
There are places the Saints can improve, though. For example, New Orleans took a step back against the run, dropping from 15th in the league in yards per carry allowed all the way to 28th.
New Orleans also struggled to get off the field on third down, finishing 27th in the NFL, a statistic that's awfully tough to square with their otherwise stellar performance against the pass.
SCORING
2013: 4th, 19.0 points per game
2014: 28th, 26.5 ppg
2015: 32nd, 29.8 ppg
2016: 31st, 28.4 ppg
2017: 10th, 20.4 ppg
TOTAL YARDS
2013: 4th, 305.7 yards per game
2014: 31st, 384.0 ypg
2015: 31st, 413.4 ypg
2016: 27th, 375.4 ypg
2017: 17th, 336.4 ypg
YARDS PER PLAY
2013: 10th, 5.19 yards per play
2014: 31st, 6.01 ypp
2015: 32nd, 6.64 ypp
2016: 30th, 5.96 ypp
2017: 22nd, 5.37 ypp
RUSHING YARDS
2013: 19th, 111.6 yards per game
2014: 29th, 132.8 ypg
2015: 31st, 129.4 ypg
2016: 14th, 101.6 ypg
2017: 16th, 111.7 ypg
YARDS PER CARRY
2013: 28th, 4.61 yards per carry
2014: 31st, 4.81 ypc
2015: 32nd, 4.92 ypc
2016: 15th, 4.11 ypc
2017: 28th, 4.4 ypc
RUSHING TOUCHDOWNS
2013: t-11th, 11
2014: t-28th, 17
2015: t-20th, 12
2016: t-28th, 19
2017: t-13th, 11
PASSING YARDS
2013: 2nd, 194.1 yards per game
2014: 25th, 251.2 ypg
2015: 31st, 284.0 ypg
2016: 32nd, 273.8 ypg
2017: 15th, 224.8 ypg
COMPLETION PERCENTAGE
2013: t-15th, 60.0 percent
2014: 15th, 62.5 percent
2015: 31st, 68.4 percent
2016: t-26th, 64.9 percent
2017: 9th, 59.4 percent
YARDS PER ATTEMPT
2013: 9th, 6.12 yards per attempt
2014: 27th, 7.36 ypa
2015: 32nd, 8.35 ypa
2016: 30th, 7.53 ypa
2017: 18th, 7.0 ypa
PASSING TOUCHDOWNS
2013: 6th, 20
2014: t-17th, 26
2015: 32nd, 45 (NFL record)
2016: t-20th, 27
2017: t-12th, 22
INTERCEPTIONS
2013: 22nd, 2.37 percent of attempts, 12 overall
2014: 23rd, 2.20 percent of attempts, 12 overall
2015: 27th, 1.65 percent of attempts, 9 overall
2016: 27th, 1.55 percent of attempts, 9 overall
2017: 3rd, 3.61 percent of attempts, 20 overall
QUARTERBACK RATING
2013: 14th, 83.6 rating
2014: 24th, 92.9 rating
2015: 32nd, 116.2 rating (NFL record)
2016: 29th, 98.1 rating
2017: 7th, 79.0 rating
SACKS
2013: 4th, 9.66 percent of attempts, 49 overall
2014: 23rd, 6.23 percent of attempts, 34 overall
2015: 27th, 5.70 percent of attempts, 31 overall
2016: 27th, 5.15 percent of attempts, 30 overall
2017: 8th, 7.58 percent of attempts, 42 overall
FIRST DOWNS
2013: 1st, 17.1 first downs per game
2014: 28th, 21.6 first downs per game
2015: 32nd, 23.8 first downs per game
2016: t-27th, 22.1 first downs per game
2017: 15th, 19.3 first downs per game
THIRD-DOWN CONVERSIONS
2013: 9th, 34.67 percent
2014: 31st, 46.05 percent
2015: 22nd, 40.34 percent
2016: 28th, 43.30 percent
2017: 27th, 41.04 percent
RED-ZONE PERCENTAGE
2013: 18th, 56.52 percent
2014: 30th, 62.75 percent
2015: 32nd, 67.69 percent
2016: 23rd, 57.14 percent
2017: 14th, 52.08 percent
TURNOVERS FORCED
2013: 29th, 19 (12 interceptions, 7 fumbles recovered)
2014: 28th, 17 (12 interceptions, 5 fumbles recovered)
2015: t-18th, 22 (9 interceptions, 13 fumbles recovered)
2016: t-17th, 21 (9 interceptions, 12 fumbles recovered)
2017: t-9th, 25 (20 interceptions, 5 fumbles recovered)