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Which quarterbacks have thrown for the most yards against the New Orleans Saints?
The New Orleans Saints have earned a long list of enemies over the years — or at least heated rivalries. Some of the best quarterbacks to ever spin a football have lined up against the Saints dozens of times in the team’s long history, but who stands out from the pack? If you were building a roster out of the greatest talents to ever play against New Orleans, not for them, who would you pick?
This week, we’ll be taking a trip down memory lane to highlight some of the Saints’ toughest opponents over years: all-time leading passers, rushers, and defenders who gave the black and gold more trouble than anyone else. But for now, we’re going to focus on the quarterbacks who threw for the most yards against the New Orleans. These are the Saints’ top rival passers:
Honorable mention: Jameis Winston (2015-Present): 2,405 yards
Before he came to New Orleans and established himself as a fan favorite, Winston was quarterback for the division-rival Tampa Bay Buccaneers. He’s appeared in 10 games against the Saints in his 10-year career (though four of those seasons were spent with New Orleans, not against them). Now a member of the New York Giants, Winston needs another 156 passing yards to reach the top-10. But for now he’s just outside that number.
10. Chris Miller (1988-1995): 2,560 yards
Miller started 66 of the 69 games he played with the Atlanta Falcons, second-most among Falcons quarterbacks when he left the team, and he also saw the Saints four more times after continuing his career with the St. Louis Rams — though he only one once between 1994 and 1995. He was later surpassed in career starts with Atlanta by Chris Chandler and Michael Vick (67 each) as well as Matt Ryan (222), who broke the record Steve Bartkowski set. More on them in a bit.
9. Chris Chandler (1990-2002): 2,689 yards
Chandler played in more games against the Saints than any quarterback not named Joe Montana or Steve Young, though Matt Ryan would eventually leap ahead of them all. Now, the results maybe weren’t ideal from his teams’ perspective — Chandler went 7-11 against the Saints, throwing nearly as many interceptions (15) as touchdowns (18) while taking 51 sacks. But he did give the Falcons a credible baseline with two Pro Bowl nods, including a historic 13-1 season in 1998.
8. Matthew Stafford (2009-2024): 2,695 yards
Stafford is now 5-5 against the Saints in his career, but you have to wonder how many of those losses fall on his shoulders. He’s thrown twice as many touchdowns (20) as interceptions (10) in those 10 matchups. It feels telling that Stafford has beaten the Saints in each of the last two years, and that his last loss was only a 7-point margin he exited early due to an injury. When he’s been healthy and supported by a competent organization, he’s proven to be a very tough out.
7. Steve Bartkowski (1975-1984): 2,832 yards
Bartkowski spent a dozen years in the NFL, and he played against the Saints the entire time while quarterbacking for the Falcons and Rams. And he was a problem every week. His teams went 11-5 against New Orleans while Bartkowski threw for 26 touchdowns and just 16 interceptions, only being sacked 34 times. He was a worthy opponent every time he stepped on the field, and he set a lot of records that stood for generations in Atlanta.
6. Tom Brady (2001-2022): 2,941 yards
Let the record show that the Saints were beating up on Brady even before he came to the NFC South. While they played each other only 11 times, Brady gave away more fumbles (7), interceptions (12), and sacks (30) to New Orleans than any other team outside his old AFC East opponents, who saw him three times as often as the Saints did, and the Indianapolis Colts, who were led by his archrival Peyton Manning. The Saints made sure they wouldn’t just be a stepping-stone for Brady as he padded his resume to be named the greatest of all time.
5. Jim Everett (1986-1997): 3,200 yards
Everett was one of a couple of turncoats who played against the Saints, and for them; his career started with an 8-year run on the Rams, when he went 3-10 against them while throwing for a lot of yards but a lot of interceptions, too (22). He was otherwise fairly successful for the Rams, but Everett had the bad luck to play against the “Dome Patrol” defense at the height of their powers for much of his time there. He did get one last game in against New Orleans after three years as their starter, this time with the San Diego Chargers, and it ended up being the last win of his career.
4. Cam Newton (2011-2021): 3,242 yards
Now we’re on to the quarterbacks who didn’t just play the Saints often — they gave New Orleans trouble every time. Newton lived up to his billing as a first overall draft pick by throwing for 3,242 yards and running for another 521 yards against the Saints, scoring 21 touchdown passes and 7 touchdown runs. The Saints did pick him off fairly consistently (11 times in 16 games), but he lifted an often so-so Carolina Panthers roster to a 7-9 record along the way.
3. Steve Young (1986-1999): 3,669 yards
Before Matt Ryan came along, the only quarterback to play more games against the Saints than Steve Young was his predecessor Joe Montana. Young won 16 of his 20 starts against New Orleans, throwing for an eye-popping 29 touchdowns and just 6 interceptions. The Saints did sack him 58 times, more than any other team, but he somehow overcame that punishment to get back up and keep on trucking. Young was an underrated runner, too; he totaled 545 rushing yards against the Saints, more than every other opponent outside the Falcons (624 yards).
2. Joe Montana (1979-1994): 4,019 yards
Let’s get this out of the way: Montana was the best to ever do it. Before Tom Brady, before Patrick Mahomes, he set the standard for everyone else. Just look at his stats against the Saints and their vaunted “Dome Patrol” defense with its four Pro Bowl linebackers: Montana went 16-5 across 21 starts, throwing 33 touchdown passes against 14 interceptions. He was the perfect pilot for the airplane Bill Walsh designed, and he took even the best defenses the Saints could throw at him in stride. In the end, Montana kicked off his swan song with the Kansas City Chiefs by beating the Saints on the road in 1994.
1. Matt Ryan (2008-2021): 7,912 yards
Ryan wasn’t the most talented or successful quarterback to compete against the Saints, but he was certainly the most long-lived. And he played in an era that has helped passers enjoy longer careers with more assistance from the rulebook. But the fact is that Ryan threw for almost as many yards against the Saints as Steve Young and Joe Montana put together, which puts him at the top of this list. He also threw 47 touchdown passes against New Orleans, more than any other opponent. The Saints intercepted him 19 times and won 17 of their 27 matchups with Ryan, but he earned his place in the team history books as one of their greatest rivals. That they sacked him 68 times (with 23 of them coming from Cameron Jordan alone) says, if nothing else, he was able to take a big hit and get back up.
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