You may have heard that the New Orleans Saints have now gone 45 straight games without allowing a 100-yard rusher. That’s very impressive: it includes 40 straight regular season games since Samaje Perine of Washington rushed 23 times for 117 yards in an overtime loss when Kirk Cousins was still the team’s quarterback; it also includes 5 straight playoff games (including three losses, naturally).

The defense with the longest streak without allowing a 100-yard rusher, since at least 1950, appears to be the Cleveland Browns. On opening day of the 1951 season, Verl Lillywhite of the 49ers rushed 17 times for 145 yards, including runs of 20, 28, and 33 yards. But from 1951 to 1955 — a span of 60 games during the 12-game era — no other player rushed for more than 83 yards against the mighty Browns. No player rushed for 100 yards in any of the Browns five playoff games during that era, too, although Doak Walker came very close. During Cleveland’s streak of 59 straight games without allowing a 100-yard rusher, the other 11 teams allowed 109 different 100-yard rushing games.

A few years ago, I looked at longest streaks without allowing a 100-yard rusher. At the time, I didn’t have individual player rushing data from the ’50s, so the longest streak was 53 straight games by the early ’90s Eagles. If the Saints go the full season without allowing a 100-yard rusher, that would bring them to 54 straight games, breaking the modern era record.

The table below shows all regular season streaks since 1950 of at least 33 games, along with the individual rusher who broke the mark.

As always, please leave your thoughts in the comments.