Predictions for the Game!
 

Saint's 27 - Seahawk's 19

The defense allows only 1 TD and 4 FG's. Deuce, Boo and Stallworth score TD's for us.

Predictions for the Game!
 

Saints over Hawks, 14-10

Yep. I\'m picking this to be a surprisingly defensive game. Deuce runs one in and Conwell catches the other.

Hasselback hooks up with a receiver on a long ball early in the game. Our D-line out plays Seatle\'s O-line all game long. Alexander gets his yards, but our D tightens in the red zone.

And no, I haven\'t been drinking yet today.

.02

Predictions for the Game!
 

I wish I could say I was as optimistic as the first two posters here, but I just did not see enough cohesiveness with the SAINTS in the preseason to think they can steamroll the Hawks -- a team that already looks like it has played a couple of regular season games.

This is not to say that I hope I am terribly wrong.

I know that we have a boatload of tallent on both sides of the ball and we SHOULD be able to cruise through the first half of the season with a 6-2 / 5-3 record, but remember, we\'re the SAINTS and we lose the games we are supposed to win and win the ones we should lose. So its anybody\'s guess.

I\'ll just hope for the best and try to support our boys no matter what.

My prediction for Sunday is 24-21, hopefully the SAINTS have the 24.

Geaus SAINTS,

David in Houston

Predictions for the Game!
 

I see it going down like this: a few shifts but each team will stay in it and a turnover wins it for the Saints. 30-27

Predictions for the Game!
 

Realistically - Hawks, 31-23

Hopefully - Saints, 24-17

Predictions for the Game!
 

Saints 21 Seahawks 17
Saints DEFENSE will win this one for us! :P

Predictions for the Game!
 

In a perfect world:

The Saints go into the Superdome ready to kick ass and take names. They knock the Hawks down hard and often. So bad that the Hawks\' receivers start dropping balls at the sheer sight of a black jersey. Brian Young and Howard Green eat Shaun Alexander for lunch, Smith and Grant knock Hasselback on the ground on every passing play, and the LB\'s play like headhunters, always looking for the big hit.
In other words, the defense really needs to play intensely to keep the high octane Seattle offense in check.

On offense, the trio of Horn, McAllister, and Brooks destroys the Seattle defense. The O-line creates massive holes for Deuce to run through, and he easily scores at least 2 TD\'s. Brooks never misses a beat. His passes are sharp, accurate, and right into the receivers\' hands. The Saints use as many as 5 receivers to outmatch the Hawks\' DB\'s, and mismatches are easily created. Brooks shreds the secondary and makes quick decisive reads all day.

Final Score: N.O. 31 Sea. 0

........I must be losing my mind. I\'ve been around the optomists for WAY too long...... :P

Predictions for the Game!
 

That\'s what I\'m talking about Mighty D, if that\'s not optimism I don\'t know what is.

Predictions for the Game!
 

I swear, you optimists have brainwashed me.......... :casstet:

Predictions for the Game!
 

Look at my watch, how it moves left to right........I\'m going count to three........and you will fall asleep and when you wake up you will be another very optimistic Saint\'s fan...........are your eyes feeling heavy.

Predictions for the Game!
 

Must....Resist....must......fight......can\'t.....zzzzzzzzz.....

Brooks will be the best QB in the league........The Saints will go undefeated......Ashley Ambrose isn\'t that bad.........I love John Carney.......Venturi is a good coach.......what?...huh?

Oh man, I totally blacked out...hope I didn\'t say anything stupid...
...or incredibly optimistic...

Where\'s gatorman\'s pessimism when you need it?!

[Edited on 12/9/2004 by themightyduck]

Predictions for the Game!
 

Here\'s what I think will happen:

The running game goes well for both teams, with Deuce getting about 110 and a TD and Alexander a bit more and 2 TDs. Brooks is still rusty (having taken only 25 snaps all pre-season) and it shows in this game with a lot of badly thrown balls - nevertheless Brooks makes no serious mistakes and throws no interceptions. Hasselback lights up our secondary early and puts the Hawks out front, after which they grind it out on the ground. Our D does a passable job of slowing the run but cannot seem to stuff it so the \"hawks eat up a lot of clock and keep our O from making the comeback.

Seahawks 30 - Saints 17

For what I hope, see the \"perfect world\" by the Duck-man. I live for the day when I watch my Saints play that way on both sides of the ball.

Predictions for the Game!
 

I don\'t know what will happen, but in the end...

Hawks 28
Saints 27
:(

Predictions for the Game!
 

...and then you wake up from your dream for a minute and have a reality check. Our defense isn\'t going to dominate like that. It\'s unrealistic to ask them to do that. The four realistic things that can be asked for:

1) Limit the running game. 5 YPC isn\'t going to cut it.
2) No big plays. Keep the ball in front of you.
3) Hassle Hasslebeck. Don\'t let him get comfortable.
4) Get off the field. In every drive there is a play the defense is going to have to make especially if the three points above are working. A 3rd and 6 or something like that where you have to stuff the run or break up a pass, or get to the QB. The Saints defense needs to recognize that critical juncture and make the play that needs to be made and get off the field.

OK now back to your dream...

Now that\'\'s actually within the realm of possibility. Note the Atlanta game in Atlanta (which I attended) and the Giants games from last year were examples of that type of offensive production.

But again as you wake up permanently from your dream, that\'s really not necessary to win the game. With the offense it\'s all the little things that need to click. For example.

1) There have been times when Brooks has made the right read and made the right throw and the receiver has just plain dropped the ball. We cannot have that in this game. If the ball hits a receiver\'s hands, then it must be caught.

2) No turnovers. Brooks has proved he can keep from throwing the INT (232 passes without one is the current longest streak in the NFL). The offense just needs to not put the ball on the ground.

3) Decent playcalling. McCarthy has a tendency to be predictable. The Saints need a bread and butter play like Indy\'s stretch handoff from Manning to James, where the ball goes into Deuce\'s gut everytime you run it, but you don\'t know if he\'s going to keep it. That B&B play needs to be staistically neutral. It gets run on every down and distance, and 1/2 the time it\'s a run, and 1/2 the time it\'s a pass. It should be consistent throughout the game with no tendency, and its execution should be honed to a fine edge, just like Indy\'s play. We need to exploit that momen\'t indecision that the defense will have to have because there\'s no key to it. But McCarthy tends to run heavily on 1st and 2nd down and linebackers and safeties start to cheat up. We have all the edge talent in the world and should burn defenses every time. It\'s this offensive inconsistency that drives me mad, because from a talent perspective we should be the modern version of the Rams\' Greatest Show on Turf. We match up talentwise at every offensive skill position with the best teams in the league. Our offense should click so well that Brooks, Deuce, Horn/Stallworth, and Boo should all be Pro Bowlers.

Sorry. I guess I\'m frustrated because I got a chance to see Wiess (sp) from New England and Moore from Indy at work on Thursday. To come out and run 5 wide with no back for a whole series, when everyone in the world is expecting you to pound with Dillon is sheer genius. But I never see that in McCarthy and sometimes I feel that he\'s the one that\'s holding the potential of this offense down. With such talent and such potential run/pass balance there\'s no reason that our offense shouldn\'t be putting up 35 points a game.

Oh and one more thing for your dream: Beerman gets three TD\'s too: punt return, kickoff return, and one receiving!

so instead of...

It\'ll actually be N.O. 45 Sea. 10 :D

Realistacally though it\'s going to be a offensive show. I\'d bet the over, which is 45 at the moment.

Saints 31 Seattle 21

SFIAH