FireVenturi

saints 38-colts 31

lumm0x

I personally don't predict this will be the shootout everyone else sees it may be. I see a 24-17 game. I think we'll start slow, look a little ineffective early, but our D comes up with some big drive stops and we get out of the 1st quarter with a 7-3 lead. Make that 17-10 for us at the half and we play back and forth ball for the rest to steal a win. I think the Colts will appear complacent celebrating in their home opener and simply get out planned by a team hungry to prove something. I really think our defense will be the difference maker in this game. I have a hunch things are coming together for the unit.

teter

my gut tells me...

saints 27
colts 20

my bruddy has been livin' in indy for enough years that the smack talkin' is gettin' pretty ramped-up...

he is my little bruddy thou. his b-day is game day. i went ahead and got him a very nice manning jersey for his birthday. wasn't thinking thou. i should have got him the blue cuz tears wouldn't show up so bad on it.

side note for the ponies game... may have been seen here already but i'll share anyway...

from nola.com
Starship Saints

NarwhalHunter

Smitty, you sure you're watching the same QBs I am? Manning has proven time and again he is a choke artist; just watch the way the Patriots have manhandled him 4 out of the last 5 playoff games they played them (the last one he only squeaked out of because the Pats D finally ran out of gas). He doesn't rise to the occasion in big games and he gets rattled pretty easily. Brees has defied expectations at every turn and has made the entire team better because of him. I don't think I've ever seen him get flustered. Manning might be able to read coverages better but I'd put my money on Brees being the better leader any day of the week.

Our offense has the ability to totally persecute their defense from the starting gun, and our D has gotten better daily. Once the secondary gels there won't be any stopping them. The way to beat Manning is to blitz him and get him doing some Happy Feet dance moves. The Steelers and Pats exploited this and blew them up doing so. The Bears didn't, and that's a huge reason they lost in the Superbowl. Forget complicated coverage schemes, Manning can eat those up all day. Just let Smith and Grant pin their ears back and smack him in the nose a couple times and you'll start seeing him lose his cool and the passes wobbling out. I think it won't be as high scoring as some do, I count on the Saints playing good old smashmouth football, with lots of Deuce and Thomas up the gut to control the clock and wear out an already ragged defense. 24-10 Saints, but not nearly as close as the score makes it seem.

LongTimeFan

Brees IMO doesn't "lose his cool or gets rattled" when playing against better defenses, it was our defensive line that broke down last season going against better defenses...Bears, Ravens.
Brees had more yardage last season compared to Manning.
The Colts defense were ranked dead last against the run last year and I see no reason to believe they'll be improved in that area, the Saints will run the ball down the Colts throats keeping Manning off of the field some...

ssmitty

hey, it's all good.......................................
that's what makes discussions interesting.............
i see things one way, others see em different......
throw stats out the window and let's look at what we really see.
i'm on my knees praying we flat out kill em in every way......
but i don't see this as the atlanta opening a yr ago....
please saints.........prove me wrong...........
this is a game of coaching........
and the colts took the superbowl with that coaching and the
qb, manning, stepping up, to prove they were capable....
i think we all can agree that the saints need to prove themselves
capable, can't we? that last yr was'nt a fluke?
that we can rise above the rest and prove we deserve it?
this is the starting point and all i'm asking is they prove it.........smitty

spkb25

yeah not to sure what you were seeing there with brees smitty. this is a tough game. their offense is as good as always. we will have a tough time stopping them. a very tough time. their d should be worse this year. i think we can run on them and pass on them. i think we can eat up the time of possesion. we have a good shot at beating them. they are home though and it is opening night. that does help them. this game could go either way but we for sure have a good shot.

saintsrule

I like hearing about the Saints running the ball against the Colts. I hope the try to run it, and succeed. I hope the Colts also forget about Karney, the way the Cowboys did last year, in another primetime game.

Euphoria

Colts Offense VS our D = 38 points
Saints O vs Colts Def. = 35 points.

Saintster

It's all about putting together long sustaining drives together. we need to dominate TOP. I think the most important thing is to not have any turnovers at all. I think the defense will bring some heat early but manning is hard to rattle so it will be interesting if Uhgo can fill Tarik Glenns shoes.