Re: Who wants to talk football?
 

Welcome to B&G! Glad to see opposition fans that swing by with some intelligent conversation towards the gameday.

Some great points already. Turnovers, penalties, preventing the big plays....most disciplined team wins.

As of late (prior to the Bucs game) the Saints had been playing sloppy ball and eeking out wins. I think a clean and crisp game versus Tampa was just the right medicine. Hopefully we can build on and continue that trend. Getting healthy on defense has been a struggle and it will be a supreme challenge for Gregg Williams to scheme against one of the best teams in the game.

I was hoping the Pats would knock off the Colts, not just so we would be the lone undefeated team, but because I now see that loss for them as a chip, a challenge that will make them tougher as the season progresses. We can expect 60 minutes of their best ball for sure.

May the best team win.

Re: Who wants to talk football?
 

Pass rush. On both sides. Whoever gets
to whoevers qb first, wins this game. Two
great qbs, that can take over a game, and
decide who wins, just by leadership.

Its going to be a barnburner either way, but
I just see this as brady vs. Brees, and belichek
vs. Payton. I can't wait!

Re: Who wants to talk football?
 

The offenses match up well. Brees vs Brady. Moss vs Colston. Pats o-line vs Saints o-line. I think the Saints and Patriots have weapons all over the field.

The real question to me is the defense. It is no secret that the Pats front seven is better than alot of teams in the league. I think they have the edge there, however if Greer, Sharper, Harper play, I think the edge in the secondary goes to the Saints.

You have two very confident headcoaches and aggressive defenses. The Saints do have the most takeaways in the league, but the Pats have allowed less points.

I am really excited about this one and hope it's going to be a good game, but to say that I'm not nervous would be B.S.

Re: Who wants to talk football?
 

Since you're here perusing the board, may I suggest you read a couple of the articles that have been threaded here for more info on our team. The one "Don't Sleep on the Saints Defense" was very insightful. As far as the way I see the game going, I think it will be a shootout. High scoring with turnovers and special teams play being the key factors in the outcome. I'll be there in the dome cheering our Saints on.

Re: Who wants to talk football?
 

If i take my homer glasses off, i can honestly say i think all of our troubles with injuries in the secondary are going to cost us the game...for one simple reason.

They run alot of 4-5 wide which is going to put our back ups in one on one coverage all night, dont like any matchups in that scenario. There is NO WAY MM and Cmac are going to step in and make an impact against brady and the WR corp of the pats. I pray im wrong and would love to eat crow with the fellow whodats..but Im not seeing it. Unless we have amazing pressure on the DEF Line all night they can pick up them third downs all night when spreading us out...JMO

Re: Who wants to talk football?
 

Welcome to the forum...

Being a realist, I honestly think it'll be either a blow-out win by the Pats or a squeeker to us...the blow-out comes at the hand of the Saints making early mistakes and the Pats capitalizing, and we all know the Pats always keep the pedal to the medal with a lead. However, if we don't make early mistakes, we win it something like 27-24. Your HC has great defensive schemes, and I see Brees and Payton having problems with it early. If it's close at half, the Saints win it.

Of course I want a win, but considering it's not a division game or even a conference game, this could be the least important game we have the rest of the way. I know, I know...every game is important...I'm not naive. A win Monday night puts us into the NFL elite column. But I've enjoyed staying under the radar, plus I've been following this team since the crib some 34 years ago, and I'm still a bit pessimistic...yes, even at 10-0. But I'm gonna keep enjoying this ride.

Good luck to your team and may both teams come out of the Dome injury-free. Geaux Saints!

Re: Who wants to talk football?
 

I think the Pats defense is under rated against the run. We won't be able
to line up and gash them for 4-5 yards. We'll have to spread it out and
run draws and screens.

Our best chance is to harrass Brady all night. Easier said than done. We
will also have to punish Welker, or he will light us up.

Can we accomplish the above? We will have to tune in Monday night to
find out, because nobody knows.

This win is the most important of the year for the Saints. That's because
losing streaks always start with the first loss.

Re: Who wants to talk football?
 

It will be a very good game unless the Pats play up to their full potential, which they haven't all year. Defensively I just can't see us keeping with with Welker and Moss... I expect each to have big games with 10+ catches a piece. Offensively, we're just as lethal and the Pats secondary is still pretty young. Bodden has been a great find this year but I think we can exploit their two other young corners. Besides Banta-Cain this year, they seem to have no significant pass rushers and I don't see us having a problem scoring points on their defense.

I've noticed that the Pats has been stalling in the second half of a majority of games lately which certainly plays to our favor. We've been able to score plenty of points after half time and if we don't turn the ball over, I can see us squeaking out a victory. With that said, if the Pats play two full halves of football, I see the victory going the other way. As many has already pointed out, turnovers obviously will determine how this game will turn out... which is always the case.

Re: Who wants to talk football?
 

Morning everyone.

I think this game will be a benchmark for both teams. As far as "joining the elites", I think being 10-0 indicates that the Saints are no fluke this year and are one of the few 2009 teams that can be deemed to be elite. As a Patriots fan, I do believe that this game finds NE in a very precarious situation. Are we an elite team this year - maybe yes, maybe no. The three losses were at the JETS in week 2, at Denver in week 5 and at Indy in week 10. All 3 opponents were undefeated at the time and all 3 were on the road - Does that scenario look familiar? Elite teams can win on the road and although their road record is only 1-3, their only win was in London against the Buccanneers (BTW, my wife and I were there and what an experience that was). I've never been to NO so I really don't know what the effect on opposing teams is from the crowd noise, and I'm sure the noise will be quite deafening on Monday night. I never discount "the 12th man" at any venue, especially indoors.

From the Patriots O, this is what should happen. The running game will be used but on a limited basis. If the Patriots OL gets the push on your DL, expect to see a lot of Maroney/Faulk. If that doesn't happen, expect your LBs to be very busy with the short passes to both Welker and Edelman (some of us call him mini-Wes). Your DBs and Safeties will have to be pre-occupied with Moss and Aiken/Watson/Baker/Stanback. I also wonder if any of your DBs can play Moss 1-on-1. If the Patriots OL can control the Saints DL, and can give Brady the time he usually gets in the pocket, watch out. The more Brady can play 5 wide, the better he likes it. Brady reacts very quickly to coverages and has successfully been able to find his 3rd/4th option when given the time.

My discussion of the Patriots D later.

Re: Who wants to talk football?
 

Brees and the Saints can easily match Brady in the passing game. Our receivers rarely drop passes and we've proven we can play pitch and catch last year.

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