Enemy o f my Enemy, Pt 2

Yesterday, we looked at how the Colts and Saints offenses fared against common opponents.  Today we will examine how the defenses played against the Jets, Dolphins, Cardinals, Patriots and Rams.

Jets:

Dolphins:

Cardinals:

Rams:

Patriots:

Observations:

• The Saints defense THRIVES off of turnovers.  They forced 13 in these five games to the Colts’ 8.  They also scored 6 TDs combined between the defense and the special teams.
• The Saints played Henne with the Dolphins; Indy faced Pennington.
• The Colts allowed more rushing yards in three of the five matchups.
• It’s hard to judge the overall difference in pass defense.  The Saints fared better in three of five games, but whereas the Saints held down Brady and Sanchez, they struggled against Marc Bulger.
• Indy allowed fewer points in three of five games.

Conclusion:

It’s tough to reach too many conclusions here.  The Colts did allow fewer points in several games, but the Saints forced far more turnovers and allowed fewer yards.  Other than Marc Bulger, none of the common quarterbacks had good games against the Saints.  What this really shows is how important it is for the Colts to protect the football in the Super Bowl.  If the Saints don’t force turnovers and get non-offensive touchdowns, the Colts should be able to dictate action and win the game.  The Saints offense has to be relishing the chance to go up against the Colts run defense, but then again, that’s been tried by other teams with little success.