Oh, when the Saints come marching in, they plan on being familiar with CenturyLink Field because they painted the Seattle Seahawks logo on their practice field. I’m not sure it will help them much.
Yeah, coach. It’s the logo on the field that makes CenturyLink Field such an intimidating place to play. If that represents the New Orleans Saints’ level of focus, then the Seahawks might just have yet another edge in this rematch among two of the NFC’s best.
Many of the factors — location, last result, team health, weather, season records, the Saints’ road record, the Seahawks’ home record — point to a Seahawks victory this Saturday. Although, it bears watching that Sean Payton is feeding his team Popeye’s again. That might do the trick. The Seahawks should dine out on some Ezell’s, just to make it even.
Painted logos, fried chicken, blown speakers … it seems like the Saints are pulling out all the stops. Are the Seahawks, benefactors of a week off from the rigors of NFL playoff football, similarly jacked up to advance? Maybe, just maybe, the football game will be determined more by football factors than paint, fried chicken and busted electronics.
On the road, again
The game really tilts in Seattle’s favor with the Saints having to stay on the road. Drew Brees, for all his talents, has had a hard time delivering wins on the road in 2013. All five of the Saints regular season losses occurred on the road, including their most lop-sided loss of the season, 7 – 34 to Seattle on December 2. The Saints then went on to stumble through their remaining four games with a 2 – 2 record, so it was more than a mild surprise that they were able to take down the Philadelphia Eagles on the road in the Wild Card round of the playoffs.
Saints be praised
The Saints, under the direction of Drew Brees and head coach Sean Payton, have long been lauded as an offensive juggernaut. They finished the regular season with the fourth-ranked offense, averaging 399.4 yards per game. However, Brees’ away statistics pale in comparison to his home passing statistics: 84.8 passer rating away vs. 126.3 at home.
Despite the win, Brees did toss two interceptions (with one touchdown) in the win over the Eagles last Saturday.
The Saints offensive prowess comes in the form of their second-ranked passing offense. In this regard, they are almost mirror opposites of the Seattle Seahawks. The Saints have the 25th-ranked rushing offense to complement their passing attack. The Seahawks deploy the NFL’s fourth-best rushing attack to bolster their 26th-ranked passing offense.
Think that’s only mildly interesting? Understand this, the Philadelphia Eagles boast a much more balanced offensive attack than Seattle does with the No. 1 rushing offense and the ninth-ranked passing offense. The Eagles’ second-ranked (overall) offense is better than the Seahawks’ offense across the board in all three categories. And the Saints just beat them. On the road. In the playoffs. And Brees didn’t even have that good of a game.
You’re so defensive
This isn’t the Saints defense of old. Or even of 2012. Notably, despite only finishing the 2013 season as the 19th-ranked rush defense, the Saints held Marshawn Lynch to 2.8 yards per carry and a fumble in their December match up. Look for the Saints to continue to focus their efforts on throttling the Seahawks run game — a feat they’ve pulled off — and taking their chances against the Seahawks’ 26th-ranked passing offense.
The Saints, under new defensive coordinator Rob Ryan, have bounced back from 2012’s worst defense to become the NFL’s fourth best defense in 2013. Seattle, of course, is the top-ranked defense.
For the Seahawks to win, they’ll have to come up big against Brees and his aerial weapons, namely tight end Jimmy Graham, who delivered another routinely monster year of 86 receptions for 1215 yards and 16 touchdowns. Graham had a relatively quiet day against the Eagles as Brees ably spread the ball around to his other reliable veteran targets, Darren Sproles, Lance Moore, Marques Colston and new speedy offensive threat, rookie wide receiver Kenny Stills.
That’s a lot of targets. And targets they will be — for Brees’ passes and for Seattle’s Legion of Boom. The Seahawks will need to continue to get physical with the Saints receivers — a trait for which they’re known.
In truth, the Seahawks throttled the Saints offense and held Brees to only 147 passing yards and a single touchdown in their last meeting. Graham was their leading receiver with 42 yards. They won the matchups by out-physicalling the Saints. When Sproles gets seven catches and only totals 32 yards, you know the Seahawks were swarming to the ball.
With the stakes even higher, do you expect anything less this time around?
And, to clarify, home cookin’ favors the Seahawks too. Ezell’s is better than Popeye’s.
Who’s hungry?
Julian Rogers is a freelance writer and communications consultant. Follow him on Twitter (@mrturophile), or connect with him on LinkedIn and Google+.
Add The Sports Daily to your Google News Feed!
