In 2013 there was a four-week stretch which in many ways determined the Saints fate for the season, and in 2014 we face a similar stretch. Weeks 8-11 see the Saints facing 4 playoff teams from last year, 3 of which the Saints have less than good feelings about. First up is the team that took all of the 2011 Saints thunder when they laid waste to the record books and Aaron Rodgers was given the MVP trophy over Drew Brees in what I could make an UNBIASED argument was a robbery…and wearing my fan hat..well I should stay PG so metaphorically speaking I threw a pillow at my TV. The following week the Saints are once again getting the scheduling shaft from Goodell as for the second year in a row they come off a primetime game against a major opponent to play a Thursday night division game against the Panthers. After what will probably be a fairly physical game against Carolina the Saints get the whiners in the dome who are probably still complaining about how Brooks’s clothesline was a legal play (that btw was the correct call not a ‘blow to the head’ which it technically was not). The fourth game in this little block of fun is against the up-and-down Cincinnati Bengals who have tremendous talent, but never seem to look the same on the road (here is hoping). Now that the intros are concluded let’s take a closer look at the teams as they currently stand.
Week 8: Green Bay Packers at Saints.
Even the most casual of fans should hear the Packers and think of two names which could be a serious pain in the you-know-what for the Saints; Aaron Rodgers, and Clay Mathews. The only thing keeping Clay from being arguably the most dominant defensive player in the league has been injuries and the lack of depth along the defensive front to give him more one-on-ones. Sadly those days are done. Enter Julius Peppers or as I call him ‘Clowney with production instead of hype’. Peppers has been an athletic freak from the day he entered the league and the give and take relationship that he and Clay should have up front is going to test every line they face this season. The Packers continued to shore up the defensive side of the ball by resigning underrated defensive back Sam Shields and then getting HaHa-Clinton Dix in the draft. Their biggest weakness has been their secondary, and in particular the safety position; Dix should give them a marked improvement in that area as he was considered by many to be the best safety in the draft (I liked Pryor more, but both were solid players). The improvements to the defense could potentially put Green Bay in the Title race this year because of what they already had on offense. They lost (at least as of the writing of this article) athletic pass catcher Jermichael Finley due to injury/being a free agent and James Jones to free agency, but with that said the Packers are always stacked at the receiver positions and they still have arguably two number one quality guys to help Rodgers put up his numbers. Cobb is a comparable player to Cooks in many ways and that is a complement to them both, and Jordy Nelson is proof that white guys can’t always jump…but they can sure as hell run and catch. Add to them surprise player Jarret Boykin and second round pick Davante Adams and Rodgers will have his usual array of pretty toys to play with. All of that would be enough to have Rob Ryan put in an extra coat of conditioner..just in case, but the player I could see the Saints really having problems with is Eddie Lacy. Lacy had a fantastic rookie season and he runs with the kind of ferocity that requires a team effort to contain, the Saints are at home and that may help, but if Green Bay is able to stay balanced Lacy could very well be the reason that the Saints don’t finish this season with a perfect home record.
The bottom line: The Saints are going to have their hands full with one of the most talented teams in the league and a team that has kind of had their number the last few times they have met. With that said the Packers have struggled with their offensive line since Rodgers got there and they didn’t do a whole lot to improve that. The same line that got him a busted collarbone last year could very well have a certain delightfully insane individual tweeting about bodybags again. With two potent offenses who have the ability to beat you both through the air and on the ground I could totally see this game turning into a shootout, but with both teams also building towards defense you can’t count out two of the best defensive minds in the league to pull out all the stops. Basically this game is too hard to call. The one thing that should be guaranteed is it will be a great game and the legits will spend the entire week leading up to the game serenading the great and all powerful force that is Aaron Rodgers…and when the Saints beat the breaks off the Packers it will be just because of the dome as always. (notice how I went from analysis to ‘Homer’ there at the end? Yea me neither its gonna happen guys #bookit)
Week 9: Saints at Panthers.
The Panthers are at home, they are the defending Division Champs, and they have one of the best young defensive cores in the league. I have now completed anything there is positive to say about this team. The Panthers are going to discover that the only thing worse than going ‘full Al Davis’ is going ‘anti-Al Davis’. The Panthers didn’t make a splash in Free-Agency…they just drowned. They lost literally everyone at the receiver position from last year who caught a pass, they lost their only good corner, their passable safety, and their starting left tackle. Cam Newton is a hit or miss QB on the best of days (usually much more miss than hit) and without the security of one of the leagues better lines he is going to see pressure like he has never dreamed. Losing Steve Smith cannot be underestimated form a leadership standpoint on this team either. Cam is known for his personal pity parties on the sidelines and Smith was the unquestioned heart and soul of this team..who is the leader now? The guy with the most moxi and on-field accomplishment on that team now may be recently acquired, and much maligned, strong safety Roman Harper…ever heard of him? The only question I have with that pickup is whether or not Drew dies laughing when he sees Graham matched up against Harper…or worse, Cooks. To be clear that isn’t a shot at Harper, he did his job and the Saints don’t win a SB without him, but he is not only past his prime but a complementary player who has never been a playmaker on his own. I won’t cover Kelvin Benjamin much more than to say he is big until I can see him in preseason. The guy is just too Raw to trust the fortunes of your entire offense to at this point unless proven otherwise.
The bottom line: provided that the Saints don’t have one of those ‘division games’ where the worse team plays beyond itself and pushes their superior opponent…we are looking at an old fashioned beat down. The Panther’s total lack of anything resembling a secondary and likely inability to move the ball will get them down big early…and then Rob Ryan is going to unleash the dogs of war on them!
Week 10: 49ers at Saints.
There might not be a team in the league who annoys me more than the Niners. Part of that I’m sure is the fact that I live in the Bay Area for part of the year and have to put up with their droves of bandwagon fans who I know for a fact weren’t there a couple of years ago when they sucked. Outside of their fans and the way that the media grovels over them and their five year-old of a coach like they’re the second coming of Tom Brady and The Hoodie, what really bothers me about the Niners is the way they seem to be able to fleece other teams. They got Anquan Boldin for a sixth round pick, and now they pulled off a trade for Stevie Johnson for a pair of 4th round picks in the future. The single biggest weakness that this team has had is a lack of receiver talent and the additions of Brandon Lloyd and Stevie Johnson to a core that already has Michael Crabtree and Vernon Davis means bad things for the rest of the league. The Niners have quietly built up their offensive talent to be on par with the rest of the league potentially; I stress the word potential because the Niners scheme really isn’t conducive to them being a throw the ball thirty times a game team. They will still stay true to who they are, a smash mouth football team, and the drafting of running back Carlos Hyde is further proof of this. (picture Frank Gore from four years ago and then try not to cringe) What they are most likely trying to do is give themselves options, the ability to play catch up and be explosive when they need to, and the type of receivers they have brought in fit their team well. All of these guys are much closer to possession receivers than the Desean Jackson type, but that fits what they need as they are all for the most part also good blockers. I couldn’t hate Jim Harbough and his pre-school antics anymore than I do, but you have to give their front office credit…they can build a team. The biggest question for the team this year will not be if the new pieces make Kaepernick elite, their scheme won’t allow for that, but whether or not Bowman returns as the player he was. Bowman and Willis are the entire keys to this defense especially considering all of their starting corners from last year are gone, and if he isn’t what he has been they are in trouble.
The bottom line: The five game stretch (including the lions if you will) that the Saints are facing here is going to be the defining ‘moment’ of our season I believe. Of these games the one where the Saints have the opportunity to make the biggest statement is this game. If the Saints can play defense against the Niners like they did in last year’s game (yes Niners fans the Saints EARNED that victory on defense, miscues kept in close) then they will have their best shot. There could be nothing better for the Saints prospects in this game then to jump out of the gate and get a big play to Stills, Cooks, or Graham early that opens up their defense. The longer the game remains a grind the worse it is for how the Saints would prefer for the game to go. With the team we have assembled there are no ‘unwinnable’ games on our schedule, however this game is damn near guaranteed to be one of the toughest games of the season.
Week 11: Cincinnati Bengals at Saints.
The Bengals are schizophrenic, no really they are, it’s the only possible explanation for this team. As Saints fans we are used to getting flack for not being as good on the road as we are at home, but that’s the difference from really really good team vs. all world beaters we are at home. The Bengals are the real failures on the road in the league. At home this team is tremendously talented and explosive and there are times where quarterback Andy Dalton even looks like a legitimate franchise quarterback, then they get into the bus and get on a plane and all hell brakes loose. This team is terribly inconsistent and highly undisciplined on the road, but they are also one of the more talented teams in the league from A to Z. Geno Adkins is a monster of a man who if healthy will give even the Saints interior a serious headache. Fortunatley for us athletic freak Michael Johnson fled Cincinnati so we won’t have to face him here (unfortunately, he signed in Tampa Bay so instead of facing him once we get him twice a year…joy) and that could have serious repercussions for one of the better defenses in the league. Even with a probable homerun in rookie corner Dezmond Dennard the Bengals secondary is not going to strike fear into the heart of the Saints offense, the key for them will be pressure from the front that eliminates Brees’s ability to pick them apart. What is a threat on the Bengals is their offense. Yes, Dalton can quickly morph into Alex Smith and on his worst days he is the ‘Ginger Sanchez’ who instead of no soul just has no game. But, there are days where is on fire and there is enough talent around him to make that a reality if the Saints defense has an off day. The upside is he is very prone to turnovers and there is a real possibility that Rob Ryan will force him to try to win the game on his own and if that happens we win. The two guys who the Saints absolutely must keep in check are A.J. Green and Giovanni Bernard (sorry LSU fans, but Hill isn’t the same kind of threat they are…at least not yet). These two guys are the big red circles on the Saints board because they are the players who make the splash plays for the Bengals…and that’s their best and only chance of taking the air out of the Superdome.
The bottom line: More often than not the Bengals are a disaster on the road, and with them coming at the end of the Saints Gauntlet this could be a well earned reprieve for the team. On the other hand the team may be physicaly and emotionally drained and if the ‘good Bengals’ show up the Saints could be in trouble. Like the Cowboys and Browns earlier in the year the Bengals have a lot of firepower which makes them a potential nuisance, and like those two teams they also have the potential to go full blown falcons in the playoffs dumpster fire. The biggest key for the Saints will be to come out strong and crush the Bengals spirits early. With Defensive Coordinator Mike Zimmer now gone there is a very real chance the team will be vulnerable and its road woes will continue, if that is the case the I could see this game being reminiscent of the Bucs game in the dome from last year.
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