The Saints are in 1st place in the NFC South at 4-5, but by virtue of a Falcons-Panthers matchup this Sunday it is mathematically impossible for them to be in first with a loss this week. That means if the team wants to hang on to the NFC South lead, it’s going to need a win. This is because Atlanta currently owns a tiebreaker over the Saints, and the Panthers would own a higher win percentage thanks to their tie (which counts as a half win). Putting aside what the Bengals do well for a second, this is the 30th ranked defense in the NFL coming into town. If the Saints can’t put up a high number of points at home against this unit, I won’t know what to say. Of course, turnovers can always play a part in leveling the playing field. Here’s five things I’ll be looking for:
1. The Bengals receivers vs. Saints corners matchup
On paper this is a major advantage for the Bengals. Keenan Lewis is questionable and while I bet he’ll find a way to talk his coaches into playing him, he can’t possibly move as well with this injury. Mohamed Sanu and A. J. Green are a terrifying matchup for the Saints. They’re long, fast and big. This game could easily become a shootout if the Bengals passing game gets going. But Corey White and Patrick Robinson have both had some surprise moments, albeit in small doses. Now would be a good time to surprise us again.
2. Enough with the turnovers
Brees has 10 interceptions in 9 games. Only in the Packers and Vikings games did he go four quarters without a pick this season. He’s also lost 2 fumbles. I know turnovers are always a point of emphasis but right now one has to assume Drew is really feeling the weight of his recent mistakes. At the expense of a big explosive performance, I’d love to see Brees go a full game without a turnover. He really needs to play clean and efficient right now. The rest of the team is playing well enough to win if he doesn’t give it away.
3. A cup of Joe Morgan?
I don’t even drink coffee, so this might be my most lame and disappointing pun yet. I’m curious to see where Joe Morgan stands with the team at this point. Robert Meachem is listed as questionable with an ankle issue, but I bet he’ll sit one more week. So now that Morgan is back, does that mean he remains ahead of Nick Toon on the depth chart at receiver? Or did his antics allow Toon to leapfrog him? I’m curious to see who will be the 4th (therefore active) receiver this weekend. Toon didn’t give any contribution last week, so that might open the door for Morgan to get one more shot. If Morgan doesn’t get a chance before Meachem comes back, he may never play in a Saints uniform again.
4. Does Mark Ingram eclipse 100 for the fourth straight time?
Khiry and PT are both out again so we’ll get a steady dose of Ingram again. I just hope he can remain healthy enough to handle this 30 reps a game workload. This seems like a team he should light up. The Bengals are the 2nd worst run defense in the NFL and they give up 4.5 yards per carry this year. Think Cowboys 2013 run defense bad. Honestly if the Saints can jump on the Bengals early and Andy Dalton starts to implode again, 200 yards rushing may not be out of the question.
5. Missing Kenny 2013
Kenny Vaccaro leads the NFL in missed tackles with 15. That’s depressing, especially when you consider he missed only 3 (!!) in 14 games last year according to Pro Football Focus. This year it’s 15 in 9 games. If you think Malcolm Jenkins was bad last year, he missed 16 tackles, so Vaccaro just needs one more to equal that total with almost an entire half season to go. The Saints needs him to improve if they’re going to get better on defense. I’ll be keeping a closer eye on him in this game to see how he plays. Clearly he’s not fully recovered from the ankle injury if you ask me.
Add The Sports Daily to your Google News Feed!
