Gameday is finally here as it will be another playoff caliber team coming to town. The Saints have been on a roll the last couple of weeks while the Lions have been in decline losing that early season progress. The Lions have only won two games in their last five played. It should be a good test for the Saints’ defense, though, as the Lions have the playmakers to give the Saints some problems and it will be a good measuring stick to see how they stack up with one of the NFL’s best offenses. It will be a another national telecast as it will be on primetime NBC and here are 5 things I will be watching for in today’s game….
1. Are the Lions a playoff team?
The Lions seem to be losing momentum as the season goes on and if they don’t right the ship they have a good chance of not making the playoffs. As the weeks goes on, the schedule does get a little easier and add the fact that the team they are fighting the final playoff spot with lost their quarterback for the season. Based on that I think it will be a situation where the Lions get in the playoffs. The fact that they don’t really have a good running game will limit how far they go in the playoffs once they get there.
2. Can the good offensive line play continue?
This was a unit before the season that was unproven as the Saints had two new starters on the offensive line. As the season has gone on it has been a little rocky as injuries have forced the Saints to have different lineups for the first part of the season. When the Saints got Zach Strief back from injuries and inserted Brian de la Puente at the center position they seemed to have their starting five. I like this starting five as they have improved from week to week protecting Drew and opening holes for the running game.
3. Are there enough carries for the running backs?
If this is a problem, I know every NFL team would love to have it, as you can never have too many running backs. I like the way the Saints are using these backs, getting them carries early in the game, then when the game is in the bag they use up clock by running the ball.
4. Will Jonathan Vilma have an effect on the defense when he comes back?
I will start this off by saying that Jonathan Vilma is the Drew Brees on defense as he knows this defense inside and out. I just think the injures and the age have finally caught up to Vilma as he is not the same player he was three years ago. It will be good to have Vilma back to provide depth and help the younger guys with the rigors of being in the playoff race.
5. Can the Saints get a first round bye in the playoffs?
It will be a uphill battle as the first two teams ahead of the Saints might be too far ahead for the Saints to catch up. I know the Saints are behind the 49ers one game but the 49ers have an easy schedule the rest of the way while the Saints still have some significant opponents left. The key for the Saints is just to win the rest of the games and maybe the 49ers will slip up along the way giving the Saints that much needed first round bye.
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