It’s gameday as the Saints look for their first win of the season against the Chicago Bears. It is also the home opener for the Saints, so you know the Superdome will be rocking to a full capacity. The game will be shown on FOX as they are bringing in their number one broadcasting crew of Joe Buck and Troy Aikman to town. I look for this to be a great game, and with that I give you some things to look for in today’s game.
1. Classic good offense versus good defense game.
The Saints have a top five offense and the Bears have a top five defense, something has to give in today’s game. To be honest, I think it will be the Saints’ defense and the Bears’ offense that will decide this game. The key for the Saints’ defense is getting pressure on Jay Cutler and creating turnovers. But if it was always that easy the Saints wouldn’t have had so much trouble last week with the Packers.
2. Who will step up, taking advantage of all the injured Saints ?
Lance Moore should be able to play according to all the reports coming out of the Saints camp. The groin injury is one of those that would be better suited to just rest, instead of keep trying to play though the pain. I personally would rest Lance until he is able to give you some good production because he is taking valuable snaps away from someone who could help this team in his and Marques Colston absence. Adrian Arrington should get some playing time in the next couple of weeks and maybe he can give Drew another option in the passing game but I think Jimmy Graham will have a monster game taking advantage of the Bears tampa 2 defense.
3. Can Coach Payton beat the Bears?
As the head coach of the Saints, Coach Payton has lost all three games he has faced the Bears. I think Coach Payton has two things working in his favor heading into this game. One, he had two extra days to gameplan on how to attack the Bears defense. Second, he has never faced the Bears in the Superdome. I’m thinking after the game today Coach Payton will be 1-3 against the Bears.
4. What is up with the short yardage running game?
I thought coming in to this season the Saints improved the short yard running game by drafting Mark Ingram. It came up short in the game against the Packers as it missed a couple of opportunity to get first downs. I know Mark was stopped short at the end of last week game but I think you have to experience failure so down the road you can improve on it.
5. Will the contract situation affect Drew Brees?
Drew has come out this week and said that the contract talks will not affect his play for the Saints. In a perfect world the Saints would have extended Drew’s contract during training camp but the reports have said both camps were far apart. I think now that all of the quarterbacks that were waiting on contract extensions have signed theirs, the Saints and Drew’s agent will get a contract hammered out in the next couple of weeks. Both sides stand to lose something if they do not get a contract done soon, as Drew could get hurt, losing his leverage or Drew could put up his usual numbers increasing his leverage after the season. If he doesn’t sign it before season’s end, I don’t think it will affect Drew performance this season as he is a constant professional.
Add The Sports Daily to your Google News Feed!
