Saints Nation: Scouting the Colts

The Saints coming off a lost to divisional rival Tampa Bay welcome the winless Indianapolis Colts to town. This should be an easy win for the Saints this week but maybe the Colts sneak out of New Orleans with a win, hey stranger things have happened. It will be a primetime Sunday night game on NBC and hopefully the Saints can run that record to 5-2 this week.

Special Teams/Defense

I have decided to group these two groups together because lets face facts the Saints do not face Devin Hester every week. The Colts have a good kicker if the game is decided by field goals in Adam Vinatieri. As far as special teams that is about it for the Colts. To me a big reason the Colts have been in games to the end this year is because of their defense. Any time you can rush the passer with two good, pro bowl caliber defensive ends you have a shot on defense. I’m thinking the Colts’ defensive line will try to confuse the Saints’ offensive line as it has shown signs of weakness the last couple of weeks. The Colts also lost their middle linebacker Gary Brackett for the season but in his place stepped in Pat Angerer who leads the NFL in tackles with seventy three. They also have another linebacker in Kavell Conner that is second in league in tackles, that tells me that the defensive line is doing their job and letting these guys make plays. You never want your secondary personnel to be the team leader in tackles as the Colts have had in previous seasons. The secondary would be the weak spot on the Colts defense as they have been decimated by injuries and opponents have passed all over them this season.

How to take advantage?

Attacking the Colts secondary is the first priority but in order to do that the offensive line has to protect Drew Brees. Last week Drew was always getting pressured from Tampa’s defensive line and it was coming up the middle. This week the pressure will come from the end with the Colts mixing it up bringing the linebackers from all over. I think having Dave Thomas back this week will help out the tackles as you can shift your line to where they are blitzing (editor’s note: David Thomas is officially listed as “out” now). Also the Saints should work on getting the other playmakers not named Sproles and Graham some touches as this will help the team going forward.

Offense

I remember looking at the schedule when it came out this past offseason and thinking what a great game that would be when Peyton and the Colts come to town to play the Saints. What a difference a couple of months make as Peyton looks to be out the rest of the year. In his place the Colts went and signed Kerry Collins , who was retired from the league. He didn’t last long as he went a couple of games and went out with a concussion and in stepped Curtis Painter, who has been Peyton’s backup the last couple of years. While no one will ever mistake Curtis for Peyton, he has given the offense a belief that they can win ball games. The offense does have playmakers in Dallas Clark, Pierre Garcon, Reggie Wayne and Joseph Addai but losing Peyton these guys have had to carry the offense. While you would think with all this talent on the offense side of the ball the Colts could afford to lose a quarterback and still continue to tick, what Peyton does so well is he puts all of these playmakers in a position to make a play by reading what the defense gives him. The offense line has been pedestrian in the past because they could get away with that with Peyton always getting rid of the ball. Fast forward to this year and the offensive line is having to produce for both the passing and rushing game to win games. So far the line has not been up to the task as the Colts have yet to win the game.

How to take advantage?

It is real simple this week for the Saints’ defense: turnovers and quarterback pressure. The defense has been struggling the last couple of weeks not getting the opposing offense off the field. I have to think the next two weeks with the Saints playing the Colts and Rams, they should get the defense back on track. Of the couple of games I have watched the Colts play, they run the wideout screen a lot. That has gained some yardage, and they also love to get the running backs off the edges running the ball. If the Saints do lose this game it will be because the defense couldn’t get off the Colts offense off the field but they just need a couple of stops so Drew and the offense can win this game.