Amazingly, the team with the least expectations looked the most impressive on Sunday as the Carolina Panthers came close to taking sole possession of the NFC South standings. Luckily the Saints got a little help from LSU alumns Early Doucet and Patrick Peterson, who both scored big play touchdowns late to win the game for the Cards. Cam Newton threw for over 400 yards and looked very impressive, though, so the Panthers may not be as easy to roll over this year as some thought.
Elsewhere, the Falcons looked miserable taking an absolute beatdown in Chicago and the Bucs’ saw their comeback attempt at home fall short against the Detroit Lions. Now all teams in the NFC South sit at 0-1, so they are all tied for first place. Go figure. Not to blow my horn or anything, but I said in my blog post yesterday “I think there’s a decent chance that all three NFC South teams today lose their games. It would be nice if everyone in the division started 0-1“. Please bear witness to the 17% occassion where my predictions are accurate.
That Falcons result was comforting in that the Saints won’t be chasing their biggest rival and competitor in the NFC South out of the gates behind one game, but it was worrisome because the Bears looked phenominal as they are the next opponent. The Saints have matched up poorly against the Bears in the Sean Payton era, going 0-2, granted both of those games were in Chicago in very cold weather. This game will be in September and most importantly it’s in New Orleans. Still, the Saints’ defense looked porous this past week and the Bears’ offense looked explosive. Not comforting. The Bears sacked Matt Ryan 5 times, so expect a rough matchup for the Saints questionable line, put up 400 yards of offense and 30 points. That’s the bad news. The good news is they can’t possibly embarass the Saints’ defense any worse than Aaron Rodgers and the Packers managed too. Right? **crickets chirping**
Seriously though, the Bears were in the NFC Championship for a reason and they look strong. This will not be an easy game for the Saints. Marques Colston will be out and there no guarantees Lance Moore will be back either. That means the Saints could be relying on Devery Henderson, Robert Meachem and Adrian Arrington almost exclusively on the perimeter. You’re talking about a premiere defense in the Bears matching up against a depleted offense.
Anyway, Sunday played out as perfectly as anyone could have hoped for the Saints. All their divisional opponents lost, and they all lost to NFC teams, so that puts the playing field back on even terms. If the Saints manage to beat the Bears that’ll be even more important because it will give the Saints a boost in common opponents against the Falcons, and I have no doubts the Bears will be in the playoff picture so owning a tiebreaker is important. That, and the Saints just don’t want to start the season 0-2. I’m calling this game a must win. Despite the entire division faltering helping them immensely, dropping to 0-2 would be a rough hole to start the season in.
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