The New Orleans Saints travel to Kansas City this weekend to take on the Chiefs in perhaps the toughest game on their schedule. Arrowhead Stadium is a notoriously hostile environment for visiting teams. It holds the world record for loudest decibel-level. The Saints will need to play with composure if they want to come away with a victory. The oddsmakers think that is unlikely. They have installed the Chiefs as touchdown favorites which has sent a ripple of disgust through the city. Here is a closer look at this compelling Week 7 matchup.
Saints on a Roll
New Orleans opened up the season with three straight losses to send their fans into panic mode. Since then, they have won two straight to pull their record up to 2-3. They are following a script that has become familiar to their fans the last few years. Their offense is fantastic, scoring 31 points per game, despite the inconsistencies of speedster Brandin Cooks. Unfortunately, their defense is the worst in the league, giving up 33.6 points per game. Unless the defense can suddenly change its performance, the team will have to continue to seek wins via shootouts.
Chiefs Searching for Consistency
Chiefs fans are getting frustrated that their team cannot put together a winning streak. Fortunately, they have not fallen victim to any losing streaks either. They have alternated wins and losses so far this year to sit at a record of 3-2. They are a team that is the polar opposite of New Orleans. The Chiefs defense is good, holding opponents to just 20.4 points a game. However, their anemic offense is scoring just 21.8 points a game. Chiefs fans have to watch their team try to grind out victories.
What to Watch
Saints Offense vs. Chiefs Defense
Although the Saints offense has been phenomenal so far this season, they face their stiffest challenge of the year this Sunday. Drew Brees will have trouble making changes at the line of scrimmage with the crowd noise. Kansas City’s defense is loaded with All-Pro players. Tamba Hali and Justin Houston are one of the most dangerous pass rush duos in the NFL. They have a shutdown corner in Marcus Peters, and Eric Berry is one of the best corners in the league. This is a classic case of an unstoppable force meeting an immovable object. Saints fans can only hope the offensive mojo does not sputter against the stiff Chiefs defense.
Chiefs Offense vs. Saints Defense
With their offense facing a mighty challenge, this would be a great time for the Saints’ defense to step up their game. The Chiefs offense is very vanilla, which should help. They almost never throw deep down the field as quarterback Alex Smith prefers short passes. Their strength is their running game, and they will look to grind away the clock as they pound the football against a Saints rushing defense that is ranked 26th in the league.
Add The Sports Daily to your Google News Feed!
