Tag: New Orleans Saints (Page 28 of 55)

      NFL Playoff Preview: Championship Sunday

      January 24, 2010 /

      New York Jets at Indianapolis Colts
      3:00 pm ET
      TV—CBS

      The New York Jets and their brashly confident head coach Rex Ryan just keep believing they can beat anyone. And while rolling over the fading Bengals twice was impressive, going into San Diego and beating a Chargers team that many expected to go to the Super Bowl was another thing entirely. Sure, they had a few breaks go their way, like Nate Kaeding missing three field goals, but the Jets came to play, and they held Philip Rivers and that high-flying offense to 14 points. It goes without saying that facing Peyton Manning’s Colts at Lucas Oil Stadium will be just as challenging, if not more challenging for Ryan’s upstart squad, but anyone who counts out their “ground and pound” offense and stifling D isn’t paying attention. Meanwhile, the Colts will not be pulling their starters in the third quarter as they did against Gang Green in Week 16, and they proved to everyone last Saturday that resting those players allowed them to be a step quicker than the wild card Ravens. Sure, the Ravens held the Colts to 20 points, but the Colts’ defense squashed the Ravens’ #5 ground game, allowing just 3 points, and they hope to do the same to the Jets’ top-ranked rushing attack, daring rookie QB Mark Sanchez to beat them through the air. Last week, Sanchez made just enough plays, but he needs to be wary of that quick, opportunistic defense of Indianapolis that forced four turnovers against Baltimore. THE PICK: COLTS 20, JETS 16

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      Will the Vikings be able to win on the road?

      January 20, 2010 /

      Four of the last five times the Vikings have had to pack their bags and play on the road, they’ve lost. That doesn’t bode well for them considering that their most important game of the season will also be played on the road.

      Everyone wants to talk about Brett Favre’s magical Super Bowl run, but he and the rest of his team haven’t gotten things done on the road this season. They’re 4-4 away from the Metrodome, but three of those four wins came against the Lions, Browns and Rams in the first five weeks of the season. Those aren’t exactly powerhouse teams they played. Their other road win game against Green Bay in Week 8 when Favre threw for 244 yards and four touchdowns to help Minnesota rack up 38 points.

      Speaking of Favre, you have to go back all the way to 1997 to reference the last time he won a road playoff game. He led the Packers to a 23-10 win over the 49ers that year, but he’s gone 0-3 on the road with nine interceptions in the postseason since then.

      Granted, football is a team game and Favre wasn’t the only reason his teams have failed on the road in the postseason. Plus, previous outcomes have nothing to do with future results so if the Vikings do lose on Sunday, it won’t be because Favre hasn’t won on the road in the postseason since ’97.

      That said, it’s worth noting that Minnesota’s Super Bowl hopes are resting on the fact that they must beat a solid New Orleans team in a hostile environment on Sunday. Toss in the fact that Favre has struggled on the road in the postseason and that the Vikings are 0-3 in their last three games away from the Metrodome and you realize what kind of situation Minnesota is walking into this weekend.


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      Viking and Saint fans better enjoy the moment

      January 19, 2010 /

      I was listening to Scott Van Pelt’s radio show on ESPN earlier today and he brought up an interesting fact about the NFC Championship Game: Over the last five years, there has only been one team to make a repeat performance in the NFC Championship Game, which are the Saints (2007, 2009). That means we have seen nine out of possible 10 teams that could make the title game.

      Talk about parity.

      The interesting thing to me about this factual nugget is that every year when fans and media pundits make their predictions, how many of them include the Super Bowl winner or runner-up in the conference title game? I don’t have hard facts, but I’m willing to assume that more times than not, prognosticators predict that teams that won the previous years will at least make another deep postseason run, yet history says otherwise (at least in the NFC, that is).

      Take the Saints for example. The 2009 season hasn’t concluded yet, but chances are they’re going to have a similar makeup next season. Sean Payton will still be the head coach, Gregg Williams will still be the defensive coordinator, Drew Brees will still be under center and they’re still going to have a potent offense, regardless of whether or not Reggie Bush is retained. So logic would state that if they made it this far in 2009, that they could repeat next year.

      But that’s the great thing about the NFL – it’s completely unpredictable. That’s why teams that didn’t make the playoffs this year still have hope, and not just hope for a postseason berth next season, but possibly more. If history repeats itself, there’s a very good chance that we will see two completely different teams in the NFC conference game next season.

      Of course, if you’re a Detroit Lions fan just go ahead and disregard that last paragraph.


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      Vikings’ pass rush key to beating Brees, Saints

      January 19, 2010 /

      How does a team beat an opponent that had not been beaten in its last 18 games, that had averaged over 36 points and over 410 yards of total offense a game?

      The quick answer to the proposed question above is a potent pass-rush. Along with the last-minute heroics of Eli Manning and David Tyree, that’s how the Giants beat the undefeated Patriots 17-14 in Super Bowl XLII. And that’s also how the Vikings can beat the Saints this Sunday in the NFC Championship Game.

      Brett Favre, Adrian Peterson and the rest of the Minnesota offense will get a lot of attention heading into this weekend – and rightfully so. Led by Favre and AP, the Vikings have the fifth best overall and the second best scoring offense in the league. But it’ll be the play of Jared Allen and the rest of Minnesota’s pass rush that will be crucial to the Vikings’ Super Bowl hopes.

      The Vikings trail the Saints in terms of total offense and points scored. New Orleans has the best offense in the NFL, led by quarterback Drew Brees and a plethora of weapons ranging from Reggie Bush to Marques Colston and Jeremy Shockey. There’s a reason why the Saints earned the No. 1 seed – they put points on the board, especially at home.

      But the Cowboys proved in Week 15 that Brees and the rest of the Saints’ offense could be neutralized by a defense that can pressure the quarterback. In that game, DeMarcus Ware treated Jermon Bushrod like a revolving door to Brees, while racking up two of the Cowboys’ four sacks that night. Brees had limited time to throw and was often swallowed up by Dallas’ pressure.

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