A winning streak! It’s only taken 7 weeks of this season, but finally the Saints have their first winning streak of the season. New Orleans sits at 2-4 overall and 1-1 in the division heading in to this Week 8 match-up with Denver. The Broncos are 3-3 overall and 2-0 in the AFC West. New Orleans will be getting a huge boost with the return of interim Head Coach Joe Vitt, who’s fresh off of his six game suspension to start the year. The last time these two teams played was in 2008, when the Broncos defeated the Saints 34-32 in a back and forth shoot out. You can expect mostly the same thing as they square off again on Sunday Night Football in Denver this weekend, thanks to two potent offense led by future Hall of Fame quarterbacks.
The Saints are currently playing their best football of the season, riding a two game winning streak in to the high altitude of Denver. It took a first half comeback to defeat Tampa Bay last week, then a last minute goal line stand to preserve the victory. New Orleans’ offense is back to playing at peak performance, as Drew is marching the Saints up and down the field for touchdowns yet again. The Saints rank 3rd overall in terms of total offense so far this year and they’ll need another great performance in order to keep up with Peyton Manning and the Broncos.
Denver is coming in to this game well rested off of their Week 7 bye last week. Their last game was a huge second half comeback after trailing the Chargers 24-0 at halftime. Peyton Manning was up to his usual magic helping the comeback effort, but the Denver defense played a huge roll in the turnaround. The Broncos forced six turnovers by Phillip Rivers, three of which were 4th quarter interceptions. They scored on a fumble recovery and an interception that were both taken back for touchdowns. Manning will be tough to stop for the Saints defense, but if the Broncos defense can force just half of the turnovers they did vs. the Chargers, they’ll be very tough to beat.
Pass Offense
With every game that passes so far this season, Drew Brees is seemingly getting better and better. The passing attack is ranked 1st in the NFL right now, averaging 335.2 yards per game. Drew was 27/37 for 377 yards with 4 TDs and 1 INT last week vs. Tampa Bay. Lance Moore and Marques Colston were both expected to step up in the absence of Jimmy Graham and that they did. Moore had 9 catches for 121 yards and Colston had 7 catches for 73 yards and 1 TD.
The Broncos pass defense has been pretty good this season, only allowing 215.3 yards per game, which is good for 10th overall in pass defense. As mentioned earlier, the Broncos defense is coming off of a six turnover game two weeks ago. It’s not much of a surprise that the turnovers came vs. Phillip Rivers, but Drew Brees must still be careful. Before their Week 6 contest vs. San Diego, Denver only had two interceptions on the year, one of which came from former Saint and Super Bowl 44 hero, Tracy Porter. Porter is unfortunately questionable to play this weekend, as he has been dealing with symptoms similar to what he felt after a seizure he had back in August. He is a good corner back with big play ability, but most Saints fans and probably even Drew Brees would love to see the Louisianan be able to take the field against many old friends.
New Orleans will need to execute to near perfection again this week to keep up with Denver’s offense. Jimmy Graham is still questionable to play on Sunday night after being limited in practice all week, but it appears that he will be traveling with the team to Denver this afternoon, which is a good sign. Joe Morgan has already been listed as out with a chest injury sustained last week vs. Tampa Bay.
Rush Offense
For only the second time this season, the Saints ran the ball 20+ times. They were still not very effective, taking 25 carries for 80 yards. The 80 yard effort is just barely above their 76.2 yards per game average, which has them ranked dead last in the NFL in rush offense. Early on in the 3rd quarter it looked as if they may be finding their groove, as they gashed Tampa Bay on their one touchdown drive of the second half. Unfortunately, they could not sustain the attack for much longer. In fact, the lack of success running the ball in the 4th quarter nearly allowed New Orleans to blow a 35-21 lead.
Denver’s rush defense has been nothing but mediocre this season. They are ranked right around the middle of the league at 18th overall allowing 115.2 yards per game. They’ve faced some good competition, such as Arian Foster, Darren McFadden, and most recently, Ryan Mathews. They held Mathews to 74 yards rushing, playing a big part in the comeback by getting the San Diego offense off of the field and Peyton Manning back on.
As mentioned weekly, the Saints rushing offense will need to fare better to give New Orleans a better chance to pull off the victory. This is a huge game for what’s left of the Saints’ playoff hopes, so the less weight on Drew Brees’ back, the better. Not only will the return of their no nonsense, veteran coach, Joe Vitt, give the team a spark, but it also allows Aaron Kromer to return his complete focus to coaching the offensive line. Hopefully Coach Kromer can instill a bit of confidence and light a fire under the behinds of the Saints offensive line to help open some holes and get the running game going.
Players to Watch
Darren Sproles and Pierre Thomas
The Broncos have two very fast players on their front seven, Elvis Dumervil and Von Miller. Dumervil is a former 3-4 outside linebacker playing defensive end, while Miller is an outside linebacker, but both are very good at getting to the ball carrier. They are very fast and one of the best ways to beat speed is with misdirection and speed of your own. Sproles is very good at both. He can run counters out of the backfield, which will get the defense moving one way, while the back is designed to quickly cut to the backside and get around the corner. Misdirection can also be accomplished with screen plays and there might not be a better player in the NFL at running the screen, than Pierre Thomas.
Devery Henderson
With the recent success of both Marques Colston and Lance Moore, Denver might be inclined to find a way to take them away. Former All-Pro Champ Bailey will try and take away whoever lines up on his side of the field, so other options will be needed. Henderson has shown the ability to do more than just being a deep threat this season. Drew has found him a number of times on curls and outs, where Devery has done a fantastic job of making outstretched catches with his hands. He’ll need to do the same this week if Denver tries to eliminate Drew’s safety valves.
Saints Offensive Line
The offensive line will need to play great in both pass protection and run blocking. It’s already been mentioned that Aaron Kromer’s return to full time duty as the Offensive Line Coach should help the run, but Denver is very good at getting to the quarterback. The aforementioned speedy defenders named Elvis Dumervil and Von Miller are good at getting to the ball, but they excel in getting to the quarterback. Dumervil has recorded six sacks this season, while Miller has five of his own. Drew is typically cool under pressure, but the last thing that any Saints player, coach, or fan want to see is him getting pounded in the pocket.
Prediction
It’s easy to be a bandwagon fan and all teams have a lot of them, including the Saints. Fortunately, they have some of the most loyal fans as well, who stick along whether thing are good or bad. Keep believing, Who Dat Nation, because as long as Drew Brees is at the helm, this team has a chance.
Saints – 34
Broncos – 31
Who Dat?!
