The New Orleans Saints will host the Seattle Seahawks at the Mercedes-Benz Superdome at 1pm EST in Week Eight as a home underdog for a second time this season. Jimmy Graham will be returning to New Orleans for what is bound to be an emotional reunion. The Saints will be looking to show Seattle that they were the winning recipients in a trade that secured them Max Unger (in addition to their first round draft pick) for their once beloved Jimmy. The Saints have managed to solidify their offensive line and create one of the most dangerous offenses in the league. Seattle’s offense has produced little to write home about since Jimmy came to town.
This week’s game will be an offense versus defense showdown. The New Orleans Saints Week Eight keys to victory will include playing smart football and utilizing their top notch offense to score as many points as possible against a ferocious Seattle defense. The Saints will also need to take this opportunity to play well defensively against a subpar Seattle offense with Jimmy Graham in tow. The Saints need to put points on the board and maintain the scoring lead to win the game.
New Orleans Saints Week Eight Keys to Victory
Play Smarter Football
If the Saints want to win this Sunday, they need to start playing smarter football. This means avoiding costly penalties, and focusing on better ball security. The Saints have racked up ten penalties against them in both of their last two games. Last week in Kansas City, the Saints moved the ball well, played a balanced football game and had really good flow on their scoring drives. They still managed to lose the game.
As with every week, a certain amount of blame can be placed on a bottom-ranked defense. But their performance last week came down to a handful of avoidable mistakes. There were penalties, turnovers and lapses in judgement. While the Saints started out slow, Drew Brees rallied his team from a 14-point deficit heading into the second half, to put them within a field goal to tie the game. New Orleans can’t keep relying on one man. There were multiple Saints drives last week that looked promising, only to be quelled by penalties that killed the drive, or turnovers that ended the drive. Two turnovers and ten penalties for 75 yards to be exact.
Noise was definitely a factor at Arrowhead stadium, known to be one of the loudest in the NFL. But noise could not be blamed for penalties like personal fouls, holding, or unsportsmanlike conduct. The final penalty of the game against Nick Fairley for his hit on Spencer Ware allowed the Kansas City Chiefs to run the clock down and add three more points to the score board, forcing the Saints to record a touchdown for the win – which obviously didn’t happen. If the Saints want to win this week’s football game, they will need to have better ball security and minimize their penalties.
Outperform a Ferocious Seattle Defense
Seattle has one of the best defenses in the NFL. They are ranked second in the league in scoring defense, allowing only 14 points per game. In last week’s six-point tie against the Arizona Cardinals, the Seattle defense spent 46 minutes on the field. Since 2000, they are only the third defense to spend 46 minutes on the field in one game. To hold the Cardinals to just six points is a remarkable feat. While the game ended in a tie, it was clear that Seattle cornerback Richard Sherman was the real winner. He will pose a serious threat to New Orleans on Sunday as well.
The Saints are going to have to use all of their offensive weapons this week. Last week, their top three receivers played well. Brandin Cooks had 58 yards and a touchdown, Willie Snead had nine catches for 87 yards and Michael Thomas had 130 yards on 10 catches. Seattle’s pass rush will most certainly prevent Brees from making many of his usual plays. The running game is going to be crucial for New Orleans.
The Saints will need to avoid their inclination to give up on the run early in the game. We have seen that Mark Ingram is more than capable of handling this task. He is averaging four yards per carry, but is only getting 14 carries per game. Ingram along with Tim Hightower will be expected to gain some yards on the ground. While the Saints are better equipped than most teams to face a defense of Seattle’s caliber, Brees, and company are going to have their hands full this week.
Don’t give up the Game against a Second-Rate Offense
While the Saints top-three offense is forced to play a top-three defense, the opposite is true on the other side of the ball. The New Orleans defense are dead last in the NFL in points allowed per game, averaging 32.5. They have actually surrendered 35 or more points in every game this season except two. Conversely, the Seattle offense is also nothing to write home about. They are ranked 28th in the league, scoring only 18.5 points per game.
Russell Wilson is normally a very good quarterback, but he has been struggling this season. He has thrown for 1559 yards and 5 TDs heading into Week Eight. It’s clear that he is playing hurt. Last week, Seattle played bad offensively. They finished the game with only 257 yards of total offense, 11 first downs and only three of fourteen third-down conversions. This is all very good news for the Saints defense. They need to utilize this opportunity to make some big plays on defense and prevent Seattle from getting scoring opportunities. This will keep Brees and the New Orleans Saints on top of the scoreboard.
Conclusion
The Week Eight matchup between Seattle and New Orleans is very even on both sides of the ball. The Saints have numerous problems to work through, especially on defense, and they certainly can’t fix them all in one week. What they can do is focus on playing smarter football. They need to stop committing avoidable mistakes and evolve together as a cohesive unit.
If all else fails them, the Saints do have one saving grace. Every year, Seattle curiously loses at least one game that kicks off at 1pm (when it would be 10am for them). Since 2012 during the regular season, the Seahawks are 42-11-1 in games that do not kick off at 1pm and 9-8 in games that do. If the Saints can’t rely on talent this week, they can at least pray for luck.
