Enemy Fan Forums: New Orleans Saints

Just had a premonition, kinda like when I thought the Saints would win all the games under Bridgewater starting with Seattle. And nooo, that was not drug-induced, flashbacks or revelations from an Indian sweat tent - lol.

If we step back from our Homer position, which is really hard to do, these teams are at different levels: talent, coaching and skills. There are 3 elite teams in the league today: Ravens, SF and the Saints. These 3 teams are clearly above the rest. KC may sneak into this group.

This Saints team is on fire. Brees is on fire. SP is on fire. We have added disruptive offensive talent in Cook and Taysom Hill. This is the best Brees has looked late season in 3-4 years. This Saints team is tough as nails having won the 5 games when Brees went down. How many teams could do that especially with the tough schedule faced? Kamara looks fresh. Murray is fresh. MT is simply MT and Brees is playing lights out. The defense plays as well as needed to win big games. And even with the injuries on the D-line, the depth of replacements has the defense getting after the QB and has contained the run quite well. The reason I picked the Saints to win the games under Teddy was based more on intangibles. This team just seems to be on a mission. Their determination is on fire this year. They just look like a team of destiny.

Minny is a good quality team, but not in the same league as the top 3. As fans, we remember the Minny Miracle like it was yesterday etched deeply in our brains. But that was 2-years ago. Not now. There are only 2 teams in the league who could possibly beat this Saints team, and Minny is not one of them. On top of all this is the fact that for the 1st time, the Saints may have the best-combnined O-line and D-line in the league. Yeah I know, it;s even hard to type that. But SP rebuilt this team to win on the road, in the cold or on the beach (Miami). As we know, playoffs are usually won in the trenches. I expect the Saints to be up by 10-14 at half and pull away in the 2nd half. This is a team of destiny with the most determined and smartest QB in the league, all on fire at the perfect time led by a coach who is clearly establishing himself as the 2nd best in the last 15 years.

Who Dat All!

I saw a breakdown of Xavier Rhodes play this season on NFL Live or one of those shows yesterday and he's been a shell of his former self and he's still their best DB.

As long as we control the LOS, we should be able to win this game by a decent margin.

Really thankful all our OL are healthy.

Zimmer can kill you with blitz packages. But if we stay ahead of the sticks and give Brees time, it could really backfire, too.

I'm just worried that the Vikes will employ a "no respect" attitude and give it a little extra. I hope it doesn't come down to a last minute blunder whether on defense or officiating.

I won’t get nervous until after we win, but it will just be a little. This team is a team of destiny.

I think Sunday will be an excellent time for a "statement" game by the Saints.

I hope this is a better prediction than the Falcons one in the Super Dome. Haha.

In all honesty I do think Saints will win this and I am generally a negative person. It could be down to the wire though. That is really the only two options down to the wire or Saints blow out.

All I can be sure of is:
Normally we lose to a Titans team
We Didn't!
Normally we let a hapless Panthers team hang around and sometimes even win!
We blew them out!
This third time is the charm season feels good.....
Let's Go Saints!

So many OTHER intangibles we aren't considering (that will usher in a Saints victory):

- Kiko Alonso is an absolute STUD! Many don't remember that he won Defensive Rookie of the Year in 2013. He's been a tremendous pickup for the Saints!

- Devonte' Harris: He will probably give the Saints a +20 yds in average starting field position. In the playoffs... that's huge!

- Chauncey Gardner Johnson: That young man no longer looks like a wide-eyed rookie. He's now "making plays," and that means he's playing faster and reacting a split-second quicker. He's a sure tackler also, and is starting to get a knack for jumping routes!

- CGM... need I say more?

- It's been talked about before, but AK41 is getting back into form... at just the right time. A healthy Kamara is more dangerous than a healthy C-MAC (when you consider overall versitility): blocking, balance, shedding tackles and elusiveness. JMO.

- I wouldn't be surprised if the more productive COOK in our game vs. the Vikings is Jarred Cook. A tough assignment for any defense, let alone a depleted secondary of the Vikings.

- Taysom will be a decoy on about 1/3 of the plays. That opens up Drew's ability to pick the best read options.

- Latavius Murray will be playing hard and running downhill vs. the team that let him go this past offseason. Wouldn't surprise me if he has 100+ rushing.

- Saints' offensive line is about as healthy as you could hope for this late into the season. Vikings' D-line will probably be gassed by middle of the 3rd quarter (with the Saints moving the chains on long, sustained drives).

Other than that ^^ ...the Vikings have a decent shot.

I love the confidence, but I’ve been conditioned my entire life on being a Saints fan...

Drew Brees was late hit on numerous times in the 2009 Minny playoff game.

The network live edited out all the late hits on Brees.

The late hits on Brees did not fit into the NFL and playoff narrative.

Check this out and tell me about storied franchises. Minnesota: 6th all time. Saints: 26th. Can’t point to one season out of over 50 as being a successful franchise.

6. Minnesota Vikings
All-Time Record: 478-397-11 (.546)

26. New Orleans Saints
All-Time Record: 362-435-5 (.454)

So now it begins. We enter the NFL Playoffs, 3 games away from the promised land. Standing in our way are the Minnesota Vikings. A team with a rivalry that began in 2009. A playoff game where then Minnesota legend Brett Favre led Vikings were beaten thoroughly by Drew Brees and the Saints, and with that the Vikings window to contend closed. We of course won the superbowl in Miami 3 games later. History may be nice enough to repeat itself. Beat the Vikings and slam their current contending window shut, on route to Miami and a second superbowl. The added benefit, is the Saints, especially Marcus Williams, will be out for a little revenge. The Minneapolis Miracle, cited as one of the top moments in Minnesota sports in the past decade (and apparently injuring Aaron Rodgers...for some peculiar reason) will still cause a little sting. It would allow members of that team to really put to rest some of these memories.



Coaches Corner:

- Lets start with Injuries. Thursday's injury report for the Saints is good. CB Eli Apple and FB Zach Line are the only two who did not practice. Everyone else, including SS Vonn Bell, FS Marcus Williams and WR Michael Thomas were full participants. For the Vikings, outstanding LB Erik Kendricks was LP on Thursday, as was CB Hughes and DE Odenigbo. DE Weatherly, CB Alexander and S Sandejo were all DNP. Apart from Kendricks, I'm not sure the importance of the other players, so maybe a visiting Vikings fan can fill us in.

- For the Saints, I think how well this game will go will depend on the D. The Vikings offense is definitely dependent on play action, and that means establishing the run with talented RB Dalvin Cook. If the Saints can neutralize the run, then I think we have a good chance at limiting the damage Kirk Cousins can do. Yes they have Theilen and Diggs, both very capable WR, and Lattimore can only cover one.

- Required reading: www.footballoutsiders.com/film-room/2020/film-room-vikings-play-action

Nice little article about our secondary's ability to stop the Vikings offense and play action. It's a longer read, but I think it's insightful.

- On offense, well it's more keep doing what you're doing really. Brees and the O have really stepped it up since the 49ers game. We have a healthy offense across the board. Which should serve us well against a Mike Zimmer led defense. A key match up to watch is MT vs. Xavier Rhodes. From what I can recall, he's had an up and down season. He shut down Julio Jones earlier this season, but struggled in other parts. We'll see how he does against CGM.

- My wildcard player for us is going to be Deonte Harris. I think he's really galvanized the team with his returns, and I think he's due to a TD.

No prediction due to the superstition, but I think we pull it off.

I think this is going to be a closer game than people think. I know I say that a lot, but I think Vikings are the best team other than us playing on wildcard weekend. And we have a recent history of not playing well against them, especially on offense.

The Kirk Cousins that plays like a frightened little child never seems to show up against us. We're gonna have to get pressure on him, which we can do, but if we don't, we very well may lose. I just don't see us putting up a lot of points here. We'll see which oline shows up for us, the one that kills drives with holding calls, or the one that gives Brees time to dissect any defense.

The Vikings are better than both the Seahawks and Eagles. Who ever wins that game will get abused in the division round. Saints should win this game...theyre the better team playing at home. But the Vikings can still win, no question.

Hard to get enthusiastic after the last two years. IDK. I want a Super Bowl and anything short of that will be a disappointment, and it just seems like the cards are stacked too high against us.

I got hope, but I'm prepared to be disappointed again.

You absolutely have to double-team Michael Thomas. They have the ability to do that with Xavier Rhodes and Harrison Smith. Smith is likely one of the best safeties in the league. That brings up, who else do you cover heavy? Kamara? Cook? T. Smith? Ginn deep? Murray up the middle? Oh, then Taysom Hill.

Our offense, especially in the playoffs, won't really have me nervous. Where I'm nervous is, what defense is going to show up? Are we going to be in shutdown mode, or illegal hands-to-the-face mode? Are we going to blow coverages, or are our newly acquired d-backs going to play exactly the way we expected them to when we brought them on board?

I think the nice thing is, the Vikings really don't know how to plan for our defense. It's a new-look defensive secondary that has only played a portion of one game together. This could be a blessing or a curse. I happen to think it'll be a blessing. You absolutely know our secondary is ultra focused this week. Hopefully they keep it together and limit missed assignments.

I said in a different thread that this game will be closer than most think it will be. In betting terms, I'd take Minnesota at anything +5 or higher. Not because I think they're going to win but because I don't think the Saints will cover that spread. Part of that is because this game isn't about talent for me, it's about coaching.

Speaking purely to how the end of this season has gone, the Saints should be (and are) the clear favorites here. Look at Minnesota's game against Green Bay two weeks ago. That's about as lackluster a performance as a team can possibly provide against a hated rival, with the division on the line, at home. It looked like they didn't even care. Imagine now that our Atlanta loss came in week 16 instead of way back after our bye. Would we still be favored so heavily, despite winning the division? I think not. It's hard to limp into the postseason that way and be effective. Losing like that takes air out of you, takes fight out of you. But no. We have faced adversity in a lot of ways but have generally beaten our opponents comfortably and lost one game (SF) by a very high and very close score.

Speaking to talent, none of the above makes any sense. The Vikings are as good as we are talent-wise, better in a lot of areas, particularly on defense. They just don't play like it for reasons I don't fully understand. If they'd played to their potential this year, Green Bay would be coming to visit us while the Vikings rested at home. We'd be talking instead about visiting Minnesota again, on the road, to try to exorcise the demons from the Miracle in their house. But here we are, facing a very talented 6ft seed that's far superior to the 4th and 5th seeds but somehow coming to visit us instead.

So coaching. I think their problems have a lot to do with it, but that's an outsider opinion and I really haven't watched (m)any of their games this year. Generally, though, with their level of talent, only leadership explains the gap fully. In our case, our coaching has thus far been excellent, but this is where it gets truly tested. How mad are we about the last two years? Will it affect us? The "Minnesota Miracle" will be played on a loop in this game, every Saint that takes a microphone will be asked about it. What happens if the Vikings jump out to a 14 or 21-0 lead like they did last time we met them in the playoffs? Can we recover again or will we just be angry? This will be our first test of anger management I think, overcoming bad penalties, overcoming a hot start by a team that's been dissed and abandoned for dead in the media (and by the NFL) for the last week. Make no mistake, the Vikings are p***ed and they usually play pretty strongly against us without the extra motivation. It's also worth remembering that we don't want to be here. We're 13-3, we shouldn't be playing Sunday, shouldn't be going on the road if we win. Can we overcome that, too? I think this game turns on how well we are coached and how well we respond to / recover from adversity.

So all of those things make me think this will be close, maybe even coming down to the final possession of the game. I'd love to be wrong and have us just win comfortably. Maybe that's how it'll go. After all, if you ran this game through a simulator 10 times we'd win 7-8 of those, a few by staggering margins. As a long-time Saints fan, though, I tend to expect the 2-3 where it's close or we don't win more than I expect the 7 where it's easy. Regardless, I promise you that most teams in the AFC and NFC are Vikings fans on Sunday. Nobody wants to see us. If we do win here and then go on to win in Green Bay, woe unto the rest of the playoff field.

I look at the Vikings, and honestly it feels like a 13-3 team to me. I don't see how they lose some of the games that they lose. Maybe coaching, maybe bad luck, maybe some of it is on Cousins inconsistency, but Vikings lost games last year that Cousins played well in.

I don't see how people(mainly the media) are expecting a Saints curb stomp here. Vikes to me look like the 3rd best team in the NFC, and the gap between us and them is not all that much to expect any kind of blowout. I think they have a better than 40% chance to win this game honestly. I don't trust them to string together 4 road wins to win the superbowl, but they're deadly enough to have a reasonable chance of some upsets for sure.

Add to that injury concerns for us on the defensive front, and everything is in perfect alignment for Cousins to exorcise the big game demons.

I still think Saints are the better team, but just barely so.