Speaking as an American, few things could have kicked off the NFL season better than a New England Patriots (0-1) loss in their opening game. The fact that they got their ass kicked like their ex wife’s stepson caught them in the Walmart parking lot made it even better. The New Orleans Saints (0-1) too were fed their own ass with a pitchfork, so this game becomes a must win to avoid the deadly 0-2 start.
The Game: New England Patriots at New Orleans Saints (+6.5)
The History
There isn’t much history between these two teams even though the Saints have been in the league since 1967. They’ve played 13 times with the Patriots holding a 9-4 advantage.
New England’s last win in the Louisiana Superdome was back in October, 1998, a 30-27 victory with Drew Bledsoe besting Danny Wuerffel in a quarterback “duel.” The guys tossed five interceptions between them.
They’ve met four times in the Tom Brady era with the Patriots posting a 3-1 record, with all their wins coming in Foxborough, Mass.
The longest win streak belongs to New England who won the first five match ups, beginning in December, 1972 and ending in November, 1986. The longest Saints win streak was three games from November, 1989 to December, 1995.
NEW ENGLAND PATRIOTS (0-1)
Tom Brady in the opening game, the above mentioned curb stomping at the feet of the Kansas City Chiefs, posted a 44.4 completion percentage and a 70.0 quarterback rating. He was sacked three times. Now, I know I predicted that Brady would have the worst year of his career and retire at the end of the season. Does that mean I think he’ll shit the bed again in this game? Not even I’m that brave.
The fact is, under Brady and Belichick, New England rarely loses back-to-back games and with one of the league’s worst defenses on the other side of the field, it’s hard to count on Brady putting up those basement numbers again. It won’t help that Danny Amendola is already listed as out for the game, so he’ll only have a handful of speedsters at his disposal when he loves to work the slot and the possession guys. Look for Rob Gronkowski to put up some big numbers in this one.
What should worry the Patriots in this one is their defense that got absolutely routed last week and barely got a sniff at Alex Smith in the second half. The Pats did pick up three sacks and two were by Trey Flowers, their only consistent rusher. Malcolm Butler and Stephon Gilmore could have had a better showing at corner too. Linebacker Dont’a Hightower won’t play and, if you remember, when he went down in that first game, the Chiefs flipped the script.
NEW ORLEANS SAINTS (0-1)
In spite of all the bragging Sean Payton did on his “new” defense, the unit looked a hell of a lot like his “old” defense, which was one of the worst in the NFL last season and, frankly, has been for years. Sam Bradford is currently the highest rated quarterback in the NFL after so many gifts from New Orleans’ scheme and roster. If there’s a reason for the Patriots to feel pretty confident, it’s because of this group.
Drew Brees, unlike Brady, didn’t have a bad game statistically against the Minnesota Vikings. He completed 73 percent of his passes for 291 yards and a touchdown. The problem with the Saints is they couldn’t get a running game going, they were in third and long too much and needed to score every time they touched the ball because their defense was presenting itself like a female bonobo.
In spite of all the criticism Adrian Peterson is eating this week for telling Sean Payton to run the ball, he was right. The problem is, at the point where he started running his mouth it was probably too late for that. If Peterson wanted to be on the field all the time, he should have worked on his skills in the passing game.
The Pick
I would love to see New England go down again and, frankly, it wouldn’t be shocking if they did. I’m not brave enough to pick against them. Not yet. Patriots 38, Saints 34
This week
Straight up: 0-1
Against the spread: 1-0
Season
Straight up: 10-6
Against the spread: 9-7
To make a wager on any sport, go to the world famous Diamond Sportsbook by clicking here.
