10-3 Saints play the 9-4 Ravens at their place for a noon kickoff on Sunday. Ok, this may be our toughest game of the year. The Ravens defense is pretty good, however it's not quite as good as typical Ravens defenses of the past. The weather should be decent (hovering around freezing) but there is a chance of snow in the forecast. Hopefully CSP will let the boys wear long sleeves (he typically doesn't let them for some reason). Anyways, the 10-3 Saints can clinch a wildcard playoff berth with a win over the Ravens and a Green Bay loss to New England (which is highly likely b/c Aaron Rogers is concussed and the Patriots are ballin' outta control right now) and a Tampa Bay loss to Detroit. Atlanta plays Seattle at Seattle. That game should be interesting b/c it should be cold and wet. Seattle is pretty much the only chance we have left of Atlanta dropping one b/c their schedule after Seattle is a couple of tomato cans (TB and Carolina). This game comes on at 3pm so it will be fun to watch after the Saints game. In other notes, Drew Brees should reach the 4,000 yard plateau as well as the 30 TD mark (going into the game he has 3,855 yards and 28 TD's). Who Dat!!!!!!!!!!! Beat the eff out of the Gayvens!
the last time Brees played the Ravens was week 8 of the 2006 season in which NO made it to the NFC championship game against the Bears. Probably a better Defense than the one Baltimore fields now, and Brees was: 24-45 for 383 yards, 3 td's and 3 int's. This will be a tough game, but I think New Orleans can run the ball against the Ravens and I also think they can throw it around against them, if the receivers can get their heads out of their asses, namely Robert Meachem, and Devry Henderson. Colston and Moore have been money. Saints could also use a big game out of Reggie, look for this game to be his breakout game this year. New Orleans 28 Baltimore 17 Harbaugh has gotten way too cute with this offense. They have 3 tailbacks that are really good, and he doesn't run the ball as much anymore. Instead he likes to put the game in the hands of Joe Flacco which is good for the Saints. Look for Flacco to have 2 or 3 picks.
Both Ayodele and Hargrove were held out of practice today, along with Roby and Dave Thomas. We need to get at least one of those two back, or we'll be awfully thin in the middle Sunday.
Another thing, I have watched some Ravens football over the past few weeks, and one of the weaknesses they have is the left side of the O Line. Michael Oher has been letting safety blitzes and OLB blitzes by at times especially when stunts are run by the D Line. Joe Flacco is not very good when he gets pressured. Look for Greg Williams to send the house, early and often.
I watched that game against the Texans and the Ravens D was showing their age in the 4th Q of that game. They were completely GASSED. I have never seen an NFL team look like that before, where they were visibly gasping for air. I hope we run an up temp style game and put them away by then. Brees hopefully won't make the same mistake Schaub did.
I agree, but do you think the weather will aid to their fatigue or be easier on their fatigue outdoors rathter than indoors like they were at Reliant?
Not sure. I think if we play an up tempo style game, they can be got. Again, ATL got a break by getting to play them at home. We proved we can win a tough outdoor game in December against Cincinnati, but the Ravens are obviously much better. We'll see.
I'm not too sure that Chris Ivory is going to be able to play in this game. Hopefully he is responding to the platelet rich plasma injection that they gave him on Wednesday. Dave Thomas is out, too so look for healthy doses of Jimmy Graham. Pierre Thomas and Meachem will share duties returning kicks in the absence of Courtney Roby. I'm not so sure that Pierre Thomas should be taking on that role just yet, but I'll trust the coaches here.
That may have been the weakest attempt at a tackle that I've ever seen at any level of football. Harper should be fined by the team for that lack of effort.
