Game of the Week: New England Patriots at New Orleans Saints

Out of all the games in week 11, the Patriots visiting the Saints is far and away the most exciting game on the NFL schedule this week. The Patriots are coming off a convincing 31-14 over the Jets while the Saints come into this matchup still undefeated (10-0) after beating the Bucs 38-7. One of the intriguing factors of this game is that the Patriots went undefeated two seasons ago and the Saints have a chance to go undefeated this year.

Facts:

The Patriots defeated the Saints the last time these two teams met in 2005, 24-17. In addition to that, the Patriots have won the last 3 games of this matchup and have taken eight of the eleven meetings between these two teams. The Saints lead the league in scoring offense this year averaging almost 37 points per game compared with Patriots at about 30 points per contest. Tom Brady appears to be back on track after suffering a season-ending knee injury last year and he has thrown for 300 or more yards in his last five games. Both Tom Brady (3,049) and Drew Brees (2,746) are in the top ten with respect to passing yardage. Both teams gain an average of over 400 yards per game which indicates that this contest has all the makings of a shootout. If the Saints can beat out the Patriots, they only have one team left on their schedule that has a winning record so they could possibly run the table and the match the Patriots 16-0 mark from 2007.

Keys To Victory:

The keys to victory for the Saints will be the ability to contain Randy Moss and Wes Welker as the Patriots average over 300 yards passing per game. Another key has to be the ability to disguise their defensive coverage against Brady as he is one of the most accurate passers in the game today. If given too much time, Brady can shred up any secondary in the league. One of the keys to victory for the Patriots will be their ability to generate a pass rush against Brees. New England will also have to be good against the run as the Saints average over 150 yards per game on the ground.

Prediction:

While these two offenses are two of the most prolific this year, this game will come down to the play of the defenses. If the Patriots can shut down the running game of the Saints, they should win this one. However, if the Saints' secondary can minimize the number of big plays between with Randy Moss and Wes Welker, they should remain undefeated. Pick: Saints 38, Patriots 34.

Source:
www.nfl.com