The Saints head into the bye week with an 0-3 record having been outscored 103-38!  The Saints have huge problems on both sides of the football.  QB Drew Brees is a mess this season.  He has completed 83 of 130 passes (63.8%) for 677 yards with 1 TD pass and 7 interceptions (57.1 QB Rating).  The Saints also have huge problems at running back as Deuce McAllister is out for the rest of the season.  It will be up to Reggie Bush now to back up all the hype he gets.  He has carried the ball 29 times for 80 yards (2.8 ypc) with 2 TD runs and he has caught 16 passes for 70 yards (4.4 avg).  The Saints also need a WR to step up on the other side of Marques Colston or teams will double cover him and take him out of the offense.

The Saints thought they improved the defense in the draft and free agency….but they have been awful on that side of the football.  The Saints only have 1 interception and 0 sacks this season.  Opposing teams are passing for 239 yards per game and they have a QB Rating of 123.4 against the Saints defense!  The Saints are also having problems stopping the run as teams’ are averaging 116.3 yards per game against them.

The Saints have lost starting cornerback Jason David for the next 4-6 weeks after he fractured his left forearm against the Titans on Monday Night.  David has made a lot of big plays (both bad ones and good ones) for the Saints this season as he has 12 tackles, a fumble recovery (returned for a TD) and 1 interception.  The Saints will use the bye week to figure out who will start in David’s place.  The competitors for the job will be the favorite Jason Craft (9 tackles), the rookie Usama Young (2 tackles) and Fred Thomas who was a starter last season who was repeatedly torched late in the season.

The Saints have lost running back Deuce McAllister for the rest of the season with a torn ACL.  This hurts the Saints offense big time as they don’t have a running back to get a tough yard when they need it.  McAllister carried the ball 24 times for 92 yards (3.8 ypc) this season and he also caught 4 passes for 15 yards (3.8 avg).  Look for Reggie Bush and Aaron Stecker to carry more of the load in the running game now.  Bush has not played well this season as he has carried the ball 29 times for 80 yards (2.8 ypc) with 2 TD runs and he also has caught 16 passes for 70 yards (4.4 avg).  The Saints need much more from Bush who will likely be their feature back in the running game.  Aaron Stecker will also have his role likely expanded as he carried the football 5 times for 27 yards (5.4 ypc) so far this season and he has also caught 4 passes for 34 yards (8.5 avg).  McAllister is not replaceable and the Saints offense will likely suffer unless Bush lives up to all of the hype.

The Saints basically got their asses handed to them by the Titans tonight.  Drew Brees did his best Rex Grossman imitation as he completed 29 of 45 passes for 225 yards with 4 interceptions and he also lost a fumble!  Reggie Bush didn’t do jack either as he carried the football 7 times for 15 yards (2.1 ypc) with 2 TD runs and he also caught 6 passes for 20 yards (3.3 avg).  Deuce McAllister got injured in the first half of the game and he finished with 4 carries for 5 yards (1.3 ypc) and he also caught 1 pass for 1 yard.  Marques Colston (4 rec, 68 yards), Lance Moore (6 rec, 54 yards) and TE Eric Johnson (5 rec, 23 yards) all did their parts to help the offense.  The Saints finished up with 34 yards rushing on 16 carries (2.1 ypc) and they completed 29 of 45 passes for 218 yards.

The defense was pretty solid for the Saints despite the final score.  A lot of the Titans’ points were set up by turnovers.  Safety Josh Bullocks and linebacker Scott Fujita led the way for the Saints defense with 9 tackles apiece.  The Saints held the Titans to 98 yards rushing on 34 carries (2.9 ypc).  But the Titans completed 18 of 26 passes for 186 yards.

http://scores.espn.go.com/nfl/boxscore?gameId=270924018

The Saints desperately need a win as they are 0-2 and this will be their first home game of the season so they should be inspired to play well.  The Titans are 1-1 on the season and they are the kind of physical football team that gives the finesse Saints team fits.   The Titans will attack the Saints on the ground as the Saints are allowing 125.5 yards rushing per game.  Chris Brown (209 yards rushing), LenDale White (130 yards rushing) and Vince Young (75 yards rushing) will likely follow their offensive line right down the field as the Saints linebackers are soft.  Look for the Titans to take a few shots down the field to Brandon Jones and Roydell Williams as the Saints allow opposing QBs to have a 137.1 Rating.

The Saints will likely try to pass to take advantage of the Titans secondary which is allowing 248.5 yards passing per game.  The Saints would like to get the lead in the air and then grind out a victory on the ground with Reggie Bush and Deuce McAllister.  If the Saints get the lead early it will take the Titans out of their preferred mode of transportation on offense which is the running game.

PREDICTION:  I think the Saints will play a good football game on Monday Night and I think the crowd will inspire them to win the game by a field goal.

 

Drew Brees has looked pretty awful so far this season for the Saints.  He has completed 54 of 85 passes (63.5%) for 452 yards with 1 TD pass and 3 interceptions (66.4 QB Rating) so far this season.  It’s not all Brees’ fault however as the Saints have fallen behind quickly and forced him into obvious passing situations.  Until the Saints start playing better defense they will be playing from behind often which will make it hard for Brees to succeed.

The Saints failed to show up Sunday and they got blasted again!  It’s one thing to get beat by the Colts on the road but if the Saints are again to be a playoff team they have to beat the bad teams on the road.  Drew Brees was much better Sunday against the Bucs than he was against the Colts.  He completed 26 of 44 passes for 260 yards with 1 TD pass and 1 interception.  The Saints running game never got going for the 2nd week in a row.  Deuce McAllister carried the ball 10 times for 49 yards (4.9 ypc).  Reggie Bush pitched in with 10 carries for 27 yards (2.7 ypc) and he also caught 6 passes for 43 yards (7.2 avg).  Fullback Mike Karney pitched in with 3 carries for 13 yards (4.3 ypc) with a TD run.  Marques Colston had a solid game for the Saints with 8 receptions for 70 yards (8.8 avg) with a TD catch.  David Patten also made 2 nice catches for 66 yards.  The Saints finished up with 99 yards rushing on 26 carries (3.8 ypc) and they also completed 26 of 44 passes for 244 yards.

The Saints defense was much better against the run as they held the Bucs to 87 yards rushing on 32 carries (2.7 ypc).  But, they once again couldn’t stop opposing receivers from making big plays as Joey Galloway caught 4 passes for 135 yards (33.8 avg) with 2 TD grabs.  The Bucs completed 10 of 16 passes for 243 yards.

http://scores.espn.go.com/nfl/boxscore?gameId=270916027

The New Orleans Saints are looking to rebound from the 41-10 beat down that the Colts applied to them on opening night.  The Bucs are also trying to get on the winning track as they were soundly beaten 20-6 last week in Seattle.  The Saints will likely try to get their running game going early against the Bucs.  Reggie Bush will likely challenge OLBs Derrick Brooks and Cato June on the edges of the defense and Deuce McCallister will take on Barrett Ruud on the inside.  The Bucs allowed 139 yards rushing on 34 carries (4.1 ypc) against the Seahawks last week so the Saints should find running room.  The Bucs will likely be without starting cornerback Brian Kelly so look for the Saints to try to stretch the defense with Brees throwing deep more this week to Marques Colston and Devery Henderson.  The safeties of the Bucs will also have to be sharp as TE Eric Johnson was the Saints leading receiver last week with 8 catches for 57 yards (7.1 avg).

The Bucs would really like to run the football this week but Cadillac Williams is doubtful with a rib injury.  That means Michael Pittman and Earnest Graham would likely have to carry the load in the running game.  Pittman is an underrated football player but he probably doesn’t strike fear in the Saints defense.  The Saints did allow 164 yards rushing on 29 carries (5.7 ypc) last week to the Colts but the Bucs don’t have Joseph Addai so the Saints aren’t likely too concerned about it.  QB Jeff Garcia will be looking to match up WR Joey Galloway against CB Jason David who allowed 3 TDs last week but the Saints will likely have a lot of help over the top against him. 

PREDICTION:  The Saints swept the Bucs last season by a combined score of 55-35 including a 31-14 beat down in Tampa.  The Bucs just have too many problems on offense to think they can deal with the Saints.  The Saints will win this football game by at least a TD.

The Saints have signed veteran DE Renaldo Wynn.  Wynn played in 15 games last season for the Redskins and he made 15 tackles.  Wynn has now played in 152 career games and he has made 240 tackles, has 21.5 sacks, forced 6 fumbles and defensed 3 passes.  He will serve as a backup to Will Smith and Charles Grant.

I know it’s a little too late to make this bet.  But if I could, I would take the over despite how awful they looked against the Colts last Thursday Night.  The defense will be better as it is hard to judge a team by how they play against Indianapolis.  Also, the Saints offense will be fine.