The New Orleans Saints (4-0) and their explosive offense took down the New York Jets (3-1) and their stellar defense.  It was not the Saints’ offense that won it for them, but it was in fact the defense.  Darren Sharper was the catalyst, as he finally made Jets’ rookie quarterback Mark Sanchez look like a rookie.  Sharper picked Sanchez twice and ran one of them 99 yards for a touchdown.  The Saints got another defensive score when Will Smith sacked Sanchez who fumbled the ball in the end-zone and Remi Ayodele recovered it for the touchdown.  The Saints sacked Sanchez four times in the game and the sack and score in the end-zone was a huge play, especially since the Jets seemingly took all of the momentum the series right before that when they stuffed the Saints on the goal line.

The Saints offense finally got in the end-zone late in the 4th quarter when Pierre Thomas ran it in one-yard for the score.  This was a big touchdown, as it gave them breathing room and put the Saints up by two scores.  Thomas has done a great job carrying the load with Mike Bell out with a knee injury and finished the day with 86 yards and a touchdown on 19 carries (4.5 avg).  Drew Brees did a good job not trying to force anything and finished with 190 yards on 20/32 pass attempts (63%).  If the Saints defense can continue this type of play they are going to have a great shot at winning the Super Bowl.  The Saints have a bye next week.

The New Orleans Saints (3-0) are going up against another undefeated squad as they host the New York Jets (3-0) this week.  The Saints offense has been pretty much unstoppable so far this season and have yet to trail in any game.  The Jets and their rookie quarterback Mark Sanchez have been very strong thus far as well, but have not looked as good as the dominant Saints.

The offense should not be a problem for the Saints, but don’t expect them to put up nearly 50 points like in the first two weeks.  This will be the best defense the Saints have faced so far and their passing game last week against Buffalo looked nothing like the first two weeks.  Quarterback Drew Brees had no touchdowns after having nine through the first two games, and only passed for 172 yards on 16/29 attempts (55%).  The Saints running game picked up the slack though and they rushed for 222 yards, with Pierre Thomas doing a great job filling in for the injured Mike Bell (who is still out this week with a knee injury) going for 126 yards with two touchdowns on 14 carries (9.0 avg), all in the second half.

The Saints defense has been doing a very good job, especially at stopping the run.  A lot of that has to do with the Saints offense though, as they do a good job controlling time of possession and teams are always playing catch-up, forcing them to pass more.  The Saints need to try and pressure the rookie Sanchez into playing more like a rookie.

The Jets’ RB Thomas Jones got almost nothing on the ground last week and has been splitting the carries with Leon Washington, who was much more effective than Jones last week.  They can be a dangerous combo though, so the Saints need to get an early lead like they have been all year and force the rookie quarterback to make plays.  I think the Jets defense will be able to limit the powerful Saints offense some-what, but the Jets will not get enough out of their offense and will fall to the Saints.

FINAL SCORE PREDICTION:  Saints 28, Jets 20

Mike Bell was outstanding this season as he replaced the injured Pierre Thomas.  But, he then got hurt himself and then Thomas returned and had a monster game.  So it’s likely back to the bench for Bell but the Saints have to feel really good about the depth situation at RB.  Bell has carried the ball 45 times for 229 yards (5.1 ypc) with 1 TD run.  He has also caught 1 pass for 9 yards this season. 

Marques Colston was injured last season and he never seemed to get in rhythm with Drew Brees.  That’s not the case this season and the Saints are expecting a huge season from Colston.  He has caught 15 passes for 195 yards (13.0 avg) with 3 TD grabs this year.  Look for Colston to have a monster season as long as he can stay healthy as Brees has been looking for him early and often in games.