The New Orleans Saints are back on track after beating the Bears and Texans the last two weeks.  The Jaguars are heading in the other direction as they have lost two games in a row by a combined score of 48-13!  Here is a look at the matchups in this game:

When the Saints have the ball:  The Saints might try to run the ball a little more this weekend than they have been.  Mark Ingram, Pierre Thomas and Darren Sproles will have to deal with the stubborn Jaguars’ D that is only allowing 83.7 yards rushing per game and 3.4 yards per carry.  That will likely force Drew Brees to take it to the air this Sunday.  The Jaguars only have 3 sacks this year, so Brees is going to have time to look over the field and that’s bad news for the home team.  Brees will spread the ball around to Devery Henderson, Lance Moore, Robert Meachem, Jimmy Graham and Darren Sproles in the passing game, and he’s going to have success.

When the Jaguars have the ball:  The Jaguars are going to feed the ball to Maurice Jones-Drew in this game, so the Saints will have to stop him and force rookie QB Blaine Gabbert to beat them with his arm.  Gabbert will be taking aim at a Saints’ D that is giving up 282.0 yards passing per game so far this year.  It’s too bad that he doesn’t have many weapons at WR or TE to really help him.  I think the Saints are going to give the rookie QB fits this Sunday, as they already have 10 sacks so far this year.

PREDICTION:  SAINTS 30, JAGUARS 10

The Saints have signed 28-year old G/T Pat McQuistan.  He is a big guy at 6’6″, 319 pounds.  McQuistan played in 16 games (8 starts) for the Dolphins last year.  He has now played in 56 games (8 starts) in his first five years in the NFL.  McQuistan will provide depth at both guard and tackle for the Saints going forward.

28-year old safety Roman Harper has been a force on defense for the Saints so far this year.  He has played in all 3 games for the Saints so far this year and he has 23 tackles, 2.5 sacks, 1 pass defensed and 1 forced fumble.  Harper has now played in 70 games in his first six years with the Saints and he has 429 tackles, 34 passes defensed, 4 interceptions (1 returned for a TD), 12 sacks, 13 forced fumbles, 1 fumble recovery and 18 tackles for a loss.  Harper has been an enforcer for the Saints his whole career and they need him to keep up the good work.

The Saints have placed 25-year old kicker Garrett Hartley on Injured Reserve due to his hip injury, as he is now officially done for the year.  41-year old kicker John Kasay has made this decision a rather easy one based on his performance so far this year.  Kasay has played in all 3 of the Saints’ games so far this year and he has connected on all six of his field goal attempts and all 10 of his extra points.  Kasay has already scored 28 points for the Saints so far this year and that’s pretty impressive.  The Saints didn’t want to keep two kickers on the roster for the next few weeks and that’s why they placed Hartley on I.R. and it was the right move.

The New Orleans Saints scored 23 points in the 4th quarter to surge to a nice home win over the Texans.  Drew Brees completed 31 of 44 passes for 370 yards with 3 TD passes and 2 INTs in this game.  Mark Ingram (9 carries, 38 yards and a TD) and Pierre Thomas (7 carries for 28 yards) led the way on the ground for the Saints in this game.  Darren Sproles carried the ball 2 times for 35 yards (17.5 ypc) with 1 TD run and he also caught 6 passes for 50 yards (8.3 avg).  TE Jimmy Graham led the way in the passing game for the Saints with 4 grabs for 100 yards (25.0 avg) with 1 TD grab.  WRs Lance Moore (9 rec, 88 yards, TD), Devery Henderson (3 rec, 62 yards) and Robert Meachem (5 rec, 51 yards, TD) also had solid games for the Saints yesterday.  The Saints finished up with 100 yards rushing on 22 carries (4.5 ypc) and they also completed 31 of 44 passes (70.5%) for 354 yards as they had possession of the ball for 29:54.

The Saints didn’t play much defense yesterday against the Texans.  LB Jo-Lonn Dunbar led the way for the Saints’ D yesterday with 10 tackles and 2 passes defensed.  Safety Roman Harper (7 tackles and 1 pass defensed) and CB Jabari Greer (3 tackles, 2 passes defensed and 1 interception) also pitched in for the Saints in this game.  The Texans finished up with 109 yards rushing on 25 carries (4.4 ypc) and they completed 22 of 39 passes for 364 yards.  The Saints are now 2-1 on the year.

This could be an epic game between two high powered offense this Sunday in New Orleans.  The Saints would be smart to try to run the ball a little more often than usual to keep their defense off the field.  Here is a look at the matchups in this game:

When the Saints have the ball:  The Saints don’t likely want to get into a fire fight with the Texans this Sunday.  They need to find a running game and they will likely test the middle of the Texans’ D with handoffs to Mark Ingram and Pierre Thomas.  The Texans are giving up 109.5 yards rushing and 4.9 yards per carry so far this year, so the Saints could have success on the ground.  The Texans are a heavy blitzing team and with that in mind, I look for the Saints to run some screen passes to Darren Sproles to attack the perimeter of the Texans’ D.  The Saints aren’t going to forget about the passing game though, and why would they?  WRs Devery Henderson, Robert Meachem and Lance Moore are going to attack a Texans’ secondary that is only giving up 162.5 yards passing per game this year.  Brees is no Chad Henne or Kerry Collins though.  The Saints will also attack the middle of the Texans’ D with TE Jimmy Graham.

When the Texans have the ball:  The Saints are likely to play the run on the way to the QB.  The Saints are only giving up 81.5 yards rushing per game so far this year, but 4.2 yards per carry.  I’m sure the Texans are going to challenge the Saints’ front seven with a heavy dose of RB Ben Tate, who already has 219 yards rushing so far this year.  The Saints have 8 sacks this year and they will need to get after Matt Schaub, because the Saints are giving up 241 yards passing per game this year.  WRs Andre Johnson and Jacoby Jones are true gamebreakers and they are going to give the Saints’ corners fits this Sunday.  The Saints will also have to deal with TE Owen Daniels who is one of the most underrated players at his position in the league.

PREDICTION:  SAINTS 30, TEXANS 24

32-year old QB Drew Brees has been playing excellent ball for the Saints so far this year.  He has played in both games for the Saints so far this year and he has completed 58 of 86 passes (67.4%) for 689 yards with 6 TD passes and 0 INTs (114.9 QB Rating).  Brees has also carried the ball 2 times for 5 yards (2.5 ypc) so far this year.  The Saints will go as far this year as Drew Brees will take them.

The Saints dominated the Bears yesterday in New Orleans.  Drew Brees was very solid in this game as he completed 26 of 37 passes for 270 yards with 3 TD passes and 0 INTs.  Mark Ingram led the way on the ground for the Saints in this game with 51 yards rushing on 14 carries (3.6 ypc) but he lost a fumble.  Pierre Thomas pitched in with 9 carries for 41 yards (4.6 ypc) and 2 catches for 14 yards (7.0 avg).  Darren Sproles only carried the ball 4 times for 17 yards (4.3 ypc) and he caught 8 passes for 43 yards (5.4 avg) with 1 TD grab.  WR Devery Henderson led the way in the passing game for the Saints with 3 grabs for 103 yards (34.3 avg) including a 79-yard TD grab.  TE Jimmy Graham (6 rec, 79 yards) and WR Robert Meachem (4 rec, 10 yards, TD) also had big games for the Saints.  The Saints finished up with 118 yards rushing on 29 carries (4.1 ypc) and they also completed 26 of 37 passes (70.3%) for 264 yards as they had possession of the ball for 36:14.

The defense was outstanding for the Saints against the Bears.  Safety Roman Harper had a huge game for the Saints as he finished up with 7 tackles, 2 tackles for a loss, 2 sacks and 2 QB hits.  LB Jonathan Vilma (3 tackles, 1 fumble recovery) and DE Junior Galette (2 tackles, 2 tackles for a loss, 2 sacks and 3 QB hits) also had good games for the Saints.  The Bears finished up with 60 yards rushing on 12 carries (5.0 ypc) and they also completed 19 of 45 passes (42.2%) for 186 yards.  The Saints are now 1-1 on the year.

This is going to be another good game this Sunday in New Orleans.  The Saints have had a very extra days to get ready for the Bears, and that is a good thing.  Here is a look at the matchups in this game:

When the Saints have the ball:  The Bears gave up 7.9 yards per carry to the Falcons last weekend, so look for the Saints to run the ball a lot more than they did against the Packers.  Mark Ingram and Pierre Thomas will take turns testing Brian Urlacher, Lance Briggs and the rest of the Bears’ D.  Drew Brees is going to have to get rid of the ball quickly as the Bears had 5 sacks last weekend against the Falcons.  That means that TE Jimmy Graham is likely going to have a lot of passes thrown his way as he will challenge safeties Chris Harris and Major Wright of the Bears.  Make no mistake though, Brees is going to take his shots down the field to Lance Moore, Devery Henderson and Robert Meachem.

When the Bears have the ball:  The Bears are likely going to spread the Saints’ D out with WRs Earl Bennett, Roy Williams, Johnny Knox and Devin Hester just like the Packers did last week.  The Saints are going to have to find a way to get to Bears’ QB Jay Cutler, who was sacked 5 times last week by the Falcons.  If he has time to throw the ball, the Saints could be in big trouble this weekend.  MLB Jonathan Vilma and the rest of the front seven will have to bring their A-Game in dealing with Matt Forte in this game.  Forte touched the ball 21 times (16 rushes and 5 receptions) for 158 total yards with 1 TD.

PREDICTION:  SAINTS 27, BEARS 23

With Marques Colston out of action for the next 4 weeks due to injury, they need 29-year old WR Devery Henderson to step up.  He played well in the season opener against the Packers as he caught 6 passes for 100 yards (16.7 avg).  Henderson has the speed to get down the field, but the Saints are also going to need him to catch shorter passes and take some hits which isn’t his strong point.  Henderson is in line to top his career highs of 51 catches, 804 yards and 5 TD grabs as long as he can stay healthy.