The New Orleans Saints have won 7 games in a row as they are rolling right now.  They need to win against the Panthers and get a Rams win over the 49ers to secure the #2 seed in the NFC.  So the Saints will be watching the scoreboard, and they will likely pull most of their starters out of the game if the Niners are blowing out the Rams.  The Panthers have won two games in a row and four of their last five games.  They have won their last two games by a combined score of 76-29!   The Saints won the first matchup, 30-27 in Carolina earlier this year.  Here is a look at the matchups in this game:

When the Saints have the ball:  The Saints aren’t going to change the offense this weekend.  The Panthers are giving up 236.0 yards passing per game so far this year so look for Drew Brees and Chase Daniel to pass a lot this weekend.  Marques Colston, Lance Moore and Jimmy Graham will also likely have short days in this game.  Robert Meachem and Devery Henderson could be in line for big games for the Saints this weekend.  The Saints will also likely give a quick hook to WRs Darren Sproles and Pierre Thomas…..with Chris Ivory shouldering a heavy workload this Sunday.

When the Panthers have the ball:  The Panthers are going to want to win this game in the worst way.  They have the weapons to give the Saints’ defense fits, especially if they rest some regulars.  Look for the Panthers to be pretty balanced in this game as the run and throw the ball very well.  DeAngelo Williams, Cam Newton and Jonathan Stewart are going to keep the Saints’ front seven really busy this Sunday.  The Saints are going to have to get after Cam Newton, or he’s going to have a big game throwing the ball.  WRs Steve Smith, Brandon LaFell and TEs Jeremy Shockey and Greg Olsen are going to give the Saints’ secondary fits in this game.

PREDICTION:  PANTHERS 31, SAINTS 23

The New Orleans Saints are sending five offensive players to the Pro Bowl.  It all starts with record setting 32-year old QB Drew Brees.  Brees has played in 15 games for the Saints so far this year and he has completed 440 of 622 passes (70.7%) for 5,087 yards with 41 TD passes and 13 INTs (108.4 QB Rating).  He has also carried the ball 20 times for 81 yards (4.1 ypc) with 1 TD grab so far this year.  25-year old TE Jimmy Graham will likely get to play some catch with Drew Brees in Hawaii in the Pro Bowl.  Graham has played in 15 games for the Saints so far this year and he has caught 91 passes for 1,213 yards (13.3 avg) with 10 TD grabs.  28-year old Jahri Evans and 26-year old Carl Nicks will be the starting guards in the Pro Bowl for the NFC.  27-year old OT Jermon Bushrod has also made it to the Pro Bowl as a reserve.  Evans, Nicks and Bushrod have all started all 15 games for the Saints so far this year.

The Saints blasted the Falcons last night while Drew Brees’ made NFL history.  Brees completed 23 of 39 passes for 307 yards with 4 TD passes and 2 INTs.  On his last pass of the night, Brees passed Dan Marino as the NFL’s all-time leading passer in a season.  Brees now has 5,087 yards passing as he broke Marino’s record of 5,084 yards, which stood for 27 years.  But, Brees is only 190 yards ahead of Tom Brady, and he has something to play for next weekend.  Darren Sproles was a beast as usual as he carried the ball 5 times for 67 yards (13.4 ypc) and he also caught 2 passes for 22 yards (11.0 avg) with 1 TD grab.  He also returned 4 kickoffs for 147 yards (36.8 avg) including one return that went for 92 yards.  Pierre Thomas also had a solid game with 9 carries for 53 yards (5.9 ypc) with 1 TD run and he also caught 2 passes for 4 yards.  Chris Ivory pitched in with 8 carries for 35 yards (4.4 ypc) in this game.  WR Marques Colston (7 rec, 81 yards, TD), Robert Meachem (3 rec, 75 yards, TD), Lance Moore (2 rec, 53 yards) and TE Jimmy Graham (4 rec, 42 yards, TD) led the way in the passing game for the Saints last night.  The Saints finished up with 164 yards rushing on 23 carries (7.1 ypc) and he also completed 23 of 39 passes (59%) for 299 yards as they had possession of the ball for 26:41.

The Saints gave up a lot of passing yards last night, but they made their fare share of good plays too.  CB Jabari Greer (10 tackles, 1 tackle for a loss and 1 pass defensed), LB Scott Shanle (7 tackles and 1 pass defensed) and LB Jonathan Vilma (7 tackles) led the way for the Saints’ on D in this game.  Safety Malcolm Jenkins recovered a fumble that he returned 30 yards for a TD.  The Falcons finished up with 35 yards rushing on 14 carries (2.5 ypc) and they also completed 40 of 61 passes (65.6%) for 434 yards.  The Saints are now 12-3 on the season.

The Saints and Falcons are both playing for playoff seeding, so expect a really good and high scoring game tonight.  The Saints have won six games in a row.  The Falcons have won two games in a row by a combined score of 72-37!  The Saints beat the Falcons in Atlanta, 26-23 in O.T. earlier this year.  Here is a look at the matchups in this game:

When the Saints have the ball:  The Saints are going to come out passing in this game, as usual.  The Falcons are going to be bringing some heat, so the O-Line is going to have to pick it up and give Drew Brees time to throw the ball.  The Falcons are giving up 230.6 yards passing so far this year, so Brees should have a good game.  He will spread the ball around as he has 7 receivers with at least 27 catches so far this year.  Darren Sproles, Pierre Thomas and Chris Ivory will lend ground support if the Falcons overplay the pass with a lot of extra DBs on the field.

When the Falcons have the ball:  The Saints’ front seven is going to have to step up if they are going to stop RB Michael Turner tonight.  That won’t be easy.  The Saints are also going to have to get after Falcons’ QB Matt Ryan.  If Ryan has time to throw the ball, the Saints could be in big trouble as they are giving up 256.1 yards passing per game so far this year.  Ryan has a lot of nice weapons to throw to in WRs Roddy White, Julio Jones, Harry Douglas and TE Tony Gonzalez.

PREDICTION:  SAINTS 33, FALCONS 30

The Saints destroyed the Vikings today as they never gave them much of a chance to compete.  Drew Brees was incredible in this game as he completed 32 of 40 passes for 412 yards with 5 TD passes and 0 INTs.  Chase Daniel finished up this game at QB by throwing 1 incomplete pass.  Chris Ivory led the way on the ground for the Saints in this game with 74 yards rushing on 18 carries (4.1 ypc).  Pierre Thomas pitched in with 8 carries for 44 yards (5.5 ypc) with 1 TD run and he also caught 2 passes for 41 yards.  Darren Sproles was effective also with 8 carries for 33 yards (4.1 ypc) and 5 grabs for 79 yards (15.8 avg) with 1 TD grab.  WR Marques Colston (8 rec, 91 yards), WR Lance Moore (5 rec, 91 yards, 2 TD grabs), TE Jimmy Graham (7 rec, 70 yards, TD) and TE John Gilmore (1 rec, 2 yards, TD) all were effective today for the Saints.  The Saints finished up with 161 yards rushing on 38 carries (4.2 ypc) and they also completed 32 of 41 passes (78%) for 412 yards as they had possession of the ball for 38:49.

The defense was very solid for the Saints today.  They racked up 4 sacks as a team today.  Safety Roman Harper (4 tackles, 1 sack, 1 tackle for a loss and 1 QB hit) and CB Jabari Greer (4 tackles) led the way for the Saints in this game on D.  The Vikings finished up with 105 yards rushing on 18 carries (5.8 ypc) and they also completed 14 of 32 passes (43.8%) for 102 yards in this game.  The Saints are now 11-3 on the year.

The Saints have won five games in a row as they are trying to overtake the 49ers for the #2 seed in the NFC Playoffs.  That makes this game a must win for the Saints.  They have been excellent indoors this year, which should negate the somewhat tough time they have had on the road this year.  The Vikings have lost five games in a row, but the last two ones have been close ones.  Here is a look at the matchups in this game:

When the Saints have the ball:  The Saints are likely to come out passing against the Vikings this Sunday.  The Vikings are giving up 248.8 yards passing per game and opposing QBs have a 107.1 Rating against them this year.  Brees will likely spread the ball around to his impressive cast of receivers as long as he has time to throw the ball.  The Vikings already have 40 sacks this year (17.5 by DE Jared Allen), so the Saints’ O-Line is going to get challenged.  The Saints’ RBs will have to fight for every yard as the Vikings are only giving up 3.7 yards per carry so far this year.

When the Vikings have the ball:  The Vikings are hoping to have Adrian Peterson back this weekend.  The Saints are giving up 110.3 yards rushing per game and 4.9 yards per carry so far this year, so Peterson could have a big game.  Vikings’ QBs have been sacked 41 times already this year so the Saints are going to be coming after Christian Ponder in an effort to try to force him into making mistakes.  The Saints are also going to have to focus on stopping WR Percy Harvin, who is a true gamebreaker at WR.

PREDICTION:  SAINTS 33, VIKINGS 20

32-year old QB Drew Brees continues to roll for the New Orleans Saints.  He has played in 13 games for the Saints so far this year and he has completed 385 of 543 passes (70.9%) for 4,368 yards with 32 TD passes and 11 INTs (105.9 QB Rating).  He has also carried the ball 17 times for 68 yards (4.0 ypc) with 1 TD run so far this year.  The Saints have turned into a great team from the day Drew Brees put on their uniform as they are 59-33 (64.1%) during the regular season in games started by him at QB.  Brees has now played in 92 games (all starts) in his career for the Saints and he has completed 2,405 of 3,556 passes (67.6%) for 27,286 yards with 187 TD passes and 90 INTs (97.4 QB Rating).  He has also carried the ball 144 times for 181 yards (1.3 ypc) with 4 TD runs so far in his career for the Saints.

The Saints got a rough fight out of the Titans yesterday, before finally putting them away.  Drew Brees was good, as usual, as he completed 36 of 47 passes for 337 yards with 2 TD passes and 0 INTs.  Chris Ivory led the way for the Saints on the ground with 53 yards rushing on 13 carries (4.1 ypc).  Darren Sproles pitched in with 33 yards rushing on 5 carries (6.6 ypc) and he also caught 7 passes for 58 yards (8.3 avg).  Pierre Thomas carried the ball 6 times for 22 yards (3.7 ypc) and he also caught 6 passes for 35 yards (5.8 avg).  WR Marques Colston (7 rec, 105 yards, 2 TD grabs) and TE Jimmy Graham (5 rec, 55 yards) led the way for the Saints in the passing game yesterday.  The Saints finished up with 114 yards on 26 carries (4.4 ypc) and they also completed 36 of 47 passes (76.6%) for 323 yards as they had possession of the ball for 37:33.

The Saints played solid on D in this game.  Safeties Malcolm Jenkins (10 tackles) and Roman Harper (6 tackles and 1 tackle for a loss) led the way for the Saints on D in this game.  LB Jo-Lonn Dunbar sacked Jake Locker on the last play of the game, inside the Saints’ 10-yard line, to save this game for the Saints.  He had 5 tackles, 1 sack, 1 tackle for a loss, 1 pass defensed and 1 QB hit against the Titans.  The Titans finished up with 59 yards rushing on 17 carries (3.5 ypc) and they also completed 18 of 36 passes (50%) for 314 yards.  The Saints are now 10-3 on the season.

The New Orleans Saints have won four games in a row as they are looking sharp right now.  But, the Saints are a very ordinary 3-3 on the road this year, where they have been outscored 159-154.  This is a big game for the Titans too.  The Titans have won two games in a row and they are still in the race to win the AFC South or a wildcard spot in the AFC.  Here is a look at the matchups in this game:

When the Saints have the ball:  The Saints are going to come out throwing the ball in this game.  If the O-Line give Drew Brees a lot of time, he’s going to have a great game.  He has been really focusing on getting the ball to TE Jimmy Graham and I look for that to continue this weekend as he will challenge the safeties of the Titans.  Brees has been spreading the ball around well to his WRs, keeping them all involved, making things really tough on opposing secondaries.  RB Darren Sproles has been really effective out of the backfield catching passes, putting a lot of pressure on LBs of the opposing defenses.  The Saints like to also grind the ball on the ground if they get a lead.  They will spread the ball around to Mark Ingram, Pierre Thomas and Darren Sproles in the running game and they should be effective as the Titans are giving up 121.8 yards rushing per game and 4.3 yards per carry.

When the Titans have the ball:  The Saints are going to have to try to gang up and stop Chris Johnson.  Johnson has averaged 121.5 yards rushing per game in the Titans’ last four games as he is starting to get into a good groove.  The Saints can allow Johnson to get going because it energizes the whole offense.  Matt Hasselbeck can’t match passes with Drew Brees, but he can definitely take advantage of a defense that is preoccupied with stopping the running game.  He has a solid set of WRs in Nate Washington, Lavelle Hawkins and Damian Williams.

PREDICTION:  SAINTS 27, TITANS 24

25-year old TE Jimmy Graham is having a huge breakout season for the Saints this year.  He has played in 12 games for the Saints so far this year and he has caught 75 passes for 1,046 yards (13.9 avg) with 8 TD grabs.  Graham has had four games this year already in which he has had 100+ receiving yards.  Saints’ QBs have completed 75 of 104 passes (72.1%) thrown in Graham’s direction so far this year, which is pretty amazing.  Graham has now played in 27 games in his first two years with the Saints and he has caught 106 passes for 1,402 yards (13.2 avg) with 13 TD grabs.