NFL - Match Preview: New Orleans Saints vs Seattle Seahawks
Perhaps apart from the Seattle based publications, no one is giving the Seattle Seahawks a snowball’s chance in h**l of beating the New Orleans Saints. For good reason. They virtually have no chance of beating the defending champions this Saturday at home.
They barely made the playoffs and are the only team in NFL history to do so with a losing record.
For that team to then suddenly defeat a resurgent New Orleans side? Unlikely to say the least. They do have the home field advantage but it wasn’t much of an advantage in the regular season. At home, the Seahawks were beaten 0-3 by teams with winning records.
But that was the regular season. In the playoffs, the Seahawks haven’t been defeated at home since 2004.
The Saints won’t be taking them lightly. Far from it in fact. New Orleans' coach Sean Payton was impressed by what he saw in Seattle’s finale. The Seahawks won that game 6-16 to secure the division title. “I think just looking at the film,” coach Sean Payton
said, “they played real good team defence and I think they ran the ball better than they had in recent weeks.”
Running the ball better than they had before isn’t much of an accomplishment considering the fact that over the course of the regular season, the Seahawks averaged 89 yards per game. That makes them the second worst rushing side in the entire NFL. The run
is the one weak aspect of New Orleans’ defence. A little improvement from being practically the worst team isn’t going to be a particularly serious threat for Saints' defence.
What the Saints need to do is Seattle’s Leon Washington. The running back’s statistics might not seem impressive at a glance but those statistics don’t include Washington’s three kickoff return touchdowns in the regular season.
Whether it is Matt Hasselbeck or backup Charlie Whitehurst, Seattle’s quarterback is going to be under constant pressure. The Saints are led by none other than Drew Brees. The quarterback has thrown over four thousand six hundred yards and 33 touchdown passes.
His average passer ratings are a respectable 90.9 over the season. The quarterback has thrown far too many interceptions. Since week 11, after the bye, Brees has thrown 10 (of a total of 22) interceptions. In the same period, he has been sacked 12 times. There
have been problems for Brees but the Saints haven’t been adversely affected. While the quarterback threw interceptions, the touchdowns never stopped coming. Since the bye week, he has thrown 15 touchdowns and the Saints have lost just two games.
Matt Hasselbeck, the likely starter for the Seahawks might have been intercepted fewer times but he has thrown even fewer touchdown passes. He totals just 3,001 yards this season and with 17 touchdowns, his average passer ratings is just 73.2. The Saints
have an unmistakable advantage in the quarterback department.
The Seahawks would no doubt go back to their game against the Saints from the regular season to think up of a strategy that would work on Brees. The last time the two sides met, New Orleans quarterback threw four touchdown passes. Seattle’s defence barely
put any pressure on Brees and he wasn’t sacked in that game. Since then, he has been sacked at least once in every game.
The Saints have one of the best pass rushes in the league. They have accumulated 33 sacks in the regular season. In comparison, their offensive line has failed the quarterback just 26 times. Defensive coordinator Greg Williams has not been relying on just
the players on the line of scrimmage. 15 different players have a sack for New Orleans and that kind of defensive versatility puts a lot of pressure on their opponents’ quarterback. A little rushing by the Seahawks could go a long way in taking the pressure
off the quarterback.
Seattle’s best effort might still only be good for making sure they aren’t obliterated in their first playoff game. To beat the Saints, the Seahawks might have to do better than their best.
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