New Orleans Saints: Will Road Troubles Be Too Much to Overcome?
If the playoffs were to start today, the New Orleans Saints, the leaders in the NFC South, would be the fourth seed. Luckily for the Who Dat nation, the playoffs do not start today because the Saints would have to win two road playoff games to make a return trip to the Super Bowl. If you have been watching New Orleans thus far, you would know that they do not play consistently well on the road.
The Saints are 2-3 away from the Mercedes Benz Superdome this year, with losses to the St. Louis Rams, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and the Green Bay Packers. Now, losing in Lambeau Field to Rodgers and company by eight points is pretty good; however, losing to the Rams by 10 is very bad.
With all that being said, the Saint cannot lose the rest of the season if they want home field advantage through out the playoffs. Even if they did that, they still might end up as the second seed behind the Packers.
At home this year, the Saints have been unstoppable with wins against the Chicago Bears, the Houston Texans, the Indianapolis Colts and the Bucs. The offense has averaged nearly 40 points a game, including a record-setting 62 point outburst against the Colts. Jonathan Vilma and the defense have also played quite well in the black-and-gold’s home games.
The defensive unit has only allowed opponents to score 17 points a game, and accumulate 334 total yards of offense. Also, they have turned in two good performances against the Bears, where Forte was held to under 50 yards on the ground, and the Bucs.
New Orleans has four home games remaining against the Carolina Panthers, the Detroit Lions, the Atlanta Falcons and the New York Giants. Even though the Saints have some tough matchups, I think they will remain undefeated at home. I am not worried about the team playing well in New Orleans, but road games versus the Minnesota Vikings, the Tennessee Titans and the Falcons are terrifying.
No need to explain the worry about the upcoming matchup in Atlanta with the division rival Falcons. It is always tough winning in the Georgia Dome.
The Vikings and the Titans may not have stellar records this year, but make no mistake; those games will not be easy for the Saints.
Both of the aforementioned teams have a rushing attack that could cause problems for the black-and-gold. The Vikings and Adrian Peterson are currently ranked fourth in the league. Now, the Titans are dead last right now, but Chris Johnson still has talent. It would not be shocking to see him have a great game versus the Saints, who has trouble stopping the run.
A victory against the Falcons on Sunday will be the first step in the Saints return to Super Bowl glory.
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