The Kevin Buckles Report - Saints Playoff Preview
Saints Playoff Preview
WILD CARD MATCHUP
The high octane New Orleans Saints are going into the playoffs as the hottest team in the league, on an 8-game winning streak, outscoring opponents by an average of 17 points during that span. They will host the young and explosive Detroit Lions on Saturday in the Mercendez-Benz Superdome, in what looks to be a shootout game. The Saints previously beat the Lions just a month ago 31-17, but the Lions were without their biggest defensive presence Ndamokung Suh. Matt Stafford is coming off a spectacular season as well, throwing for over 5,000 yards in just his third season as a pro, and coming off a game vs. the Packers where he threw for 520 yards and five touchdown passes. His top receiving threat, and arguably the best wide receiver in football, Calvin Johnson, will also be licking his chops at having a bigger game vs. the Saints after being a non-factor the first time around during the regular season. This will be no cakewalk for New Orleans, so they need to prepare accordingly to avoid a consecutive Wild Card playoff game loss.
DIVISIONAL PLAYOFF MATCHUP
If the Saints are victorious against the Lions they will travel to San Francisco to face the 13-3 49ers and their top tier defense. The Niners have been arguably the most fundamentally-sound team in the NFL. Defensively, they rank fourth in total defense and first in rushing defense, allowing only 77 yards per game. They’ve also only allowed two rushing touchdowns the entire season, including an astounding 14 straight games without allowing one at all. Offensively, they’ve committed a league-low 10 turnovers, contributing to the 49ers’ exceptional turnover ratio, +28. Drew Brees and the offense are on an unbelievable tear this season, and they’ll produce points enough points to win the game, so it’ll be the Saints’ defensive execution that’ll be a key to victory for them. If they are able to continue to take away the running-game like they’ve been doing, forcing the Niners offensive to become pass-happy, it’ll be a much easier battle for the Who-Dats.
CONFERENCE CHAMPIONSHIP MATCHUP
The matchup that the majority of America would love to see resurface in the playoffs, is the Packers vs. Saints. Two high-powered offenses, with two future hall of fame quarterbacks, fighting for the right to represent the NFC in the Super Bowl, would be a game for the ages. And quite frankly, New Orleans has wanted another shot at the cheeseheads since Week 1’s loss in Green Bay. This game would most definitely be an offensive shootout, possibly even it coming down to which offense has the ball last. Special teams (as ironic as it sounds) will probably be the biggest key in the game however, as it was in Week 1 with there being two special team touchdowns. The cold Green Bay weather will also play a part, seeing that New Orleans is a “dome team”, but it has consistently been failed to mention that the Saints have ran the exceptional all year long finishing six in the league with over 130 yards gained per game, and are believe it or not, better built for winter football. The Saints being able to run the ball effectively means that they will be able to dictate time of possession, as well as keeping Aaron Rodgers and company off of the field which is the best defense against any high-powered offense.
There’s also a slim chance that the Packers slip up in the divisional rounds leaving the Saints to be hosting either the Giants or Falcons in the NFC Championship. With that game being in the Superdome, I’d fully expect the Saints to dominate as they’ve done year-long, (including beating the Giants AND Falcons by a combined score of 90-42 in the dome) and advancing to the Super Bowl.
SUPERBOWL
Heading into the Superbowl, the Saints would undoubtedly be the hottest, most confident team in the game despite whoever they are facing. They’re opponent would most likely be between the Patriots, Ravens, or Steelers. Out of the three teams, the Saints would definitely want to face the Patriots. Despite finishing the regular season 13-3 as the AFC’s number-one seed, their defense was atrocious to say the least, and they did not beat a team with a winning record all season long. Quarterbacks such as, Dan Orlovsky, Rex Grossman, Matt Moore, and Ryan Fitzpatrick all put up All-Pro-like numbers against the Pats defense this season. This team still does have Tom Brady at the helm, who has the ability to single-handedly keep his team in the game despite their shortcomings. But he can’t play defense which would ultimately be the Pats’ downfall, especially going up against, statistically, the best offense in NFL History in the Saints.
If the Steelers were able to make the Superbowl, they’d come into it limping. Ben Roethlisberger has been dealing with a severe high ankle sprain for the last month or so, hindering his play, Rashard Mendenhall has been lost for the postseason with a torn knee ligament, and a large amount of key defensive players have been dealing with “nick-nack” injuries as well. Nevertheless, this team has been-there-done-that and has the kind of grit, passion, and perseverance that all champions possess. The Saints would have a slight advantage as far as their talent and ability to execute, however, this prideful Pittsburgh team would certainly not go down without a fight, especially coming off of a Superbowl loss just last year.
The Ravens would probably be the Saints worst nightmare in the Super Bowl. On defense, they have All-Pro leaders at every level who can dominate a game their lonesome; Haloti Ngata, Terrell Suggs, Ray Lewis, and Ed Reed. Those guys will give Brees all they have as they did in the 2010 season in Baltimore when they got the win. As far as their offense, it all starts and finishes with Ray Rice. He is a threat in the running game and the passing, and if the Saints weren’t able to at least contain him, it would be a long night. The Saints defense’ best bet would be to force Joe Flacco to beat them. He has had a solid year and has really got acclimated with his tight ends and newly-acquired rookie deep threat, Torrey Smith, which makes their offense that much more dangerous. Flacco has been criticized a good amount in his four-year tenure in the NFL, and would definitely have to rise to the occasion in the big dance. New Orleans’ biggest advantage however, would be the fact that the Superbowl would be played in a dome, where they are most comfortable and where they execute best in. The fact that Drew Brees does have Superbowl experience has a significant advantage too, as he knows what it takes to lead his team to victory.
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