Why the Saints will Win

Welcome back to part two of my three part Super Bowl series.  Today I will be putting on my Saints hat and giving you reasons why I think the Saints will be holding the trophy at the end of Sunday’s game.

If you need reasons to believe the Saints will win on Sunday, how’s this for a reason…Number 1 offense in the NFL.  Not only did they gain the most yards, but they also scored the most points.  The Saints were the only team in the league to average at least 30 points a game (31.9) this season.  They were also the only team in the NFL to average at least 400 yards per game (403.8).

Running this juggernaut of an offense is Drew Brees.  Brees led the NFL in passing rating with a 109.6 rating this season.  That’s better than Manning, better than Farve, better than Warner and Rogers and Rivers, better than everyone.  He threw for over 4300 yards and 34 touchdowns with only 11 interceptions.  He completed 70 percent of his passes this yard and he spreads the ball around.  Good luck trying to take away his go to receiver, the Saints had 7 guys with 35 catches or more and his leading receiver had only 70, and he threw touchdown passes to 10 different receivers.  Now that’s balance, you take away 1 guy and he’ll just find another.

And did I mention they can also run the ball.  The Saints don’t just get it done through the air.  As a team they ran for over 2100 yards and 21 touchdowns on the season, only one touchdown behind Miami and Baltimore for the league lead.  They also averaged 4.5 yards a carry.  Those are insane numbers for a “passing team.”  The rushing attack is as balanced as the passing attack.  Pierre Thomas was their leading rusher with 793 yards, Mike Bell had 654, and Reggie Bush had only 390 but he is a big play waiting to happen.  He had 84 yards and a touchdown (46 yarder) on just 5 carries and a punt return for a TD in the divisional playoff game against the Cardinals.

Back that up with the best offensive line in the league (3 of the 5 starters were named all-pros) and I think you have a pretty good formula for success.  Drew Brees gets the headlines, and deservedly so, but this Saints team is no one man show.  This is a team with a lot of weapons.  You don’t score 510 points in a season on accident

And don’t forget about the defense.  They may have been 25th in the league in yards allowed per game, but the opposing offense tends to get more chances when you have an offense like the Saints that can score so quickly.  One thing this defense can do is force turnovers.  They were second in the league with 39 forced turnovers, 13 fumble recoveries and 26 interceptions.  Peyton Manning will throw some interceptions, he had 16 this year, which is his highest total since 2002.  No one is better at disguising coverages in the secondary as the Saints.  Did you see what they did to Tom Brady and Kurt Warner?

The offense can put up points on anyone and the defense will be able to keep Manning off balance to start the game just like the Jets did, but unlike the Jets, the Saints have the offense to go for the throat and not settle for field goals.  Look for the Saints to force Manning into a couple of key turnovers.  He may figure the Saints defense out, but this time it will be a little too late.

I hope these last 2 articles got you thinking.  Make sure you come back tomorrow to read my final prediction for the big game.