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The road to Indianapolis for the New Orleans Saints begins this weekend. New Orleans would love to get last year’s playoff loss out of their mouth.
An eleven win Saints team went to a seven win Seattle Seahawks team and run off the field in a 41-36 loss. The Seahawks ran for 150 yards as a team and forced New Orleans to kick field goals.
This season, the Saints won 13 games and will host a first round playoff game against the Detroit Lions. New Orleans has to be one of the top five home field advantages for a team in the NFL.
The Superdome is loud and the Saints fans stay rowdy from start to finish. Few cities have a love affair with a professional team like the city of New Orleans.
New Orleans used that home advantage in the regular season to a perfect 8-0 record. The Saints’ offense is nearly unstoppable at home but struggles on the road.
Even defensively the Saints play better in the Superdome than they do on the road. That defense feeds off the home crowd like nearly no other team in the NFL.
Even if they have to hit the road for the rest of the playoffs, New Orleans can set the playoff tone at home this Saturday against the Detroit Lions.
If you are a Detroit Lions fan, you have to be happy about this season. After over a decade of horrible football, the Lions are finally a good team again.
Detroit has drafted well and it is starting to show this season. Matthew Stafford was able to stay healthy and lead one of the most explosive offenses in the NFL.
Calvin Johnson (wide receiver) is a threat to score on any play from anywhere on the field. The biggest weakness of this team is the running game.
The Lions are 29th ranked team in the NFL in rushing. Detroit only averages 95.2 yards per game. Meaning the passing game, which is ranked 4th in the NFL at 301 yards per game, must win games.
New Orleans will counter this explosive offense with the 24th ranked overall defense. The Saints defense is good against the run only giving up 108.6 yards per game rushing (12th ranked) but gives up 260 yards passing (30th ranked) per game.
To be fair the Saints might be 30th in the NFL against the pass but the two teams ranked behind New Orleans are New England (31st) and Green Bay (32nd). Every NFC team in the playoffs is ranked 20th (Atlanta) or worst against the pass.
Detroit has the 23rd overall ranked defense in the NFL. This Lions team is giving up 128.1 yards per game on the ground (23rd ranked) and 239 yards through the air (22nd ranked).
This Lions defense will have to try to find a way to stop the NFL’s best offense. New Orleans is ranked first in the NFL on offense averaging 467.1 yards per game.
That is 39.1 yards more than second place (New England) and 62 yards more than third place (Green Bay) does per game. That just shows you how explosive the Saints offense is each time they take the field.
Read the rest of this post on JFPSports.com.
