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5 things to look out for in Week 6

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Buffalo Bills, Kansas City Chiefs rematch and NFC East nail-biter standout in stacked Week 6 slate

1. Ravens travel to the big apple to play in-form Giants

The 4-1 New York Giants pulled off an impressive comeback win over the Packers in London last week, after Daniel Jones and Saquon Barkley came in clutch and Wink Martindale’s defense stepped up to shut down Rodgers and co when needed. 

Lamar Jackson’s Baltimore Ravens are in town and are hitting form at the right time, having just taken the lead of the AFC North after beating their divisional rival Bengals.

Contrary to their first two home games, the defense was able to eliminate big plays, more of that on Sunday will go a long way towards finding the consistency needed to contend in January.

2. Minnesota Vikings in Miami to play banged up Dolphins

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It’s perhaps the perfect time for Minnesota to play Mike McDaniel’s Dolphins, who could be missing multiple starters.

7th round rookie QB Skylar Thompson will make his first start for the Fins, after Teddy Bridgewater joined Tua Tagovailoa in concussion protocol this week, whilst Terron Armstead and Raheem Mostert are questionable and Austin Jackson and Byron Jones remain on IR.

The Vikings are looking hot right now, having won three close games in a row, righting last years wrongs as the team that lost the most games by one score in 2021.

3. Two LSU legends return to the state to face the New Orleans Saints

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LSU Tigers legends Joe Burrow and Jamarr Chase return to Louisiana on Sunday as their Cincinnati Bengals play the Saints at the Caesars Superdome, the very stadium where the Tigers became national champions.

New Orleans’ defensive line will be a tough test for a Bengals pass protection unit that has looked better in recent games, a great time to see where they’re at.

It’ll be intriguing to see what Dennis Allen does with Marshon Lattimore, will he shadow Chase, like he did Jefferson in London, or cover one of Higgins and Boyd, with the superstar WR being double covered. 

4. Chiefs and Bills back to play in rematch of the greatest playoff game. 

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The Kansas City Chiefs welcome the Buffalo Bills to Arrowhead in the rematch of the 2021 Divisional Round game, potentially the greatest contest we’ve ever seen.

Buffalo beefed up their pass-rush with Von Miller to get to Patrick Mahomes this year, whilst the home team used the cap space left after trading Tyreek to upgrade their own defense, one that needs to contain Josh Allen.

This one could be the game of the year, certainly the game of the week, why wouldn’t it be when it features the two most complete teams in the league, it’s a shame they can’t meet in the Super Bowl.

5. Cooper Rush’s Dallas Cowboys out to give rival Philadelphia Eagles their first loss

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In what could be Dallas’ final game without Dak Prescott they have a chance to go 5-1 and end their bitter rivals unbeaten start.

NBC has what may turn out to be one of the better primetime games we’ve seen this year, who would’ve thought that when the Cowboys were forced to turn to their backup QB.

With Micah Parsons good to go, Dallas has certainly got the defense to hamper Jalen Hurts and co, he’s turning into one of the best players in the whole league. 

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Five Things: Week 5 – New York Giants at Green Bay Packers

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The Giants returned to our shores this week and shocked everyone with a 27-22 come-from-behind victory over the Green Bay Packers. Let’s take a look at five things that stood out from London:

London Calling

The Giants must really love coming to London. Not only is the team now 3-0 in the city, but they’re also the only team to win three games in three different London stadiums (Wembley in 2007, Twickenham in 2016 and Tottenham this past weekend).

Despite being 3-1, the Giants opened as 7.5-point underdogs against Aaron Rogers and his Green Bay Packers team, and looking at the rosters, it was totally understandable. The Giants were without multiple starters, including starting defensive player Leonard Williams, and after the first half of the game went the way of the cheeseheads (and their huge following), the Giants rallied at half time. After shutting out Green Bay in the second half despite more injury woes, Big Blue scored two unanswered touchdowns via running backs Gary Brightwell and Saquon Barkley before Oshane Ximines sacked Rogers on the final play of the game.

Box of Tricks

The Wildcat formation was obviously something that the Giants had in their back pocket after successfully running it a few times last week. Due to injuries to both quarterbacks, that was a necessity last week; this week, it was more of an option to unsettle the Packers, and it worked.

Barkley lined up on his own 22-yard line, took the snap and darted through for 40 yards. Suddenly, the tails were up, and Big Blue had started to string something together. A few plays later, they found themselves on the cusp of the endzone. In what looked like a failed Philly special, Daniel Jones tossed it to Barkley, who then did the same to tight end Daniel Bellinger. Bellinger looked like he was going to throw the ball but decided to just barrel into the endzone for the Giants’ first touchdown of the game.

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2nd Half Shutout

Wink Martindale seems to use the first half as a learning session before executing his masterplan in the second half, and this time it was Rogers who was in the crosshairs. After Adoree Jackson was ruled out at the half with a knee injury, he was down to Fabian Moreau, Nick McCloud, and Justin Layne, three players who weren’t even on the Giants roster until after the preseason, but all three excelled in their next man up roles.

After completing 18 of 24 for 146 yards and two touchdowns in the first half, he was held to a paltry 7 of 15 for 76 yards and no touchdowns. The amazing thing at the end of all of this is that the only points scored by the Packers in the second half were done so by the Giants, as punter Jamie Gillian got to play a little bit of chase in the endzone before stepping out for a safety.

Slayton Shows Up

The Giants’ receivers had been the most underwhelming unit this season, and after the majority of the so-called big names had been ruled out by injuries, the Giants turned to fourth-year outcast Darius Slayton.

Slayton has found himself on the outside looking in since Brian Daboll and Joe Schoen took over and was touted as being an almost certain cut or trade candidate before the season.

Though he saw a return to the line-up last week, again he didn’t start as practice squad elevation Marcus Johnson started the game, but by the end, Slayton showed why it should be him next week. He led the team in both targets and receptions and comfortably had double the receiving yards of any other Giant receiver. With Kenny Golladay, Kadarius Toney and Wan’Dale Robinson unlikely to take the field together for at least a few more weeks, the Giants won’t think twice next time about relying on Slayton.

Coach(es) of the Year Incoming?

In their first year leading the team, general manager Joe Schoen, head coach Brian Daboll, offensive coordinator Mike Kafka, and defensive coordinator Wink Martingdale have had quite an eventful start to the season as the team has exceeded expectations to earn their 4-1 start.

Daboll and Schoen have overhauled the culture at the Giants, building a team that not only does the dirty, gritty work but genuinely looks like they are playing for each other. The old cliché is “next man up,” but this is a mantra they are playing by and, to a man, it is working.

The coordinators, as mentioned before, both got the absolute best out of the personnel at their disposal, whether it was Kafka getting creative with his play calling to bamboozle the Green Bay defense or Wink, despite missing key pieces, stifling Rogers’ air attack and holding the Packers’ dangerous rushing tandem of Aaron Jones and A.J. Dillon to a combined 97 yards.

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5 things to look out for in Week 5

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Aaron Rodgers’ Packers completing the London set, and a huge AFC North clash on SNF are standouts in an extra-long NFL Sunday

1. Green Bay Packers become 32nd team to play in London

Aaron Rodgers, Saquon Barkley, Aaron Jones, Rashan Gary, and Jaire Alexander are some of the superstar players on display as the Packers host the New York Giants at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium

Giants QB Daniel Jones is set to start, after initial fears he’d be out for a while after suffering an ankle injury in Sunday’s win over the Bears.

This matchup will be the first ever London game to feature two teams with winning records.

2. Can the Miami Dolphins go 3-0 in the AFC East?

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Mike McDaniel’s Dolphins team has had an excellent start to the season, going 3-1 with the second toughest schedule so far in 2022.

They’re without their starting QB, Tua Tagovailoa, who suffered a concussion on TNF against the Bengals, just days after stumbling in the win against Buffalo, right now when exactly he’ll be back is unclear.

Their opponent, the New York Jets, had an impressive win over the Steelers on Sunday, Zach Wilson in particular inspired the win in the fourth quarter, another win will see both teams move to 3-2, a great start for New York.

3. 2-2 Falcons and Bucs fight for lead of NFC South

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Somehow both of these teams are 2-2, Arthur Smith’s Falcons have a knack of winning games they shouldn’t.

Tampa Bay has played the league’s toughest schedule through four weeks, losing to KC last week, although their offense did get going, scoring more than 20 points for the first time this season.

Atlanta will be without their two best offensive pieces in Kyle Pitts and Cordarelle Patterson.

4. Eagles looking to go 5-0 at Arizona

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The league’s only 4-0 team plays PFF’s 30th ranked defense in Sunday’s late window.

Arizona has looked awful these past few weeks, but sit 2-2 due to the individual brilliance of Kyler Murray, he’ll keep this one close.

Jalen Hurts has been a top 5 quarterback so far this season, the battle between him and Murray, two of the league’s most mobile QB’s should be thrilling.

5. Huge AFC North battle on SNF

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Cincinnati looks like a different team from the first two weeks of the year, the offensive line is protecting Burrow and the defense has stepped up.

Ravens QB Lamar Jackson has been lights out this season, but his defense has let him down in the fourth quarter twice.

They’re yet to win at home this season, suffering heartbreaking losses to Miami and Buffalo, whilst a loss for the Bengals will see them go 0-2 in the division.

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5 things to look out for in Week 4

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Tom Brady vs Patrick Mahomes, and the start of the 2022 NFL International Series are highlights in a packed NFL Sunday

Vikings, Saints meet in first London game of 2022

Plenty of offensive talent is on show at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium on Sunday afternoon as the Minnesota Vikings and New Orleans Saints touch down in London.

New Orleans, who act as the home team, look set to start Andy Dalton at quarterback, as Jameis Winston is sidelined with a back injury, as is star WR Michael Thomas with a leg issue.

Minnesota possess one of the best offenses we’ve seen brace the UK recently, both Justin Jefferson and Dalvin Cook are among the best at their position, this should be an exciting London game.

Two MVP Candidates face off in Baltimore

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Lamar Jackson’s Baltimore Ravens and Josh Allen’s Buffalo Bills grace the same field in Sunday’s early window, this matchup being the game of Week 4.

The Ravens are struggling on defense right now, will Josh Allen, who many perceive to be the best quarterback in football, feast?

Buffalo have lost star safety Micah Hyde for the season, and the team may again be without his partner back there, Jordan Poyer, which Lamar Jackson will try and take advantage of.

Huge game in race for the AFC South

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Tennessee travels to Indianapolis on Sunday for a crucial matchup in the race for the AFC South, which Jacksonville have taken an early lead of.

Both teams are fresh off their first wins of the season, having come out of the first two games without a win.

Neither Derrick Henry, nor Jonathan Taylor have set the world alight through three weeks, whoever has the best day on the ground will likely determine this matchup.

Raiders looking to turn season around with visit of rival Broncos

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A doubt many people expected Las Vegas to go 0-3 to start the year, they’ve looked bad, really bad, which is a huge surprise with what we saw last year.

If they’re unable to beat Denver on Sunday this could be it for a team with the likes of Davantae Adams, and Darren Waller.

As for Denver, they’ve not been what we’ve expected either but have managed to grind out two wins, going 3-1 whilst they’re growing as a team will be massive. 

Brady and Mahomes duel in Tampa despite Hurricane Ian

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Two teams with elite quarterbacks, who look set to be playing playoff football deep into January face off on SNF in Tampa Bay, despite the recent hurricane in the area.

Initially the venue of the game was due to be moved to Minneapolis, but luckily for local Buccaneers fans, the stadium is safe to host the game, giving those who have gone through so much this week a place to take their minds somewhere else for a few hours.

Tom Brady will be pleased to have Mike Evans back from suspension this week, the Bucs offense struggled without him, Julio Jones, and Chris Godwin in Green Bay last time out, the latter two are questionable. 

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Week Three Saints @ Panthers Recap

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The Panthers are not a good football team, sadly this version of the New Orleans Saints is not either. Penalties, fumbles and generally sloppy play all led to the Saints losing 22-14 in Charlotte yesterday. Quarter by quarter lets see where it all went so badly wrong.

First Quarter

The Panthers started with the ball and the first play foreshadowed what was to come on some of the Panthers biggest plays on offense. A missed tackle. McCaffrey should have been bottled up for a minimal gain, instead rumbled for 14 yards. (PFF credited the Saints defense with 11 missed tackles on the day).

That was it really for this drive, Demario Davis sacked a scrambling Mayfield setting up a third and long, which the Panthers could not convert. After Mayfield and Anderson weren’t on the same page, this was also Paulson Adebo’s first snap of the season and applied solid coverage on the play.

The Saints offense took over at their own 11- yard line. Some more foreshadowing took place on the first play of this drive. The snap went wrong, it went down as a Winston fumble, he did pick it up and run for six-yards but this was just the start of the offense’s sloppy execution.

Sadly, this was one of the offenses better drives, the next play Kamara scampered for 27 yards. Winston completed two nice timing throws to Michael Thomas and the offense looked like there could be some life.

Then some of that sloppiness came back, a false start by Adam Trautman and a weak Chop Block penalty on Mark Ingram took the Saints from second and two on the Panthers 33 to third and 20 on the Saints 49. The chop block penalty was even worse because it wiped out and excellent catch by Michael Thomas that would have given the Saints a fresh set of downs in the RedZone.

Instead the Saints had to punt.

The Panthers went three and out quickly giving the Saints decent field position on their own 30. Helped even more by an unnecessary roughness penalty, giving them a fresh set of downs near midfield. Then the sadness began, Alvin Kamara was stripped, and the Panthers returned it for a TD. This was Kamara’s first fumble since 2020.

The next three Saints offensive possessions amassed a grand total of 9 plays for 8 yards. Led on one drive by two offensive dead ball fouls in a row and Winston not reading the field well.

Second Quarter

The Panthers grinded out a ten-play 40-yard drive which was completed early in the second quarter. Putting them up 10-0. This was a fairly solid drive by the Panthers. Pete Werner, who again looked like the best player maybe outside of Marshon Lattimore on the Saints defense was everywhere this game and was really good on this drive. Justin Evans also made two good stops in four plays. One for a loss on a screen and one for no gain in the running game.

The Panthers added another field goal later in the quarter generally because of the running game. Watching it live it looked like the Saints had this bottle up for the most part, upon review that wasn’t really the case.

The misery and false hope for Saints fans continued. Jameis Winston finally hit on a deep bomb to Chris Olave, who made a great play at the catch point to reel it in. The 49-yard gain had the Saints in business on the Carolina 18. Another nice quick pass to Olave got them to nearly inside the 10. A drop by Kamara on second down and a poor pass from Winston on third. He had Kamara wide open in front of him, instead choosing to throw an incompletion to Landry that was nowhere near him. This left the Saints with a short field goal try to get on the board. Which in true Saints style was blocked.

So, the best drive of the game came up empty for the Saints, who were shut out again in the first half.  Down 13-0 which at this stage felt like 30-0.

Third Quarter

The second half started with the Saints receiving the kick-off. Again, the Saints were penalised, this time a hold during the return. The Saints had to start at their own 16. With the way the offense was playing starting from there felt like 84 miles, rather than 84 yards.

The offense did put together a nice drive though. Started by two nice runs to Kamara, Jameis completed passes to Landry, Thomas, Olave and Tre’Quan on this drive. The pass to Landry wasn’t a great throw by Winston, Landry had to go low and twist to make the catch because the pass was behind him. This caused him to injure his foot/ankle and be out the rest of the game.

Unfortunately, the drive stalled once getting to the RedZone. The Saints struggles with the Blitz continued. On second down the blitz nearly got home, which made Winston throw the ball quicker than he wanted and he looked like he had Kamara on a wheel if he had a smidge longer to let the play develop.

On Third down the Panthers had Jeremy Chinn lined up at the line of scrimmage, no disguise and he just ran untouched to Winston for a huge sack which pushed the Saints all the way back to the 30 meaning it was now a 48-yard attempt. This blitz wasn’t exotic it wasn’t disguised. Winston needed to change the play to something where he could have got the ball out quickly, not a play that was 5/7 step drop. By the time he got to the end of his drop he was sacked.

That sack was huge, the extra distance meant Will Lutz missed it, pushed it wide right. The kick would have been good from closer. Now both times the Saints offense did something it ended in a special team’s error meaning no points. Those six points lost were huge later on.

On the other side of the ball the Saints defense was keeping them afloat, turning the Panthers over on downs, with a nice pass breakup by Demario Davis on fourth down.

Third/Fourth Quarter

Two punts followed, before the Saints offense finally put together a complete drive, two catches each for Chris Olave and Tre’Quan Smith, the Saints marched down the field, 10 plays- 89 yards, capped by a 5-yard TD run by Mark Ingram. This cut the Panthers lead to six points with 12:31 left in fourth quarter.

Fourth Quarter

The next two series were the dagger for New Orleans, first up the Panthers offense. Two plays 67-yards touchdown. The Saints defense finally caved under the pressure the offense had put on them. Two bad missed tackles, first by P.J. Williams, the second by Tyrann Mathieu. Laviska Shenault JR. went 67 yards for a TD on a play he should have been stopped for a minimal gain by two different Saints defenders.

Next series, Winston interception from a tipped pass. Great catch by the big man Derrick Brown though! Always have a soft spot for big guy interceptions. The interception gave the Panthers a short field which allowed them to tack on another field goal.

At this stage the 15 points score difference was too big overcome. The Saints did manage another touchdown, after two great plays on deep balls by Chris Olave and Tre’Quan Smith. Finished off by an amazing catch in the endzone by Marquez Callaway, Callaway did bail Winston out though, he should have never thrown the pass.

Marquez Callaway One-Handed TD Catch – YouTube

The Panthers managed to run out enough of the clock leaving the Saints just 17 seconds to try and score, that was made impossible after Johnny Hekker produced an excellent punt, meaning the Saints would have had to have gone 99 yards in 17 seconds with no timeouts. Winston heaved one downfield which was intercepted.

Thus, ending a very painful watch for all Saints fans and for the Saints organisation who then had to take the long flight to London ready for their game this weekend against the Vikings @ Spurs stadium.

Conclusion

Defense did more than enough to win this game, the offense and special teams just kept shooting themselves in the foot. The offense can’t sustain drives and when it does something seems to go wrong to mean no points.

What’s more frustrating about this offense, is they have the talent, all the WR’s today looked excellent the execution of the offense right now is just simply poor. Penalties, fumbles, uninspiring play caller (at times) and Winston not seeing the field well.

It can’t continue otherwise this is going to be a long and wasted season. Ending in the Eagles having a juicy high first round draft pick (YIKES).

I will be previewing of all and recapping all the New Orleans Saints games this season on New Orleans Saints – Full10Yards

Please let me know your feedback on this article and the rest throughout the season, I’m always looking to improve and add things that people want to read about.

I want to create as much of a UK Saints community as possible, so follow me on Twitter @SaintsReportUK, for much more Saints content and discussion

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Saints @ Panthers Week Three Preview; Key Matchups And More

Neither team had the result they wanted in week two. The Saints fell to Tom Brady’s refs…… I mean Bucs and Carolina lost to an average New York Giants squad (Despite what their record says).

That leaves two teams with a lot to prove heading into to week three and a matchup that both teams need to win.

I’m going to highlight 3 key matchups. who’s playing and who’s not? and of course a score prediction for the game.

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Overview

After two games both teams could easily have different records. New Orleans sit at 1-1. If not for a miraculous fourth quarter comeback in week one they’d be 0-2.  If not for a fourth quarter meltdown in week two they very well could be 2-0. 1-1 feels right so far for a team that have struggled to string together more than one consistent quarter of football, where all three sides of the ball play well and complement each other.

The Panthers have lost two games by a total of five points. They nearly produced a Saints like fourth quarter comeback week one against the Browns if not for a late field goal. Then fell to the Giants after being tied for most of the game.

Both Teams need to find an identity, this not unusual early in the season but this is especially true of the Saints. Are they are run first team, that want to hit the play action bombs off of that kind of team? Are they the quick rhythm, short throws and get the ball in your playmaker’s hands kind of team? It doesn’t seem like they know, but they need work it out quickly.

The Saints lead this series three games to one since Matt Rhule has been the Panthers HC. Those games were all of course under the watch of former Saints HC Sean Payton. Can new HC Dennis Allen keep that good form going? Here’s some of the matchups the Saints need to be on the right side off.

Key Matchups

Panther LB Blitz Vs Saints Pass Protection

The first Panthers matchup last season was a shambles for the Saints. Carolina blitzed them over and over, the Saints couldn’t handle it.  So much so former NFL o-lineman and Twitter legend Brian Baldinger was mystified at how the Panthers ran the same blitz three plays in a row because the Saints couldn’t block it.

Brian Baldinger criticizes Saints’ offensive line miscues vs. Panthers (usatoday.com)

Now, why am I bringing up a meaningless game from last season? Well, the Saints have struggled with the Blitz again this year. In both games so far, we’ve seen Winston sacked by blitzing LBs who were not picked up by the Saints o-line. Two examples here:

Atlanta Falcons week 1 SACK compilation | Highlights | Saints vs. Falcons – YouTube (54 seconds in)

Jayden on Twitter: “First sack of the day comes on a perfectly executed coffeehouse stunt by Lavonte David. Ram bites on the fake – sack https://t.co/tN56rOx8iS” / Twitter

Panthers DC Phil Snow has shown he’s willing to attack your weaknesses and keep attacking them until you prove you can stop them. The Saints did improve in this area week two, but it was still a problem and id expect the Panthers to try and exploit it.

This can’t be a consistent problem for the Saints on Sunday; these plays kill drives and kill your QB. Jameis Winston has four fractures in his back and can’t keep taking shots from free rushers running full speed.

McCaffrey Vs Saints LBs

The Saints secondary should match up well against the Panthers WRs and TE’s. Christian McCaffrey is the x factor.

He’s had an unusually quiet start to the season in the passing game through two games he has only eight catches for 50 yards. Compare that to the first two games of last season his usage in this area is way down. At this stage last season, he had over three times the yards (154) and nearly twice the number of catches (15).

In those games last season, the Panthers were 2-0. This year with McCaffrey’s reduced role in the passing game they are 0-2.

You have to think this usage is something they want to rectify as it’s a proven winning formular.

The matchup they want for McCaffrey is against a LB. The Saints do have the LBs that could hold up in this matchup. Per PFF Pete Werner has a 82.4 coverage grade good for 7th in the league among LBs. Demario Davis ranks 13th with a 76.2 grade.

These Saints LB’s will need to continue this good form on Sunday for the Saints to come out on top.

Davenport Vs ‘ICKY’

Will this finally be the week that Davenport takes over a game? I feel like it has to be. He will primarily be lining up against rookie LT Ikem Ekwonu, who, to put it bluntly has not played well so far.

Ewonu is rated as PFF’s 64th LT out of 65 and has given up 3 sacks and 7 total pressures in the 2 games so far. This should be a matchup Davenport can win and win well.

Davenport and the rest of the Saints rush should have enough time to get to the QB this week. Baker Mayfield’s average time to throw per PFF is 2.89 seconds that’s 0.6 seconds slower than Tom Brady last week and ranks him as the 11th slowest thrower in the league.  9th slowest if you only include starters. It may not sound a lot but that is difference between a pressure and a sack.

If Brady didn’t get the ball out so quickly last week, then I think Davenport would have impacted the game a lot more the stats sheet. He had one QB hit and one QB hurry, which isn’t bad considering how quickly Brady got the ball out.

This Is the week for Davenport to announce himself and show he’s a rising star in the league.

State of the Rosters

It looks like both teams will be close to full strength this week. Despite a lot of Saints players being listed as ‘Limited’ this week, there doesn’t seem to be much concern about them not playing on Sunday.

Saints hope to have training camp MVP Paulson Adebo suit up for first time this season. Allowing Bradley Roby to move into the slot, this was the role the Saints wanted for him after trading C.J. Gardner Johnson. This could be even more important if Marcus Maye can’t play, with Roby in the slot that would free up Justin Evans to cover some of the Maye’s snaps at safety along with P.J. Williams.

Sadly after sustaining a Knee injury in Thursday’s practice rookie Alontae Taylor isn’t going to be able to build on this strong performance last week against Tampa. He is out for Sundays game.

There was a scare earlier in the week for Carolina when McCaffery was added to the report with an Ankle injury. He will play on Sunday per multiple reports and is carrying no injury designation for the game. Donte Jackson was also a concern for Carolina and is questionable but practised full on Friday which is usually a sign he will play.

Score Prediction

This is a big game for both teams, the Panthers must win if they want to have any chance at making the playoffs. The Saints really need a boost before heading off to London for week 4 and really don’t need another division loss on their record.

It should be a get right game for two of New Orleans struggling units. The offensive passing game and the pash rush.

I think we see a better offensive showing this week, but still not perfect. With Winston having a much more consistent game passing with more rhythm. Maybe not consistent for all four quarters as he’s still working his way through his back injury.

The Saints continue where they left off last week and dominate the running game with Alvin Kamara back and leading the charge.

Then the pass rush finally shows some life and registers 3+ sacks on the day.

Score- 26-16 Saints win

I will be previewing and recapping of all the New Orleans Saints games this season on New Orleans Saints – Full10Yards

Please let me know your feedback on this article and the others throughout the season, I’m always looking to improve and add things that people want to read about!

I want to try and create as much of a UK Saints community as possible, so follow me on Twitter @SaintsReportUK, for much more Saints content and discussion.

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5 things to look out for in Week 3

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Bills @ Dolphins, Packers @ Buccaneers headline a stacked third NFL Sunday of 2022

1. Will Miami finally beat Buffalo?

After the Dolphins’ outstanding comeback win over the Baltimore Ravens, they now face perhaps their toughest test all season on Sunday.

Buffalo walked over the Tennessee Titans on MNF, but are depleted with injuries in the secondary.

The Bills have won their last seven straight over the Fins, but with a better team down in South Beach, on top of those missing players, could this be the end of the streak?

2. Raiders and Titans looking for their first win.

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Both of these sides are looking for a lifeline, having both been expected to be a part of the AFC playoff picture late in the year.

Neither quarterback has looked great these past two games, Carr especially having a particularly poor game two weeks ago in Los Angeles.

Who would’ve thought Josh Jacobs, whom many saw as a trade candidate would have more rushing yards than Derrick Henry, who’s only averaging 3.1 ypc.

3. A huge game at home for the Colts against the Chiefs

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Kansas City has looked better than many expected this season, whilst the Indianapolis Colts are very much trending in the other direction, sitting winless after two games.

The Colts have hardly had a difficult schedule either, failing to win against division rivals Houston and Jacksonville, they’ll need to massively up their game to beat one of the best teams in the league in the Chiefs.

Matt Ryan hasn’t been his usual reliable veteran self, throwing three interceptions away to the Jaguars last week, not even Jonathan Taylor has been able to save a heavily fancied team at the start of the year.

4. Brady vs Rodgers for the last time?

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Sunday’s late window sees Tom Brady and Aaron Rodgers face off for what could be the last time, certainly in the regular season, FOX did well to get this one!

Brady’s Buccaneers offense could go into the game without Chris Godwin, Mike Evans and Julio Jones, after Evans’ one-week suspension for the fight with Marshon Lattimore.

With similar offensive weaponry on both sides of the ball, this one will be interesting.

5. Will Jimmy and the Niners take care of a struggling Broncos team?

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Who would’ve thought that Jimmy Garoppolo would be starting in Week 3! Trey Lance’s unfortunate injury may be a blessing in disguise for San Francisco, they moved the ball a lot better in the rain on Sunday.

Meanwhile, the Russell Wilson and Nathaniel Hackett era in Denver has not started well at all, with the new HC already looking out of depth in his new role.

Any clock mistakes on SNF may escalate the situation even more, they need to sort it out before facing a nationwide audience on primetime.

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Five Things: Week 2 – Carolina Panthers at New York Giants

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For the first time since 2016, the Giants have started the season 2-0! It was by no means pretty, but a win is a win. Here are five things that stood out.

Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde

When you win a game most of the time, you can assume it was because your team was a well-oiled machine and that all of the offense, defense, and special teams contributed. Well, for the Giants, that is not the case at all.

Watching the offence overall was not enjoyable outside of the touchdown drive. In the first half, the Giants had a total of 60 yards offensively, of which they had 0 rushing yards, and it could have been worse as a poor Daniel Jones pass went straight to Panthers Linebacker Frankie Luvu, who thankfully was unable to secure the catch. Luckily, in the second half, they flashed a few promising signs, including an 8-play, 75-yard touchdown drive that was the perfect response to Carolina’s own touchdown drive.

The defence did play well but were aided by Baker Mayfield’s erratic and often off-target throws. Outside of the touchdown drive and the three field goals, the Giants held the Panthers to an average of 12.6 yards per drive and an abysmal 2 conversions off 12 attempts on third down, but more about that later.

Field Goals? It’s Gano Problem

When your offence struggles, you need to take advantage of any and every opportunity you can get for points, and luckily for us, we have Graham Gano. Across the previous two years that he has been with the Giants, he has a 92.3% field goal conversion rate on 65 attempts and a 95.1% extra point conversion rate on 41 attempts.

The ex-Carolina Panther walked out five times to try and score points against his previous team, and not once was there any doubt that he would make every kick count. After the Panthers coughed up two fumbles to begin the game, Gano would make it 6-0 to the Giants after making kicks from the 33 and 36-yard lines. He would then make his lone extra point attempt in the third quarter before rounding out his perfect day with two field goals in the fourth quarter, one from 51 yards and what would be the game winner from 56 yards.

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Third Down Defense

As mentioned in the first point, the Giants’ defence held the Panthers to a lowly 2 conversions off 12 attempts, and the biggest reason why is Wink Martindale’s aggression, which was mostly executed perfectly by the personnel on the field, and bear in mind that this is a unit without standout Edge rushers Kayvon Thibodeaux and Azeez Ojulari.

The Giants swarmed Baker Mayfield time and time again, giving him little time to think and forcing him to panic. Of the ten attempts that the Panthers failed on, they had one penalty, one fumble, one sack, two short of the first down marker, and five incompletions. These were mostly caused by the constant blitzing from Wink, which at one point saw four safeties on the field, three of them on the line of scrimmage.

X-Factor Ximines

Oshane Ximines started his Giants career relatively well, recording 4.5 sacks, but he quickly fell out of favour with both the Pat Shurmur and Joe Judge regimes and was touted as a probable cut candidate throughout the offseason. However, Brian Daboll allowed him a fresh start and took advice from Wink Martindale and Drew Wilkins, who were both impressed with his work.

Ximines impressed them both so much that, due to the injuries to Thibodeaux and Ojulari, he was listed as a starter on the depth chart for the season opener, and he hasn’t looked out of place. He started the season against the Tennessee Titans by continuing his preseason success, and he’s followed it up with a stellar showing against the Panthers that has earned him a game ball.

He finished the game with a stat line of two tackles, one tackle for a loss, 1 pass defended, 1 Quarterback hit, and 1 sack, but in real time he seemed to be everywhere.

Big Play Rookies

When Dane Belton fractured his clavicle making an interception during preseason practise, there was an audible sigh from the Giants fanbase. The rookie safety had impressed both coaches and fans alike, but now he could be on the sidelines for up to eight weeks. Belton took to the field for his first ever NFL play seven weeks and a day later and walked off with the ball after recovering the fumbled kickoff that was caused by Carter Coughlin.

Belton wasn’t the only rookie that had a big contribution in the game, though. After not registering a catch in his first ever NFL game a week ago, Daniel Bellinger finally got his first one during the game against the Panthers. With the Giants needing to answer the Panthers’ third quarter touchdown, Bellinger secured the pass from Daniel Jones, sprinted towards the endzone and dove in to tie the game once again.

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5 things to look out for in Week 2

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Week 1 of the 2022 NFL Season was exactly as predicted, chaos. We saw upsets, injuries, big plays, and massive coverage busts. Now we know a little bit more about the 32 teams in the league, here are five things to look out for in Week 2’s slate of games.

1. Lamar’s big audition?

Sunday’s early window sees Lamar Jackson’s Ravens host the Miami Dolphins. Could this be Lamar’s big audition to the Fins for next year? If Tua Tagovailoa doesn’t improve, then they’re in the market for a QB. Whilst Tua was about average in the win at home to the Patriots, the general consensus is that he’s been much better in TC. This game will come down to which offense can score the most against two top defenses.

2. Chicago looking for their first Lambeau win since 2015.

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Sunday Night Football sees Green Bay welcome the Bears for the first of their two annual matchups. The Packers have won the last six straight in the series. We saw that last year with the iconic “I still own you” from Aaron Rodgers after rushing for a TD at Soldier Field last year. Could that change? GB looked poor in Minnesota, whilst Chicago outfought the 49ers in the rain in their home opener.

3. Will the 49ers right Week 1’s wrongs at home to Seattle?

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7 days ago we expected the home team to be 1-0 coming into this one, and the away coming off a loss. But after Seattle’s surprise win over the Broncos on MNF, and the Niners were washed away in Chicago, this game is suddenly much more interesting. Trey Lance will have to be better to beat Pete Carroll’s defense. His job got a lot easier with the news that safety Jamal Adams won’t be a threat to him in the box.

4. Last year’s #1 seed Titans host Super Bowl favourite Bills on MNF.

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The first of two games on a MNF doubleheader should be a good one. Buffalo are coming into the game fresh off a dominant victory over the Bills, whilst Tennessee blew a fourth-quarter lead vs the Giants. Von Miller made the Bills’ defensive front look scary, the area that was lacking last year, destroying Matt Stafford’s protection. Derrick Henry will need to average more than 3.9 yards per carry if the Titans want to win this game.

5. Justin Jefferson to haunt the Eagles on MNF?

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Philadelphia really screwed up by taking Jalen Reagor over JJ in the 2020 draft, he’ll be looking to haunt them again, this time alongside Reagor, after he was acquired by trade in training camp. The Eagles’ offense moved the ball really well against the Lions last week, AJ Brown being a big factor in that. If they can do the same against their NFC North rivals then this Eagles team could be on for a perfect start. They’ll have to tighten up to stop this Vikings offense though

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Week Two Preview Bucs @ Saints- Key Matchups And More

After a bonkers week one victory against the Falcons. The Saints move on to another divisional foe, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Tom Brady leads the Bucs into the Superdome for the Saints home opener, with both teams 1-0.

I’m going to highlight 3 key matchups. who’s playing and who’s not? and of course my score prediction for the game.

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Saints And Bucs Overview

If you’d told me heading into the 4th quarter of Saints Vs Falcons last week that the Saints would end up winning, I might have believed you. As let’s be fair its perfectly believable that the Falcons would blow a 4th quarter lead. Where I wouldn’t have believed you is if you’d told me the offense was the reason the Saints completed the comeback.   

New Orleans looked completely disjointed for 3 quarters against Atlanta, the offense couldn’t do anything either, other than Taysom Hill doing Taysom Hill things. The offense had no rhythm and really struggled to get anything going.

Until the 4th quarter. led by QB Jameis Winston, who completed 13 of 16 passes for 213 yards and two touchdowns. In the 3 quarters before that, Winston went only 10 of 18 for 56 yards. All his playmakers stepped up, with especially encouraging performances from Michael Thomas (after a sluggish first half) and free agent addition Jarvis Landry, who suddenly turned into an elite downfield playmaker.

Josh Norris on Twitter: “29 year old Jarvis Landry becoming a vertical playmaker feels unprecedented considering he had a 6.2 aDOT in the first 4 years of his career” / Twitter

If this version of the offense shows up for the majority of the season, then the whole league will be on notice that this Jameis Winston led team is coming and nobody is safe.

Consistency is key though and the Saints offense needs to prove this week that it can be really good but for more than 1 quarter.

The Bucs enter week 2, coming off a far different game. It all seemed fairly routine for them to beat the Cowboys.  No dramatic 4th quarter comeback required. In fact, the Bucs were only behind for 3 minutes and 57 seconds in the whole game and cruised to a 19-3 victory.

The Bucs barely had to get out of 1st gear, they dominated a Cowboys offense that might have looked as bad as the Saints offense did, only the difference with the Cowboys wad they couldn’t do anything for all 4 quarters. A lot of that comes down to the Bucs talent on defense.

The Bucs stifled the Cowboys passing attack with a mix of speed and aggression in the front 7 and versatility in the secondary, also great preparation as LB Devin White explained here.

Devin White reveals how easy it was for Bucs to figure out Cowboys game plan (thelandryhat.com)

The Bucs leaned on their running game with Leonard Fournette rushing for 127 yards, at 6 YPC. With Brady and the Bucs passing game doing what I needed to do to win the game.

This is a matchup the Saints have dominated since Brady arrived. Especially on defense. Brady in the 4 previous regular season games has been sacked 13 times, fumbled 3 times (lost 2) and been intercepted 9 times. Brady’s Bucs have only averaged 16 points per game (PPG). That average jumps up 25 PPG when the Bucs visit the Superdome, compared to 1.5 PPG when they play at home.

Despite this being a landslide for the Saints since Brady arrived, for the New Orleans to push the record to 5-0, there are certain matchups that I think are key.

Key Matchups

Saints Pass Rush

The age old trop that you must be able to disrupt brady by rushing 4, is a tiresome narrative but, it is completely true and if you do Blitz It needs to be well timed and from a place Brady isn’t expecting.

That last point is a challenge, Brady is in his 23rd NFL season (Much to his wife’s dismay) he’s seen everything at this point, there isn’t much that surprises him. The Saints have managed to surprise him and keep him out of rhythm better than anyone during Brady’s time in Tampa.

Without pressure, Brady will dice you up. New Orleans has done a great job at this previously.  I mentioned earlier how many times the Saints have sacked Brady in their last 4 meetings (13). Which works out at 3.25 sacks per game, if you add in QB hits, then New Orleans have hit Brady on average, 10.75 times a game.

That is a lot of punishment on a QB in his mid-40’s and that is one of the main reasons the Saints have had so much success in this matchup.

Now that context has been provided, let’s take a look at how the Bucs are looking entering this game.

Their O-line is missing some key pieces, all-pro center Ryan Jensen is possibly out for the season and trusted vet LT Donavon Smith could also miss this game, even if he does play it’s likely that he will be in some pain with is elbow. They also have a rookie 2nd rounder starting at LG, who allowed 3 pressures and 3 hurries week 1 Vs the Cowboys per PFF. It seems like the Bucs line can be exploited.

Brady will help by getting the ball out quickly, making it harder for the rush to get home but that does mean shots down the field might be harder for Brady to execute if he doesn’t have time to let the play develop.

The Saints D-line struggled to create pressure week 1 Vs Atlanta, PFF chart the Saints as having 4 hurries and 1 QB hit in that game. That won’t nearly cut it against Brady.

However, this matchup suits the Saints d-line much more. Last week the game plan was to keep contain and make sure there wasn’t easy running lanes for Mariota to escape the pocket. That means the Saints rushers couldn’t truly rush.

With Brady, there is no threat to run that means the Saints can pin their ears back and go after Brady. Which with the Bucs lesser o-line should be a receipt for success.

If the Saints are without Paulson Adebo for a second straight week, the Saints will need to pass rush to produce.

Saints Run Defense

Last week the Saints struggled against a very creative running game. Not just against a very mobile Marcus Mariota but Cordarrelle Patterson gashed them as well.

This week is a much more traditional running game, but a no less successful one. The Bucs ran the ball at will Vs the Cowboys in week 1.

If the Saints d-line, especially the interior struggle again this week it causes very significant issues to how the Saints want to defend Tampa.

Last season the Saints could stop the run in NICKEL, meaning they only had 2 LBs and 5 DBS on the field. This a huge advantage against a team like Tampa. It means that you have another capable defender against the pass. Rather than a slower less capable LB that Brady can exploit.

Last week against Atlanta, the Saints had to switch to their base defense (3LBs) to try and help stop the run.

If they have to do the same this week, it gives Brady a big matchup advantage. As good as Kaden Ellis has played from the SAM LB spot. You really don’t want him on the field for significant snaps because Brady will move players around to isolate them on him or another LB, with 3 LBs on the field it’s a lot easier to that.

Secondly if you can’t stop the run, play-action starts to become a much more credible threat. Brady is a machine when running play-action. Last season Brady completed 96 passes from play-action for 1211 yards, 14 TDs and 2 interceptions good for a 115.4 passer rating and was successful in a small sample size week 1.

The Saints must go back to old ways this week where stopping the run is concerned, otherwise Brady will have a much easier time picking them apart.

The Shutdown Matchups

Marshon Lattimore Vs Mike Evans (if he plays, he will. they always do against the Saints) and Carlton Davis Vs Michael Thomas. These are 2 of the juiciest CB Vs WR matchups in the league. Not just because it’s a matchup of 4 very good players, also because these players simply really don’t like each other.

There’s not holding back in these matchups and the difference between these CB/WR matchups compared to others is these CBs generally do travel. Lattimore and Davis try to matchup with Evans and Thomas on as many plays as possible.

For the most part, the CBs have had most of the success. See below from ESPN who give detail on just how much these players face off against each other.

Fantasy football 2022 Week 2 – Best and worst WR/CB matchups (espn.com)

For the Saints to win, coming out on the right side of these matchups will go a long way to achieving that.

State Of The Rosters

Time to review who will play and who will not and discuss some other key points to take from the final injury report (below).

Saints– Alvin Kamara being listed as questionable is the biggest surprise here, after being limited earlier in the week, Kamara did not practice on Thursday or Friday, this is usually a sign that he would be ruled for Sunday. If he does its likely to be a limited role. I don’t think not having Kamara is as big of a deal in this matchup compared to others. The Bucs usually play Kamara well and I think the Saints strength in this game is with the WR matchup.

I think not having Adebo for this game hurts more than Kamara, even with Chris Godwin not playing the Bucs still have plenty of receiving options. With Adebo back the Saints would have been been able to have their desired starting CBs on the outside, allowing Roby to move back into the slot, in a game where pure coverage skill is what the Saints require. Adebo being back would have allowed the Saints to field their best 3 cover corners.

In regards to the other players listed as ‘questionable’ there seems to be no concern over Jameis Winston and Mark Ingram’s status after being limited all week. I am interested to see if Dwayne Washington or Tre’Quan Smith are active after missing last weeks game.

Bucs– Godwin being out was already pretty much a forgone conclusion. The biggest question entering this final injury report was Mike Evans and Julio Jones’ statuses, after being limited on Wednesday, both were downgraded to DNP. This is usually a sign of a setback. After returning in a limited capacity on Friday, I expect them both to play, though it will be interesting to how healthy they are.

Donovan Smith being listed as doubtful, is interesting. Earlier in the week Todd Bowles said this was going to be a pain management thing for Smith. So this appears to be a true game time decision and a huge one at that. Marcus Davenport against a back up tackle yes please!!!.

Score Prediction

With the Saints d-line having a more static target to aim at this week I think we see a far more improved version of them and see some meaningful pressure on Brady. I especially look for Marcus Davenport to have a dominate game.

With Paulson Adebo out and a lot of new faces starting, I think the Saints secondary struggles a bit more than in previous games. I think Brady will make some big throws with a least a couple of 30+ yard completions but I think the Saints hold firm in the redzone to force some field goals.

Overall, this is of course a tough matchup, regardless of how well the Saints have done in previous meetings. Crucially I think the Saints passing offense is far better than it was in most of those games, and I think Winston and his crew of weapons do just enough in this one.

Score-28-26 Saints Win                                                                                                                        

I will be previewing and recapping of all the New Orleans Saints games this season on New Orleans Saints – Full10Yards

Please let me know your feedback on this article and the others throughout the season, I’m always looking to improve and add things that people want to read about!

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