Week 4 Preview: Saints Welcome Jets Into Their “Home Sweet Dome”
The 3-0 Saints will host the 3-0 New York Jets this Sunday October 4, 2009 at the Louisiana Superdome in New Orleans. The mass-media is mostly still viewing this matchup as a battle between the strength of the Jets’ defense versus the strength of the Saints’ offense but that definitely does not tell the whole story in this particular case.
Sure the Jets’ defense is getting lots of attention from the media around the nation so far and all, but the Saints are meanwhile fielding a very aggressively competitive defense of their own this season under the tutelage of new Defensive Coordinator Gregg Williams. Their week 3 victory over the Bills in Buffalo was a shut-out by the Saints defense even though the scoreboard showed the Saints giving up seven points in the game. Those seven points came from a trick-play fake field goal by the Bills over the Saints’ special teams unit and not against the Saints “defense”.
The Jets’ defense is currently ranked #3 while the Saints’ registered as #10 in the league by NFL.com/stats after a total of 3 games fully played so far this season.
All of the offensive fireworks in this matchup will probably not belong solely to the Saints either. The Jets are playing top-notch offense in the league right now themselves.
Saints head coach Sean Payton argues a call at Ralph Wilson Stadium on Sunday, September 27, 2009
The Saints’ offense is currently ranked #1 overall while the Jets are tied at #12 (with the Bills) in the category of “Scoring” and they registered tied for #11 (with the Falcons, Bills, Jags, Chargers 49ers and Titans) in the category of “Touchdowns” by NFL.com/stats.
This promises to be a physical game on all sides of the ball and, judging from the over/under numbers being in the ballpark of 45 points, I would definitely have to side with the under in this particular matchup since I personally foresee more of a defensive battle over a shoot-out type of scenario. But that’s just me…
DISCLAIMER: Do not empty your savings account and bet the farm on the under in this game just because I said so! Please!
There was an interesting article which came out this morning at 9 AM from 14 year New York Jets reporting veteran Dave Hutchinson of the New Jersey newspaper “The Star Ledger” (aka: NJ.com) where he essentially whined about the Saints denying him all of his 5 requested interviews of:
1) current MVP candidate QB Drew Brees
2) ex-Jet LB Jonathan Vilma
3) former Hofstra WR Marques Colston
4) ex-Giant TE Jeremy Shockey
and
5) media-attracting RB Reggie Bush.
The article can be linked here:
http://www.nj.com/jets/index.ssf/2009/09/are_the_saints_running_scared.html
The man was offered an interview with veteran safety Darren Sharper by the Saints and he decided to essentially say a thanks but no thanks in response where he did say, and I’ll quote, “the Saints turned down requests from media members covering the Jets for five players; they finally said ‘yes’ to safety Darren Sharper. Nevermind, guys.” as well as “I’m sure Sharper is a nice guy and all but …”.
What this veteran sports reporter apparently fails to realize in this situation is the plain and simple fact that the 2009/10 Saints could actually care less about making any pre-game headlines in the larger than life New York City sports news market. The only thing these 2009/10 Saints care about doing is winning as many games as possible on their way to a legitimate Super Bowl run for this long suffering franchise from the beautiful and still very alive and lively city of New Orleans as well as the Gulf Coast of Mississippi and Alabama.
Darren Sharper (an interception machine)
Unfortunately for Mr. Hutchinson, denying Darren Sharper a pre-game interview will not likely translate into denying him interceptions on the football field this Sunday afternoon in NOLA.
I am going to try something a little bit out of the ordinary here on this game preview article of mine, so bear with me for a minute or two if you could please:
The history of these two franchises (New Orleans Saints versus New York Jets) is currently tied at 5-5. The total points from those 10 games played so far is Saints 193 and Jets 162. I took those numbers and figured their per game averages by simply dividing the total points scored for each team by 10 and got Saints 19.3 and Jets 16.2. Based on this very simplistic formula of my own invention just now, my prediction for the final score of the game this weekend is:
Saints 20
Jets 17
3 DID U KNOW(S)???
1) In their history, the Jets have started 3-0 four times (1966, 2000, 2004 and now in 2009).
2) The Jets have made the playoffs only one time (2004) so far after starting the season at 3-0.
3) The Saints have won 4 of the last 5 meetings between these two teams.
No matter what happens this Sunday in NOLA between these two teams on the gridiron, there is one thing that I do know will happen for sure.
The Dome will be-a-rockin’ so don’t come-a-knockin’ unless you mean serious business!!!
Comments
By Derrick Smith on October 5th, 2009 at 12:42 pm Derrick Smith(Quote)
I did alright in my prediction of the game’s final score while I said it would end with the Saints winning 20-17 and the actual score was Saints 24-10.
I also took the under and gave the points to clean up on the betting front. Thank Goodness!
By TaeZ on October 5th, 2009 at 6:30 am TaeZ(Quote)
Well if you told me Brees would throw for 0 Td’s and the offense would only score 10 points, I doubt I would find it possible that the game was a Win for the Saints and the most complete and satisfying game this season. But sure ’nuff and hell yeah Sunday showed exactly why the Saints are for real in 09, and should play every game competitively all season. The Jets D played tough, and tried just about every trick it had, but even though they stalled New Orleans on some critical situations, that only served to stop the bleeding. Cant wait for one of you guys real write ups but dang so many good efforts today. Hope the boys get good rest/and good prep the next 2 weeks when the final NY team gets to face the Saints. I love how this series of games has escalated in intensity, from a road challenge vs Buffalo, to a early meeting of undefeated teams vs the Jets, to the final Manning matchup and probably again undefeated teams with the Giants. Kudos to the schedule this year, we got some tough teams but geographically we aren’t flying 4 hours or more to a bunch of distant road games and screwy thursday games and London Games etc. We play all our games this year within a relatively short flight from NO…..sorry to ramble drunk and happy…..PS my girls u-10 soccer team is also unbeaten….GEAUX TURKEY-BOB’s!!!!!!
Total Comments by TaeZ: 10
By Derrick on October 3rd, 2009 at 1:47 pm Derrick(Quote)
I think I should have bet the over now!
My mistake for betting too early in the week…
By TaeZ on October 2nd, 2009 at 5:31 am TaeZ(Quote)
Good Pre-game article!!
I can’t wait till Sunday! Will be the biggest test of the season for both teams, Of course I feel the Saints can hang 30 plus on the Jets, with some of that coming directly or indirectly from the Saints Defensive production. Brees and Co. may only need 2 or 3 good drives for scores on long fields, but we have seen how the Offense handles first drives this year, and the turnover ratio strongly in our favor. I can see the Jets have some scary forces on D, and are orchestrated well by their staff, but in the Dome, a belly full of gumbo, concrete rockin’, Abita hydrating, the Saints will prevail, but I’m going with an over 45, final score Saints-31 Jets-20 :clock:
Total Comments by TaeZ: 10
By Derrick on October 2nd, 2009 at 1:32 am Derrick(Quote)
Well said nick and “who dat baby!” rite bakatcha brotha!!!
I hadn’t ever even figured in the crowd noise for my final score prediction calculations which told me that this could be a defensive battle and, therefore, a low scoring game…
You know what nick?
I can really see a “crowd-gone-wild” scenario unfolding under the intimate confines of the Superdome, much the way it did for the Grand Re-opening of the Dome after “Kat” when the crowd-fed Saints players greeted the Falcons with “wide” open “ball-recovering” arms in ’06, and the score getting way over-inflated to the Saints’ ultimate advantage in this particular matchup!
Thanks for steering me straight again nick buddy!
Oh, and go ahead and change my score prediction to Saints 41, Jets 10 too, will you please?!!!
By nick on October 2nd, 2009 at 12:10 am nick(Quote)
who dat baby!
4-0 beasts of the easts goin down on sunday!!
hah if pierre thomas could run 130 yards with the flu against the bills, he should have a pretty big game this weekend. oh and by the way that rookie QB mark sanchez
aint gonna be able to handle the crowd noise in the dome 
. expect alot of false starts, delays of game, early time-outs, etc.
Total Comment by nick: 1
By Joseph Guidry on October 1st, 2009 at 9:51 pm Joseph Guidry(Quote)
The only question in mind mind is: Will Sean Payton adjust quickly enough to what the Jets do on defense?
I’m not sure if the Saints will come out running the football against that 3-4 defense unless Ryan decides to blitz on every down. If Ryan blitzes (like he is known to do) on every down, Brees will have a great day. If Ryan plays more coverage 3-4, the Saints will simply employ more 3-4 WR sets. If the Jets decide to counter that with a nickle package, we should run the ball at the extra DB all day.
Pick your poison either way. The only real question is if Payton gets stupid about it. Last week, we contined to pass despite the fact that Buffalo was in a nickle package all day. Only when we began to run the ball did we pull away.
Also, the Saints are denying interviews with the Big Apple because the players in the Big Easy are focused on winning a football game and NOT focused on being in the spotlight.
The Saints respect each opponent, and they neither overlook or run scared.
I think, from what I’ve read, the Jets are full of themselves. The game comes down to Drew Brees or Mark Sanchez… I know who I want in that fight.
SAINTS 31
Jets 10
Total Comments by Joseph Guidry: 81
By Derrick Smith on October 1st, 2009 at 11:11 am Derrick Smith(Quote)
Thanks for the input Mr. HurtBrees!
I’m not sure I followed your logic and I don’t know what your actual point was but I do appreciate a comment from the other side, nonetheless.
Thanks again and good luck on Sunday to your Jets!
By HurtBrees on October 1st, 2009 at 10:55 am HurtBrees(Quote)
Serious comment for the Saints fans:
The problem is not when they’ll line up spread with 4-5 WRs(Counting Bush and Shockey, since they are equivalent to Wideouts).
THe problem is also not Brees’ quick release. I say that because that is essentially what the Patriots do on every down, with Randy Moss. We all know how that ended.
The one difference is that the Saints can actually run the ball, which the Patriots can’t do.
So the real problem would be is the Saints were able to gain major yardage on the ground because that would eventually open up the passing attack.
End of the day, you have an elite defense versus and elite offense. They will each have big plays, but probably even out over the entire game.
I really think this is going to come down to the Jets offense versus the Saints defense.
P.S. Dave did sound like a crybaby regarding the Saints availability, but it just goes to show how scared the Saints really are. Do they know something that we don’t. Yes, that this is the first real test of the season! Either the Jets get blown out if the Saint go ahead big early, or they will grind out a close victory. No in betweens.
Total Comment by HurtBrees: 1
By Derrick Smith on October 1st, 2009 at 10:39 am Derrick Smith(Quote)
Hey SAINTSwinSB:
Welcome to our sports site! I hope you enjoy it!
Thanks for the correction which I apparently missed while editing the article before publishing it. It has been corrected.
By Derrick Smith on October 1st, 2009 at 10:37 am Derrick Smith(Quote)
Thanks for pointing that out Alex and I have removed the article from the Jets’ section of the web site. I was not intending to be rude about it either but did not see a preview posted there yet and thought I would stick mine up for Jets fans to read in the meantime. No insult or trash-talk was intended at all. If no one else is doing that, I will not do it either. Thanks again!
By SAINTSwinSB on October 1st, 2009 at 2:55 am SAINTSwinSB(Quote)
Nice site!
One correction…in the sentence which begins with “offensive fireworks” you state that the Bills are playing top notch but I think you mean the Jets.
Keep up the good work!
Total Comment by SAINTSwinSB: 1
By Alex Wiederspiel on October 1st, 2009 at 1:26 am Alex Wiederspiel(Quote)
Not to be rude, but why is the Saints preview posted in the Jets section? We may be playing each other, but nobody else is doing that…
Total Comments by Alex Wiederspiel: 38
By Joseph Guidry on September 30th, 2009 at 11:46 pm Joseph Guidry(Quote)
Funny you should mention the over/under number 45… that is exactly the number I guessed this afternoon at my place of employment to a die hard Saints fan and friend of mine.
I actually suggested to her to bet on the “under 45″ if she so desired.
After our conversation, I began to wonder just how effective the Jets’ offense would be against our Black and Gold Dome Patrol and how effective the Bless You Boys’ offense could be against the Jets’ dominating defense.
It’s easy to understand why you (or anyone else like myself) would side with the “under”, but I came away from my inner reflection filled with a feeling that our New Olreans Saints would not suffer an offensive setback and the Jets’rookie-led offense would indeed feel the Who Dat Nation rockin’ the Dome as G3′s defense dominates.
Saints 34
Jets 10
Total Comments by Joseph Guidry: 81
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