MVN - Most Valuable Network

Saints vs. Jags Preview: Can the Saints Stop the Run?

The 5-2 Jacksonville Jaguars will travel to the Super Dome this Sunday to take on a resurgent 3-4 Saints team. 

This is a matchup of teams whose records don’t properly represent the level at which they are playing. 

New Orleans is a team on the rise.  After losing four straight games to open the season, the Saints have rallied behind the improved play of the offensive line and put together three consecutive wins.

Jacksonville, on the other hand, is a team that seems a bit uncomfortable in their current state.  They beat Tampa Bay last week, much to the delight of Saints, but needed a few huge defensive plays to do it.  The week before that, they were dominated by the Colts in a crucial divisional game.

The offense is the area of biggest concern for the Jags. 

With QB David Garrard on the shelf for a few weeks, Quentin Gray, who started the season for Jacksonville as a wide receiver on the practice squad, is captaining the offense.  Fortunatly for the Jags, they have a potent rushing attack to lean on for offensive production.

Maurice Jones-Drew and Fred Taylor are the best running back duo in the league.  It’ll be a tough task for the Saints to slow them down, but it’s a challenge I think the Saints are up for.

If there has been a bright spot this year on defense for the Saints, it’s been their run defense.  Maybe it’s due to the fact that it’s so easy to pass on the Saints that opposing teams just don’t run that much.  Or maybe the Saints are just better at filling gaps than covering receivers.

Regardless of the reasoning, the fact still remains.  The Saints haven’t given up a 100-yard rusher in over five games.

So in a match up of strength against strength—Jags running attack vs. Saints run defense—I have to give the edge to the Saints for two reasons.

First, the loss of David Garrard at quarterback makes Jacksonville’s offense one-dimensional.  Sure they can run the ball, but that’s about all they can do.  The odds of Quentin Gray engineering a formidable passing game are about as good as Joey Harrington’s chances of winning the MVP.

Second, the Saints are at home and they are on a three-game winning streak.  If there is ever a place that feeds off of momentum, it the Super Dome.  The fans know the Saints are on a winning streak and they know this game is very important for playoff aspirations.  The dome is going to be rocking. 

In the end, the Saints are going to make enough plays on offense—against a very good Jags D—to pull out the victory. 

Final score: Saints 24, Jaguars 13.  Saints win their fourth in a row and continue to build momentum going into the 2nd half of the season.

          

This entry was posted on Friday, November 2nd, 2007 at 3:21 pm and is filed under Uncategorized. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.