Canal Street Chronicles
As we inch towards the midway point of the NFL regular season, the New Orleans Saints will be looking to pick up a little bit of momentum after defeating the New York Giants for their first victory of the year. The latter of a back-to-back homestand will pit the New England Patriots against the black and gold now.
Offensively, the Saints are still struggling to put points on the board. One of New Orleans’ two touchdowns last week came off an 86-yard fumble return by Jordan Howden. The other was a deep 87-yard catch and run by Rashid Shaheed. Other than those two plays, the Saints just settled for a lot of field goals. Kicker Blake Grupe has not been super reliable in the early portion of the year, and last week was no different as he would convert just 4/6 FGA.
Gadget player Taysom Hill returned from injury last weekend and will seemingly have a larger role as he’s slowly worked back into the offensive game planning. Hill’s versatility at just about any position on the football field causes headaches for opposing coaches and defenses due to his ability to attack in any way.
Another outlet for New Orleans’ offensive production is the improvement in the run game or the utilization of the tailbacks in general. Alvin Kamara and Kendre Miller have been used more as a 1-2 combo out of the backfield in recent drives, allowing each to capitalize on thinner defensive fronts inside the box.
Cesar Ruiz was a limited participant in Wednesday’s practice after being held out of the game versus the Giants with an ankle injury. Still, signs are looking more and more like he will be able to return against New England. This addition would come after Spencer Rattler was not sacked once by a tough New York group.
New England’s defense provides a lot of good matchups for New Orleans, including one of the top cornerbacks in the league with Christian Gonzalez. His partner in crime, Carlton Davis III, is very familiar with New Orleans after spending the first six years of his career in the NFC South as a member of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
The Patriots are dealing with some health issues on the defensive side of the ball, however. New England had several players who were either limited or did not participate in recent practices at all, including Milton Williams, K’Lavon Chaisson, Jaylinn Hawkins, Keion White, and Joshua Farmer.
Even with the injuries, New England will be a tough test for the Saints’ offense, as opposing offenses are only averaging 20.2 points per game. New Orleans is coming off their season-high in scoring and will probably need to improve upon the mark of 26 in order to defeat the Patriots this weekend.
