The New Orleans Saints and the New England Patriots are seemingly in similar situations as middling teams missing their former franchise quarterback that led them for well over a decade.
Although Tom Brady and Drew Brees aren’t walking through the tunnel this week, both teams still have good defenses who will likely make this a low-scoring battle.
Buy Patriots TicketsThe Patriots must contain Saints running back Alvin Kamara, who returned from a three-game suspension last week and put up 51 yards on 11 carries, and managed to grab 13 receptions for 33 yards.
Kamara, 28, is one of the more dynamic playmakers in the entire NFL, and he will give the Patriots defense plenty of struggles. Even if the Patriots defense contains Saints receivers Michael Thomas and Chris Olave, they’ll still need to keep an eye out for Kamara, who will likely be a feature on early downs.
The Saints will be looking to utilize him to challenge Ja’Whaun Bentley and Jahlani Tavai over the middle in coverage to keep the Patriots defense guessing on their early-down personnel packages.
The Patriots will likely be focused on two premier wide receivers with their banged-up secondary, but it will be an even tougher task covering Kamara, who is one of the best runners and receiving backs in the entire league.
It’ll be interesting to see what the Patriots do on defense personnel-wise, as they may opt to keep Marte Mapu in the secondary to help the depleted core and help cover Kamara in the backfield. If the Patriots go heavy to stop the run, the Saints can easily throw the ball all over the field to pick apart the Patriots defense.
It gets even harder this week without Matthew Judon and Christian Gonzalez, but the Patriots defense might be up to the challenge as Derek Carr has been dealing with an AC joint injury to his throwing arm. That injury could force him to utilize the underneath like last week. The Saints will also probably use backup quarterback Taysom Hill like usual to keep the Patriots honest.
One thing is for certain: Stopping Alvin Kamara helps keep the Saints offense in check and will allow the Patriots to control the game. However, like every week with this series, it’s easier said than done.
