The New Orleans Saints face off against the New England Patriots this week, and both teams have questions on their offense. The Saints are looking to snap a two game losing streak. In those games the offense has been anemic. Meanwhile the Patriots have gon down in points each week of the season. The only way for them to go down from here is a shutout. Cross your fingers Saints fans.
Obviously both teams are coming in looking to fix their offensive woes. There are certain matchups each team should look to win if they want to pick up some offensive momentum. We take a look at each of them. Here are three matchups to watch in Sunday’s matchup versus the Patriots:
Rhamondre Stevenson and Ezekiel Elliot vs. Demario Davis and Pete Werner
The Patriots have won one game this year, and it’s the only game they rushed for 100 yards. The Saints have to stop the duo of running backs Rhamondre Stevenson and Ezekiel Elliot. They haven’t been overly productive this season, and that must remain true in Week 5. By holding that duo in check, the responsibility falls on Mac Jones to push the offense forward. That’s a favorable scenario for the Saints.
Saints wide receivers vs. Patriots cornerbacks
The Patriots secondary is a huge question mark now that Christian Gonzalez is out for the season. The Saints have a strong receiving corps. Temper your excitement. We’ve seen this combination in two of the last three weeks, and the Saints haven’t been able to take advantage of this weakness the way they’ve wanted to. The Saints are still in the process of proving they can move the ball consistently. This is a matchup to exploit in order to do it.
Derek Carr vs. Bill Belichick
A Belichick-ran defense isn’t the unit you want to run into when you’re struggling on offense, but here we are. One could argue this should be Pete Carmichael versus Belichick, but this isn’t a battle of trying to out scheme each other. Belichick is going to try to disguise his coverages and trick Derek Carr. It’s going to be on Carr to avoid mistakes. With the Patriots missing players
