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Saints vs. Lions Preview and Matchup History

A quick look at the history between the New Orleans Saints and Detroit Lions as well as a preview of the their upcoming matchup this Sunday.

By Dave Cariello

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Kevin C. Cox

NEW ORLEANS SAINTS (2-3) AT DETROIT LIONS (4-2)

SERIES

SAINTS

LIONS

SERIES LEADER

11-9-1

REG-SEA STREAKS

Past 3

COACHES VS. OPP.

Payton: 4-0

Caldwell: 0-2

LAST WEEK

Bye (Wk. 5: W 37-31 (OT) vs. Buccaneers)

W 17-3 at Vikings

LAST REG-SEA GAME

12/4/11: Lions 17 at Saints 31. New Orleans QB Drew Brees completes 26 of 36 passes for 342 yards & 3 TDs. Saints WR Robert Meachem has 119 receiving yards, including 67-yard TD.

LAST GAME AT SITE

12/21/08: Saints 42, Lions 7. New Orleans offense totals 181 rushing yards & 4 rush TDs. Saints WR Marques Colston catches 9 passes for 99 yards & 2 TDs.

BROADCAST

FOX (1:00 PM ET): Chris Myers, Ronde Barber, Jennifer Hale (Field reporter). SIRIUS: 112 (NO), 135 (Det.). XM: 229 (Det.).

STATS

PASSING

Brees: 150-218-1574-9-6-91.8

Stafford: 132-212-1592-7-4-88.4

RUSHING

K. Robinson: 61-304-5.0-2

Bell: 66-226-3.4-2

RECEIVING

Cooks (R): 32-255-8.0-1

Tate: 38-495 (T3C)-13.0-1

OFFENSE

442.8 (1C)

243.8

TAKE/GIVE

-8

+1

DEFENSE

379.6

270.7 (1L)

SACKS

Galette: 3

G. Johnson: 4

INTs

P. Robinson: 1

Quin, Whitehead: 2

PUNTING

Morstead: 44.9

Martin: 49.1 (2L)

KICKING

S. Graham: 34 (13/14 PAT; 7/8 FG)

Prater: 5 (2/2 PAT; 1/3 FG)

The Good

  • Drew Brees is 4-0 vs. Detroit (including playoffs), completing 115 of 153 (75.2%) for 1,517 yards with 14 TDs and 1 interception for a 133.8 QB rating. In the 9/13/09 game, he passed for 358 yards and 6 TDs.
  • In their Wild Card meeting, Pierre Thomas had 121 scrimmage yards (66 rush, 55 receiving) and a TD.
  • Mark Ingram had a 14-yard TD run in the last meeting vs. the Lions.
  • Jimmy Graham had a TD catch in the Wild Card meeting.
  • Marques Colston had 7 catches for 120 yards in the Wild Card game vs. the Lions. In his only game at Detroit, he had 9 catches for 99 yards and 2 TDs.
  • Robert Meachem aims for his 4th game in a row vs. the Lions with a TD and his third meeting in a row with 100+ yards.
  • Curtis Lofton had 10 tackles in his last game at Detroit (10/23/11 with Falcons).

The Bad

  • Matthew Stafford has 788 pass yards (394 per game) in the past two meetings vs. the Saints (including Wild Card).
  • Reggie Bush faces the team that drafted him, where he played five years (2006-10) and had 33 TDs (17 rushing 12 receiving, 4 punt return).
  • In their Wild Card meeting, Calvin Johnson had 12 catches for 211 yards and 2 TDs.
  • Golden Tate leads the team in receptions (38) and receiving yards (495).
  • Total defense (270.7 ypg) and pass defense (197.2 ypg) lead NFL. Rush defense (73.5) ranks 2nd overall.
  • Lions had 8 sacks last week, including 2.5 by Ezekiel Ansah and 2 by Ndamukong Suh.

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