Key Matchups: Saints vs Patriots

The New Orleans Saints are heading to Boston for a noon kickoff with the New England Patriots. The Saints will be looking to get back on the winning track rather than turning their 2-0 start into a losing record three weeks later.

The Saints come into this game as the better team in my opinion, but if they don’t start to play like they’re the better team, then it’s going to be an ugly afternoon in Foxborough.

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Saints receivers vs Pats secondary

The Patriots didn’t have a top defensive backfield heading into the 2023 season and it’s gotten worse with the departure of rookie Christian Gonzales. Now, they brought in JC Jackson from the Chargers, but the Saints have the advantage in this matchup as long as Pete Carmichael calls the right plays and uses his receivers in their best ways. Otherwise, this game will be another low scoring snooze fest.

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Saints D-Line vs Mac Jones

Again, this is another matchup that I feel the Saints have the advantage. Mac Jones isn’t a terrible quarterback, but he isn’t Patrick Mahomes. He’ll get rattled if the Saints defense can get pressure on him and force him into mistakes. So if I’m defensive coordinator Joe Woods, I’m dialing up some zone blitz packages and giving Mac Jones a hard time for 60 minutes.

Dennis Allen vs Bill Belichick

In this battle of head coaches is where you’ll find a matchup the Saints don’t have an advantage. Belichick is a first-ballot Hall of Fame coach after winning six Super Bowls in New England with Tom Brady while Allen has never been a head coach in a playoff game. It’ll take some seriously sound decision making to out coach a legend like Belichick, but the Saints certainly have the weapons to do it. We’ll just see if the play calling and execution live up to the expectation.

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