NFL: Saints can Crush Catastrophic Colts

The Colts and Saints are less than two years removed from their epic Super Bowl clash. While New Orleans remains home to one of the best teams in the NFL, the Colts have turned into a laughing stock.

Comeback season
Making the playoffs last season meant 2010 was hardly a down year for the Saints. Still, they lacked the swagger of the team that lifted the Super Bowl after that impressive victory over Peyton Manning and the Colts. Losing in Seattle almost seemed like an apt way for that year to end. Fast forward to October 2011 and the 2009 Saints are back. Drew Brees has more weapons than most quarterbacks know what to do with. Fortunately for New Orleans, Brees isn’t most quarterbacks. Opponents don’t know how the Saints are going to hurt them because there are just too many ways they can strike.

The results have been impressive. Despite losing the season-opener in Green Bay, the Saints share the lead in the NFC South and a return to the playoffs looks likely. Padding the W column always helps, especially in a competitive race for the post-season. That adds an extra level of importance to Sunday’s meeting with the Manning-less Colts.

There actually is more to say
We all know the Colts are bad. We all know that even when Peyton Manning comes back he will not have too many years left in the NFL. None of that means we should start telling Indianapolis to ‘Suck for Luck’. The Colts are bad enough to be sure they end up just fine in the draft to get what they really need; help on the offensive line. There’s no point drafting Andrew Luck if he’s going to have the same porous unit that’s failing miserably this year as his protection. Quarterback, despite being the most visible issue, is the least of the Colts’ problems. The 2011 season has opened the eyes of NFL betting fans to just how thin the Colts are across the field. It’s time to bring in some beef so the man who replaces Manning long-term has a shot at surviving.

The verdict
The one aspect of the Saints play that worries me is their inability to force turnovers. New Orleans currently has a turnover differential of -7. While the Super Bowl winning Saints gave up big yardage, they had an opportunistic streak to force interceptions and fumbles. We haven’t seen that in 2011 but I can see that changing on Sunday Night. The Colts are terrible. They aren’t the only bad team in the NFL but they definitely have the toughest schedule of all the truly awful outfits. This will be another primetime beat-down. I like the Saints to win as -14.5 favorites with Sports Interaction.

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