Image courtesy of Chris Graythen/Getty Images

The Patriots are riding high after back to back victories, including an emotional road win last week at Buffalo. The Patriots are feeling confident as they head to the Mercedes-Benz Superdome to face the New Orleans Saints. On paper, it looks like a game the Patriots should win comfortably against a 1-4 Saints squad.

And that, precisely, is why this Week 6 contest is the definition of a trap game.

A trap game is never about what the final score should be; it’s about the circumstances that make an upset possible. For the Patriots, a confluence of factors makes the Saints a far more dangerous opponent than their record suggests.

The most classic component of a trap game is the emotional letdown. The Patriots are coming off a massive, character-building road victory. That kind of high-stakes, hard-fought win drains a team physically and emotionally. Following it up with a cross-conference road trip to face a team struggling for relevance provides the perfect recipe for a lack of intensity.

Patriots coach Mike Vrabel talked the importance of focusing and doing your job on the road, especially against a team like the Saints.

“We have a job to do. It’s the same every week. I think if we are consistent each and every week, I think it allows us to get past some of those things. We’re disappointed after we lost. Happy when we won, disappointed when we lost. I think we’ve responded. We’ll have to make sure that we’re doing everything that we possibly can to prepare to go on and handle another tough environment. Just being able to handle the road environment, the crowd noise and everything else, I’m sure they’ll be excited. They played really well last week. I’m sure they’ll have the same great support that they always have in the Dome.”

If the Patriots come out flat, assuming the Saints will simply roll over, New Orleans is more than capable of exploiting that mental lapse.

The Saints defense is living proof that statistics can be misleading. While they have struggled in some defensive metrics, they have been exceptionally opportunistic, boasting a top-five turnover differential in the NFL. Last week, they forced five takeaways against the Giants, turning the tide of the game.

The Patriots, whose young offense has struggled with ball security at times, will be a major target. A strip-sack or an interception returned for a touchdown can immediately flip the script in a game that otherwise appears to be a mismatch.

Furthermore, the Saints’ offense, particularly their receiving corps—featuring burners like Rashid Shaheed and Chris Olave—possesses game-changing speed that can attack the Patriots’ secondary, which is currently dealing with some injuries. Shaheed’s 87-yard touchdown last week was a reminder that the Saints can score in an instant, even if their overall drive efficiency is low.

Playing in the Superdome is never easy. The noise and energy of the crowd make communication difficult for the visiting offense, forcing uncharacteristic mistakes, penalties, and timeouts. It’s a hostile environment where the Saints always play with extra intensity, desperate to deliver a win for their home crowd. For a young Patriots team, dealing with that kind of atmosphere after an exhausting week is a serious hurdle.

Finally, the Saints are a desperate, one-win team playing at home. They know their season hinges on turning things around, and nothing revitalizes a locker room like a statement win against a surging opponent. They are hungry, they are focused, and they will likely play their most complete game of the season.

If the Patriots enter the Superdome with anything less than a championship-level focus, they will find themselves caught in the Big Easy Trap—a game that looked like an easy W on the schedule, but ends as a season-derailing defeat. The key for New England is avoiding complacency and treating this game as if they were facing a Super Bowl contender, not a one-win team.