By John Sarianides
Headline: The Patriots will look to bounce back this week after an embarrassing home loss to the Chiefs on opening night.
5 Thoughts On This Game
1. Open Up in No Huddle: This game has the potential to be a shootout so the Patriots should open the game in no huddle, push the pace and put the pressure on Brees and the Saints offense to keep up.
2. Get Inside Pressure on Brees: The Patriots need to get A gap and B gap pressure on Brees. They have to take away his ability to create passing lanes and force him out of the pocket.
3. Get Into 20 Personnel: The Patriots only have three healthy receivers dressed for this game so look for them to get into 20 personnel a bunch and use Dion Lewis and James White in the passing game.
4. Limit the Big Plays: The Chiefs made three big plays last week that doomed the Patriots. New Orleans has the ability to make big plays on a consistent basis. The Patriots need get New Orleans into long down situations and get their sub packages in.
5. Coaching: Sean Payton is one of the best offensive coaches in the NFL. He can create mismatches for his team. It is imperative that the Patriots don’t end linebackers and safeties on running backs like they did last week.
Final Thoughts: The Patriots haven’t loss back to back games since the 2001 regular season. That was Brady’s first year as a starter. I don’t anticipate them losing this one. It is the Patriots. No team in the NFL corrects their problems after a loss or bounces back like they do. They should win what could be a high scoring affair in the Bayou.