Who Wins? Redskins at Saints

[Goaldeje]

Gonna go in a different direction here. I think the key to the game is not Brees, but Sproles. How many times over the years have we seen our aggressive D get hammered by screen passes? I have a feeling they will run some screens, particularly early on in order to slow down Kerrigan and Rak, and then start to air it out.

If we contain Sproles with the LBers, we can continue to bring pressure. If not, it will cause too much thinking on the line, and Brees will pick us apart late.

EDIT: I'm optimistic though. I think we win by 3-7.

 

[RedskinfaninOC]

We have an unproven offense. New QB. There is a reason the Saints are 9 1/2 points favorite. The Saints cover the spread. Saints 27 Skins 17

 

[Ax]

Drews Brees is a fantastic QB. He rolled into New Orleans with little expectation. He was coming off an injury many thought might ruin his career.

Katrina, unforgiving bitch that she was, had tried to wipe New Orleans from the map. Nobody expected the city's football team, lead by Brees, to do too much. They certainly weren't expected to lift the city up, and carry it on their shoulders in such a unifying, special way. Again, Brees far exceeded expectations. He would ultimately lead the "Aint's" to a world championship.

Now, coming off his best year, statistically, with the team suffering heavy penalties for the BountyGate Witch Hunt, imposed by Heir Goodell, without his head coach, his assistant head coach, and some good players, the recently re-signed $100 million QB is, expected, to kiss their boo-boo's and make it all better. And he damn well may.....

But it won't start Week 1.

The Redskins have faced the Brees led Saints 3 times, right? Hold your breath children....

...we're 2-1. (W 16-10 in '06', W 29-24 in '08', and the 33-30 loss in '09'

That's right. With what many of us perceive to be less talented teams, we've beaten him, twice. And one of those, was in New Orleans.

I know they are a good team, but for the life of me I don't get the fear some of my brethren here seem to have about them, or him.

The best thing that could happen for the Saints season, is to lose the opener.

And that, they will.

I'll bet Boone's paycheck on it.

 

[Jimbo]

I really don't think our secondary can slow Brees down and I don't think we can win a shootout with the Saints. Knowing they have Brees at the helm, the Saints D can afford to blitz the heck out of RG3 and try to force him into bad throws.

Being able to run the ball will be the key.

Saints - 31
Skins - 24

 

[McD5]

Some interesting statistics, and some Vegas notes about the game:

The Saints averaged 34 points a game last season.

Vegas, or the general betting public, has the over/under point total for this game at 50. That's the highest over/under by a wide margin. People are looking for a shootout.

The Skins opened as 6 point underdogs, and people jumped all over the Saints. By the following morning, that line moved to 9 1/2 points.

I'm going to wait another day or two to make my pick, and I do expect us to make a good showing.

 

[servumtuum]

The good news-the Saints' #2 sackmaster Will Smith is suspended for the first four games due to Bountygate.

The Bad news-SS Roman Harper and DE Junior Gallete aren't. Neither are Jahri Evans, Ben Grubbs or Jermon Bushrod, three Pro-Bowlers who helped Brees be the most difficult to get at QB in the league. Coupled with Brees' mobility the Saints OL gave up the fewest regular season QB "hits" last season with 51.

Bottom line, pressuring Brees will tax our blitzing D more than most teams will, which coupled with our not-too-certain-how-good-they-are secondary means I expect New Orleans to hang 30+ points on the Skins more than likely.


Darren Sproles just makes me cringe, by the way.


The upside-uh, RGIII, Garcon, Moss, Morris, Royster, a few others-could give the Redskins 20+ points.

Enough to keep it respectable-maybe enough to beat the current 9½ point spread but probably not good enough to win.

It is always possible, of course, that I will be proven wrong and the Redskins will make it super-close or even pull out a win.



Let me rephrase that.



I would absolutely love the hell out of being proven wrong in this case.

 

[servumtuum]

Harper led the Saints in sacks in 2011 with 7.5 regular season and 1.5 post season sacks.

 

[Elephant]

when your safety leads the team in sacks that is good for us as far as im concerned.

it means they have to blitz to get that pressure and 7.5 isnt that impressive at all.

In a Gregg Williams system that seems to be the norm.

 

[Bulldog]

I don't see much on the Saints defense. That said, Brees and the offense can still win games by scoring 35-40 points per game.

This is a rough way for a 5-11 team like the Redskins to start off a season with a rookie qb and new starters at the skill positions on offense.

In truth this game at this particular time looks like it could be a mismatch.

The Redskins are not really ready to be in the national spotlight in a game against a team with a chip on its shoulder and a recent SB winner.

The team should be playing the Cardinals or Tampa Bay at 1pm on Sun.

This is all about the NFL getting Griffin in front of the national audience quickly.

I just don't think it's going to add up to a really good football game.

If this was slated to be Game 16 I might give you a different winner.

 

[Boone]

Definitely a 'heart' vs. 'head' game. Hard to favor the Skins from any kind of a logical standpoint. Still - one factor we aren't giving much weight to is that Griffin is going to want to start his NFL career with a bang. The Saints have rarely looked as good against us as they seem to against other teams. I think those two things give us a chance to compete in this one.

 

[Chris]

<- Me trying to predict a Skins win after the last 20 years.

Wish it were later in the year but it's not. Saints by 11.

 

[Jimbo]

I'm definitely out of my league when it comes to the gifted Blognosticators located herein so I threw this together this morning for fun. I'll probably be way off since the opener always seems to throw us for a loop but here's the way it looks to me.

-----------------------------------------------------------------

Well, well, well….we’re FINALLY set to begin the RG3 era. It’s ABOUT FREAKIN’ TIME! If I have to read another meaningless preseason review or season prediction about the Skins and RG3 I’m going to take to talking to empty chairs.

At first glance, starting the season IN New Orleans, against the Saints, seems to be a daunting task. The Saints and their fans are still hopping mad over the sanctions and suspensions of Bountygate. Thanks to the “all-knowing, all-seeing” Roger Goodell, their coaching staff and defense were decimated and “they were lucky they didn’t lose draft picks”. Oops, wrong team.

In the aftermath of another hurricane, the Superdome is going to be a hostile environment. The fans and players need something to take their hostilities out on. Guess who the lucky recipients will be? That’s right, your Washington Redskins. They say timing is everything. The question is, “Is this a GOOD time or a BAD time to play the Saints?” Not only are the Saints without Head Coach Sean Payton , they will also be without interim Head Coach Joe Vitt. They will be commanded by that household name, Aaron Kromer . Kromer will be using Hurricane Isaac as his “adversity” rallying cry. The last time the Saints used a hurricane for a rallying cry, they lost their 2005 “home opener” to the Giants, in New York, 27-10.

Of course, that was a different Saints team. The starting QB was UVA (nod to Boone) grad Aaron Brooks. Apologies to Mr. Brooks but, you sir are no Drew Brees. You know, Drew Brees, the guy that broke Dan Marino’s single season passing yardage mark and helped the Saints average a whopping 41 PPG on their home turf in 2011. Your Washington Redskins will be playing on that very turf this coming Sunday.

What does all of this mean? Not a damn thing. The Saints may know the Redskins offense with Rex Grossman at the helm but Sexy Rexy, aka the “other” RG3, ain’t starting. Yep, we all saw RG3 in the preseason but we really DIDN’T see RG3, wink wink. Sure, Sweet Bobby G ran a few vanilla staple plays during regular season warmups but Little Napoleon Shanahan wasn’t about to reveal his battle plans as he tries to avoid another Waterloo.

The Saints defense, now under the command of Steve Spagnuolo, figure the Skins will try to run the ball, control the clock, and attempt to keep the ball away from Brees. Makes sense, right? Well, I think that is EXACTLY what they’ll do……AFTER the first series. The Skins will come out throwing and hope to catch the Saints off-balance. Scoring on the opening drive will help decide the outcome of this game. If the Skins can grab and early lead, they will be able to mix things up enough to keep the game close. However, should they fail to score, or if the Saints win the toss and do what Jay Cutler did to our secondary during the preseason game against the Bears, it’s gonna be a LONG game.

Jim Haslett will have to figure out a way for his defense to roughly slam Brees to the turf a time or three if he wants to get into his head. It worked for the Niners during the playoffs last year but then they sat back on their heels late in the game and let Brees pick them apart. That’s asking for trouble. The Skins will also need to key on Darren Sproles, who I think could be the biggest factor in this game.

As for the Skins’ offense, Griffin will need to move around quite a bit. The Saints, under Gregg Williams, would live and die by the blitz and I think we can expect the same with Spagnuolo, so Griffin’s mobility will be the key. The ability to run and screen will set up the long ball and if we can keep the Nawlins defense guessing, we have a very good shot.

Still, I think the combination of Brees and Sproles will ultimately spoil what I believe will be a promising debut by RG3. Saints – 31, Skins – 24.

Please, please let me be wrong!

 

[China]

Well, the last time we played them was during their Superbowl season, and we managed to keep it a close game losing by a field goal in overtime, 33-30. The Redskins will need a similar offensive output to have a chance, but I think again they just have more horses than we do and our secondary is suspect.

We'll need ball control to keep it out of Brees' hands to be able to keep it close.

But you know what they say...on any given Sunday.

 

[SkinsOrlando]

Speaking of the blognosticators, is the tradition carrying on this year, I've enjoyed them immensely
Posted via BGO Mobile Device

 

[Neophyte]

Speaking of the blognosticators, is the tradition carrying on this year, I've enjoyed them immensely
Posted via BGO Mobile Device

Yes sir. We have an opening week Blognostication coming...

 

[micks113]

I don't know who will win, but I do know it will be a shootout. Plus, Redskins have the X Factor.....Griff. I am hoping that what I have seen thus far there is a "will to win" buried in his heart. And those that have played the game know, that players can will the team to victory. That is, if the team can't do it, he will put them on his back and get it done. I believe Griff is the kind of man that refuses to lose. I know this sounds a little pollyanna, but trust me, there is no substitute for the player with a nose for the football and a will to win. (you need only have to look back at the Tebow bronco phenomenon to understand.)

The only other thing you need that can't be taught, is ...............speed. And guess what? ........ you can't tackle what you can't catch.

 

[Boone]

I picked us to lose in NFL Pickem - which I have a hard time doing - but it's impossible to give the Skins a nod using any kind of logical approach.

That almost certainly means we take this one

 

[Fear The Spear]

I picked us to lose in NFL Pickem - which I have a hard time doing - but it's impossible to give the Skins a nod using any kind of logical approach.

That almost certainly means we take this one

Exactly. History tells us that the Skins usually win games that they're supposed to have no chance of winning, and they lose the supposed easy games.

Then again, this is supposed to be a "new era of RG3", so maybe history is no indication......and we lose like we're supposed to

 

[SkinsFTW]

The key is Brees. We have to be able to apply pressure, sack the hell out of him a few times and force him into making throws before he's ready to make them. If we do that we'll win. Not having Sean Peyton around to help run the offense is going to hurt more than most people think.

I dunno, Brees owned the Giants pass rush. I doubt ours is better. The team that has done the best against them was the Bucs. Morris might make a difference for us if it was scheme.

I still say the Saints should win but of course we could steal one. I don't believe the Redskins should be double digit underdogs though.

 

[Fear The Spear]

I am updating my score prediction. I actually do see a shootout, with the Saints squeaking by. Cundiff makes 2 out of 3 field goals. Misses one in the final 3 minutes that would have put them within 1 point, bring the final score to....

Saints 31
Skins 27