4 New Orleans Saints who have to step up versus Patriots in Week 3
By Kristen Wong
The New Orleans Saints need strong efforts from some sub-radar guys.
Let’s be honest, we all thought the New Orleans Saints would be 1-1 in their first two games. It was a pleasant surprise when the Saints beat the Green Bay Packers in Jacksonville, but it was a head-shaking disappointment when they fell to Carolina last week.
Well, Jameis Winston wasn’t exactly a disappointment. We all knew what was coming.
In any case, New Orleans already had its ups and downs through the first two weeks of the season, but better test for consistency and evaluating team form comes against the New England Patriots this Sunday.
The Pats are 1-1 too, and this is the first time since 2013 that the Saints will be playing New England. Bill Belichick may already have his eyes on his team’s Week 4 matchup against former Pats quarterback Tom Brady, but they’ll have to go through New Orleans first. And the Saints could make this a very difficult game indeed.
Many NFL analysts are predicting New England to beat the New Orleans side, partially due to their home field advantage and partially due to….well, the Saints’ inconsistent form.
The Saints are just recovering from a catastrophic meltdown in which their defense crumbled against an average Panthers team and their offense was virtually nonexistent.
Maybe they could have blamed their injury woes before, but this week represents a clean slate — and perhaps the real beginning of the season for Sean Payton’s new-look team. So far, the team hasn’t been close to performing at its maximum potential, with several players seemingly “busted” after just two weeks.
2021 was supposed to usher in the Saints’ “Reconstruction Era,” and on Sunday we’ll see how much work they still have to do.
These four New Orleans players, in particular, need to step up in Week 3 for the Saints to have a chance at winning this game.