Saints, Lions insist clash is important to them

The Saints will host Detroit at 5-8 on Monday Night Football. Now the betting odds for the game have the Saints favored to pick up the victory at home. I believe that they will carry some of that wisdom and positive energy into this game (though they might allow for more yards and points).

Over the course of the season, the New Orleans Saints have given up an approximate average of five receptions for 82 yards, and less than a touchdown on eight targets this season to opposing teams No. 1 wide receiver (in terms of snaps that week).

The Lions, who are 4-9 SU and against the spread, have typically played just well enough on the road to lose. Detroit fell to Green Bay the week before and has dropped out of playoff contention at 4-and-9.

Matthew Stafford has thrown nine touchdowns – four to Calvin Johnson – and just one interception over his past three games, and there should be ample opportunity to beef up those numbers against the Saints (5-8).

The Saints and Lions are both grasping at straws to figure something out the remainder of the season. Both pass-catchers play in the Superdome on Monday night when the Detroit Lions pay a visit.

The saints’ win over the Tampa Bay Buccaneers last week as Drew Brees passed Dan Marino in the National Football League record books, didn’t heal any wounds from this season, but it did show there may be some hope for the future.

“Very accurate, great anticipation, trusts his guys, you know he really has it all”, says Stafford. “He’s a smart guy obviously, makes great decisions and guys go up and make plays for him”.

Lions coach Jim Caldwell said Brees has “probably seen every defense there is known to mankind”, so it won’t be easy to fool him.

We asked JR Ella of Canal Street Chronicles about the current status of the New Orleans Saints. For the first time in their last six games, the Saints held an opposing quarterback to a QB rating under 100 (83.1 for Jameis Winston). Brandin Cooks has emerged as his top receiving threat, with 64 catches for almost 900 yards and 7 scores.

Ansah has 8.5 sacks the past seven games, which is more than he had in either of his first two seasons. New Orleans back Tim Hightower isn’t great, but the Lions defense plays well when making the opponents play one-dimensionally.

Armstead has had a solid season despite a knee injury that’s bothered him for the last two months.

“I’ll think about it more when the time comes”, he said. A defense can’t commit a nickelback to Riddick because of the presence of Johnson, Tate and tight end Eric Ebron, among others.