I see the Road to the Super Bowl going through Minnesota. The NFC championship will be in Minnesota. But I see the Saints going to Super Bowl 52

[Scottish_Viking]

Rams and Saints both frighten me. The week 1 game in Minnesota has no bearing on the potential playoff matchup with the saints as they are a completely different team and as has been mentioned the Rams game was much closer  than the 24-7 scoreline. Kupp doesn't fumble at the goal line and the game really could of swung either way. I trust the Vikings D at home but Gurley has been an absolute beast and Drew Brees is Drew Brees. Heres hoping for some great football

[CriminalMind]

Panthers going to beat Saints.

It's hugely difficult to beat a team 3 times in a year.

[Jlowe22]

Just now, CriminalMind said:

Panthers going to beat Saints.

It's hugely difficult to beat a team 3 times in a year.

It's why I didn't want to play them.  But Falcons are hotter right now and hate us with a passion, so neither game is a gimme.  At least it's in the dome though.

[CriminalMind]

10 hours ago, El ramster said:

 

The Minnesota Vikings have the 2nd lowest SOS (.494) of all NFC playoff teams, that would be the tied for the highest SOS among all AFC playoff teams..

NFC was a blood bath this season..

 

Minny is 3-1 vs the NFC playoffs opponents too

[tyler735]

10 hours ago, JMG5 said:

Rams or Vikings. The Saints lack offensive firepower outside of Thomas and Kamara.

Lack offensive fire power? They have the most talented offense going into the playoffs in the NFC.

I'm taking Brees over any NFC QB in the playoffs 

I'll take Kamara/Ingram over any RB group in the NFC in the playoffs 

I'll take Michael Thomas as the 2nd best WR in the NFC playoffs

I'll take the Saints OL as the best in the NFC playoffs.

Plus Ginn has been a very solid WR for us with over 800 yards in 15 games for us.

[tyler735]

13 minutes ago, CriminalMind said:

Panthers going to beat Saints.

It's hugely difficult to beat a team 3 times in a year.

We manhandled them both times this year. We match up well against them. I'd rather be playing the Panthers than the Falcons.

[nolaexpat]

1 hour ago, tyler735 said:

I'd rather be playing the Panthers than the Falcons.

Yep. Me too. Not a gimme game no matter what we did earlier in the year but if I have to choose, I'd much rather see Cam (and please, be bad Cam just one more time) than Atlanta this weekend.

 

[JMG5]

1 hour ago, tyler735 said:

Lack offensive fire power? They have the most talented offense going into the playoffs in the NFC.

I'm taking Brees over any NFC QB in the playoffs 

I'll take Kamara/Ingram over any RB group in the NFC in the playoffs 

I'll take Michael Thomas as the 2nd best WR in the NFC playoffs

I'll take the Saints OL as the best in the NFC playoffs.

Plus Ginn has been a very solid WR for us with over 800 yards in 15 games for us.

The Saints receivers struggle at consistently getting separation and when the OLine doesn't block well in the run game, which happens from time to time, the Saints become one deminsional and easy to defend. The need one more pass catcher who can actually win one on ones, and they don't have that. Their receiving core is very average. Yes, they have a good RB tandem, but when the blocking isn't there they dont impact the game nearly as much.

The Saints offense is not nearly as good as the numbers show.

[biletnikoff]

13 hours ago, chargerbuckeye said:

NFL Politics may come into play. Brees being the big name top draw in the nfc may bring about some shady officiating. After all, we have seen it with NE, The officials treat NE like an old lady that needs help crossing the street.

Lol nice beating around the bush  lingo.

Shady offiating? If the league  wants a star QB or a popular team to advance,it will happen.

[joru1000]

14 hours ago, JMG5 said:

He isn't nearly as much of a danger to defenses as Kamara. 

There's no danger to a fully healthy Vikings defense. Hell, this year's Vikings defense had a lower PPG and YPG than the 2013 Seahawks.

 

 

[tyler735]

8 hours ago, JMG5 said:

The Saints receivers struggle at consistently getting separation and when the OLine doesn't block well in the run game, which happens from time to time, the Saints become one deminsional and easy to defend. The need one more pass catcher who can actually win one on ones, and they don't have that. Their receiving core is very average. Yes, they have a good RB tandem, but when the blocking isn't there they dont impact the game nearly as much.

The Saints offense is not nearly as good as the numbers show.

Michael Thomas gets separation on his routes, and even when he's covered tight he is very good at making contested catches. Ginn has been solid enough. Kamara has been an x-factor that gets plenty of separation out of his breaks.

When the OL doesn't block well in the run game we are fine when we have Kamara healthy, as he has made big plays in the pass game when the run game has been shut down in almost every game. If teams want to take away the run I still trust Brees to get the job done through the air going into the playoffs.

The Saints offense is every bit as good as the numbers show.

[Jlowe22]

8 minutes ago, tyler735 said:

The Saints offense is every bit as good as the numbers show.

Well the numbers show that we are terrible on third down, and primarily because of an inconsistent passing attack, and receivers that can't get open.  We have no tight ends, Snead has all but vanished, and is more useful blocking.  The OL really is inconsistent run blocking, which makes it even worse.  And Brees to Ginn deep ball is really hit or miss, and that's what Ginn is best at.  This offense has always utilized TE play, and we have no TE.  We need Coleman to step up, but he has shown that isn't dependable at all.

When everyone plays well, it's a great offense, but everyone doesn't always play well, and have been really inconsistent lately.  And it's the same story defensively, with all the injuries, there's no telling which version of the team will show up in the playoffs, and it's improbable both units get it together for 4 games in a row. 

As it stands, there's no legitimate reason to think the Saints should be the NFC favorites, and it is pretty clearly IMO Rams and Vikings.  Of course, I hope this isn't the case, and if they do get it together, they'll be tough for anyone to beat.

[incognito_man]

11 hours ago, CriminalMind said:

 

It's hugely difficult to beat a team 3 times in a year.

I don't think this is actually true. I remember GB fans looking into this awhile back and someone debunked it.

[Nabbs4u]

On 1/1/2018 at 3:16 AM, jrry32 said:

Special backs in offenses led by special coaches and talented QBs can do big things. Ask Marshall Faulk. 

If only Gurley was as good as Faulk this may be true. He isn't! Nor is Goff in comparison to Warner.

[biletnikoff]

On 12/31/2017 at 10:23 PM, RedRider said:

Stop. This never happens. (the league has gone after Brady as much as any other player, so your example is wrong). If New Orleans wins out, it will be because they’re the best team in the conference. Same goes for any other team. 

You mean, they've pretended to go after Brady to create controversy for when they help  him win. That' how propaganda  works