15 January 2010, 10:10 am
New Orleans, Louisiana Saturday will be the site of the Divisional round of the NFL playoffs. The game between the Arizona Cardinals and the New Orleans Saints is one of the most highly unlikely match ups. This is the first time both organizations have had winning records in the same season. The Saints an NFC best 13-3 and the Cardinals 10-6.
The Saints are lead by Drew Brees one the top rated quarterbacks in the NFL with 34 td's and only 14 interceptions. Brees passed for 4,388 yards this year and was named the starting quarterback for the NFC in the Pro Bowl. Brees will be playing in the Superdome in New Orleans. Even with the 13-3 record New Orleans dropped their last two home games to the Dallas Cowboys and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
The New Orleans offense this year is the highest scoring offense in the NFL at 31 points per game. The Saints will be healthy coming into this game after having a bye week and resting their starters in their final game at Carolina a loss. Many in New Orleans are a bit nervous being the Saints lost their last three games of the season. The Saints have not fared well in the playoffs their last win was at home defeating the Philadelphia Eagles in 2007.
The New Orleans defense is one of the most opportunistic defenses in the NFL this year scoring 8 td's and 39 takeaways on the season. The defense was lead by Darren Sharper the safety of the Saints. The Saints secondary will be tested this week by the Arizona Cardinals 6th ranked passing attack. The Saints defense is well rested and very healthy with the entire defensive line ready to go on Saturday. The defensive line is anchored by Will Smith he will need to hold up to a much improved Arizona running attack lead by Beanie Wells a rookie out of the Ohio State University.
The Arizona Cardinals are coming off a win over the Green Bay Packers 51-45 in overtime. The Cardinals defense played well in the first half only giving up 10 points but fell apart in the second half. The Cardinals defense forgot how to tackle as 10 yard out routes turned into 40 yard gains by the Packers. Look for the Cardinals defense to improve on tackling and try to limit the Saints to short gains in the passing game. The Cardinals will try to run the ball more this week against a Saints defense which is 22nd in the league against the run. The Cardinals plan will be to control the clock and keep the high powered Saints offense off the field.
The Cardinals will be lead by one of the top rated quarterbacks in NFL playoff history Kurt Warner. He is 9-3 in the playoffs and 3-0 in the Divisional round of the playoffs with a qb rating of 114.9. He has the best receiver in the game Larry Fitzgerald to throw to and will have an LSU great returning home Early Doucet also at his disposal who came up big last week. Doucet will be filling in for Auquan Boldin who looks to be out for the game.
The Cardinals defense is lead by Adrian Wilson the safety who is a Pro Bowl selection this year. The Cardinals can get pressure on the qb and that will be their defensive game plan on Saturday. Keeping Brees out of a rhythm and making him move in the pocket is a must for the Cardinals to win.
In the end this game will come down to coaching decisions within the game and the Cardinals have a playoff proven coach in Ken Whisenhunt. The Saints have Sean Payton a some what risk taker who wears his emotions on his sleeve and this will be the Saints down fall as Payton makes one to many questionable moves and costs the Saints the victory Cardinals win 37-28.
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