NFL Week 8

Nicholas Snyder, Staff Writer

 

Saints v. Vikings

The Saints and the Vikings is a quality matchup between two NFC teams with real playoff hopes. These two teams have performed well, but also have not performed. The talk here is 100 percent the defenses. The Saints are 28th in the league in their pass defense, which is clearly not good. The Vikings started the year well, but their inconsistent defense may let up, or may lockdown. They beat and hold quality offenses like the Packers, but lost 27-0 to the Bills, arguably the worst team in the league. This is a flip of a coin for me, but just by the better offense, I’m picking Brees and the boys for this matchup.

Saints 28 – 17

 

Rams v. Packers

Rams are unstoppable. But the team that may be able to stop them is the Green Bay Packers. Let me tell you why. The youth in the Packer secondary is scary. The inexperience causes for many plays over which Packers fans get frustrated. But with the new pickup of Breshad Breeland, a good veteran corner, the team could supply the elderly knowledge that secondary needs to succeed. Over the years the Pack suffered from injury and only had 1 or two top-tier corners. Their draft has been primarily defense, as their first and second round picks were corners. With the new pickup of Breeland, I feel like they can stop the passing game. As for Gurley, that’s a tougher challenge. Everyone always thinks that if we double team Gurley, we will lock him up. But it’s not that simple. Someone like Gurley is borderline unstoppable, and the way to control him is always play that lurk defense 2-3 yards out expecting the run. This will lock up Gurley and give a job for the corners on those early downs. I feel that if Aaron Rodgers and the offense stays healthy, they may be able to break the Rams’ winning streak.  

Packers 24-21