The Washington Redskins (3-5) and New Orleans Saints (4-5) face off today at 1 PM in Landover, MD in a game the Redskins need to win.
The Redskins head into today’s game coming off of a sloppy performance in Foxborough, losing to the Patriots 27-10. It was a poor performance overall, however the good news is Washington gets to now play at home. The Redskins currently have a three game win streak at home and cannot afford to lose today if they want to remain in playoff contention in the NFC East.
Last week, New Orleans suffered an overtime loss to Marcus Mariota and the Tennessee Titans with a final score of 34-28. The Saints offense has been able to perform throughout the season, however their defense is one of the worst in the league, allowing 414 yards per game to opposing offenses and almost 30 points per game. New Orleans has been inconsistent throughout the season to say the least, and a win for them today can put them back at .500 heading into their bye week. With QB Drew Brees leading the offense, the Saints are going to look to attack the Redskins secondary the same way Tom Brady did last week. Brees has the weapons to do this, and the Saints offense has put up a good amount of points throughout the entire season. It should be no different against the Redskins today.
This Saints defense allows an average of 4.7 yards per run to opposing teams this season, which bodes well for the Redskins. The past couple of weeks, Washington has been unsuccessful running the ball, totaling 34 rushing yards against the Jets, 50 yards against the Buccaneers, and 37 yards against the Patriots. Without the run game being successful, the offense becomes one-dimensional where Kirk Cousins has to throw all day long without being able to use the play-action to his advantage. Look for Washington to gain some success on the ground today against the Saints.
Players to watch:
Mark Ingram (NO): The Saints run defense is bad, but the Redskins run defense might just be worse, allowing 132 yards per game to opposing teams on the ground. Ingram has struggled in the past couple of weeks and has yet to hit 100 yards rushing in a game this season. Ingram could get his first at FedEx Field today.
Saints LB core (NO): In order to help Kirk Cousins, Washington will to try to get the run game going for a first time in a long time. We talked about how the Saints run defense has had trouble throughout the season and it is up to the linebackers to stop the RB duo of Alfred Morris and Matt Jones. If they can’t, look for the Redskins offense to do some damage.
Redskins front 7 (WSH): Drew Brees will torch any defense if he has time in the pocket. Washington was unable to get a lot of pressure on Tom Brady last week and you saw what happened there. The Saints offense can be dangerous but the way to stall it is with pressure to the QB. If the Redskins can put pressure on Brees early on, he’ll fall out of his comfort zone and Washington would gain some control.
DeSean Jackson (WSH): After a quiet game in his return from injury last week against New England (3 catches, 15 yards), Jackson needs to have a big game for the Redskins against the Saints today. The Saints secondary is weak and has been exploited by many fast receivers that can run over the top of the coverage. Jackson is the ideal player in this scenario and should see some deep shots from Cousins in the game. We haven’t seen just what Jackson can do this season and this could be his coming out party. Jackson should be effective in the offense all day long and the main target for Cousins.
Prediction: Redskins 31 Saints 27
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