The most surprising team to do well in the NFL so far this season has to be the New Orleans Saints. After a terrible 2012 in which the Saints defense earned the dubious honor of being the worst defense in the entire history of professional football, the Saints are one of only three remaining undefeated teams in the NFL.
The New England Patriots suffered their first loss of the season at the hands of Cincinnati in a game which passed without Tom Brady scoring a touchdown. The Patriots were held to just two field goals for the entire defensive battle which was tied at 6 all until the Bengals finally managed to punch in a touchdown in the fourth quarter to win the game and upset New England.
So now we have Tom Brady, Bill Belicheck & Co. coming off of their first loss of the season and playing at home against the undefeated New Orleans Saints featuring Drew Brees, Jimmy Graham and Darren Sproles. All indicators are pointing to an epic battle at Foxborough on Sunday.
Following the defeat of the Seattle Seahawks at the hands of Andrew Luck and the Indianapolis Colts, the Saints have leap-frogged the Seahawks into second place in both the published ‘Power Rankings’ and the current odds to win Super Bowl XLVIII.
On the strength of a stellar performance so far this season by quarterback Peyton Manning, the Denver Broncos are still alone on top of the power rankings and the odds to win the Super Bowl. Manning is rewriting the record books for a 37 year old quarterback showing that he is still capable of being one of the best to have ever played the game of football.
New Orleans, on the other hand, is coming off of an uplifting 26-18 win against the Bears in Chicago, is ready to roll. The victory was the first time in his tenure with the Saints that Drew Brees has managed to win a game at Soldier Field and that game was a good practice before traveling to Foxborrough to take on New England in yet another open stadium. If the weather turns cold, it could have an effect on the Saints performance.
Two road victories in a row are hard to come by in the NFL which, along with a strong home field advantage, is why the Patriots go in as 2 point favorites.
