Monday

Forget Brees and Brady, defense is the key

It’ll come down to defense. So says Saints safety Roman Harper as his team prepares for Monday Night Football and the potential game of the year against the New England Patriots.

Tom Brady and Drew Brees may very well go touchdown-for-touchdown but Harper believes that won’t happen.

“On the defense, you’ve got to look at it as whoever stops the offense on the other end is usually the team that’s going to win. Whoever can force turnovers will stop the juggernaut and win.”

And these are juggernauts. The Saints lead the NFL with 36.9 points per game and the Patriots after a slow start are third with an average of 28.8 points.

Although New Orleans (10-0) hasn’t been great on defense, it has an NFL-best 20 interceptions and also nabbed nine fumbles. The Saints allow 20.4 points a game while the Patriots (7-3) allow 16.4 points on average, ranking second in the league.

The key for New Orleans, of course, is to fluster Brady. That means defensive ends Will Smith and Charles Grant are going to have to put pressure on the Patriots’ quarterback and the New Orleans secondary will need to give them time to do so. That means pressuring Wes Welker at the line of scrimmage so he doesn’t become an easy outlet underneath for Brady.

When the Saints have the ball, Bill Belichick will look to confuse Brees with blitz packages and exotic coverage schemes. It could work, especially if the Saints are turned into a one-dimensional offense. For that to happen, New England linemen Ty Warren and Vince Wilfork need to blow up Pierre Thomas, Mike Bell and Reggie Bush (if he plays) in the backfield.

The Saints, playing at home in the Superdome, are favored by a field goal against the point spread. Read the NFLPosts.com betting preview for more info on the big game (8:30 p.m. ET, ESPN).

More NFL news, betting tips and opinion
MMCB: The best RB in the NFL
Week 12 fantasy football standouts
INSIDE SLANTS: Showtime for Vince Young