First Look: Saints vs. Titans

The New Orleans Saints (11-3) look to keep pace in the NFC Playoff race, as they'll be on the road for the next two weeks to close out the season. They meet the Tennessee Titans (8-6) in Nashville in what feels like a desperation game for Mike Vrabel's squad. According to the NFL, this year marks just the second time since the league adopted the 16-game schedule in 1978 that four NFC clubs are tied for the conference’s best record with two-or-fewer weeks to play. It also happened in 2014, when five NFC teams were 11-4 heading into the final week.

This will be the 14th time these two franchises meet, with nine of those matchups occurring when the Titans were the Houston Oilers. Tennessee leads the all-time series 8-5-1. The Saints have lost five out of their past six matchups against the Titans, with a lone 22-17 road win in 2011 to show for.

The last time these two met came on 11/8/15 inside the Mercedes-Benz Superdome, a game that saw all sorts of craziness transpire. The Saints jumped out to a 14-3 lead, and then at the end of the first quarter, Marcus Mariota found Delanie Walker on a crazy 61-yard connection in which Keenan Lewis and Jairus Byrd seemed like they were going to intercept.

The Saints would answer and go up 21-10, but the Titans would cut the lead to 21-17 before halftime. Tennessee would add a field goal in the third quarter, and New Orleans would get a Drew Brees to Michael Hoomanawanui touchdown pass to take a 28-20 lead early in the fourth quarter. Mariota countered and drove the Titans down the field to strike again, this time to Justin Hunter, and they'd convert the 2-point conversion to tie the game with 7:06 to play.

The Titans looked to provide the go-ahead field goal attempt after Brandon Browner was called for a penalty (which was a lot that season), but Ryan Succop was short on the 55-yard field goal attempt with less than two minutes to play. The Saints got an opportunity to take the lead with a minute to go, but Kai Forbath's kick was partially blocked. In overtime, the Saints defense couldn't stop the Titans, and Mariota would find Anthony Fasano for the game-winning 5-yard touchdown to win 34-28.

What to Watch For

The Passing Game: Michael Thomas, or better known as 'Can't Guard Mike', needs just 10 receptions on Sunday to tie Marvin Harrison for the single-season catch record (143) set in 2002. Naturally, 11 will give him the record. Thomas has been absolutely dominant for the Saints, and there has been little to no resistance in defending against him. Last week, DeAndre Hopkins finished with 6 receptions for 119 yards, as Deshaun Watson tossed for 243 yards on 19 completions. Watson was picked twice, but had two passing touchdowns. Drew Brees has been red-hot lately, with 9 touchdown passes and 10 total touchdowns over the past two games.
Chill Ryan Tannehill: Tannehill is 6-2 this season, and has been pretty accurate (71.2 percent) and relatively mistake free (11 touchdowns to 2 interceptions) in his past five games. Prior to the loss against the Texans, the Titans rattled off four straight wins, which included wins over the Chiefs, Jaguars, Colts, and Raiders. In each of those victories, Tennessee averaged well over 30 points per game. The Titans are 4-3 at home this season, and the Saints are 5-1 on the road. New Orleans needs to generate some heavy pass rushing to help in this one, and of course contain the NFL's second leading rusher, Derrick Henry.
New Faces in New Places: The Saints have made a few additions recently, most notably claiming cornerback Janoris Jenkins off of waivers from the Giants. New Orleans also added pass rusher Noah Spence last week, and picked up safety D.J. Swearinger on Wednesday. The verdict is still out as to whether or not these veterans will make an impact, but if New Orleans can get some of these players performing at the high levels that they have demonstrated in their career previously, then they could be very scary pickups at this point in the season.