Saints vs. Patriots Pregame Report - Week 3

The Saints take on the Patriots at Gillette Stadium, as the two longest tenured head coaches in the NFL go at it and look to get an important Week 3 win.

Author:
John Hendrix
Publish date:
Sep 26, 2021 8:18 AM EDT

The Saints and Patriots square off in what should be a very entertaining Week 3 early game. New Orleans looks to rebound after a poor showing last Sunday, while New England looks to keep momentum going after beating up on the Jets. Sean Payton is 1-2 against Bill Belichick, with the lone win coming in 2009. They were close in that 2013 matchup, but a last-second touchdown to Kenbrell Thompkins let the Patriots prevail. In 2017, New England completely dominated New Orleans inside the Superdome.

Here's a look at our pregame report, with some info on how to watch and storylines to keep up with.

All-Time Series: Patriots lead the all-time series 10-4, and are 5-3 at home against the Saints. The last New Orleans win on the road came in 1995, as they have lost three straight (2001, 2005, 2013).

Where to Watch: FOX (12:00 p.m. CT), Adam Amin, Mark Schlereth, and Shannon Spake (field reporter)

Where to Stream: Fubo, NFL Mobile, Saints App, Fox Sports GO, Yahoo Sports App

Where to Listen: WWL Radio locally (105.3FM) with Mike Hoss, Deuce McAllister, and Steve Geller (sideline reporter); SIRIUS: 119 (NO), 99 (NE) | XM: 389 (NO), 230 (NE) | SXM App: 822 (NO), 821 (NE)

Referee: John Hussey

Current Lines: Saints -3 (O/U at 42.5)

Jersey Combo: White Jerseys, White Pants

Last 5 Matchups

9/17/17 - Patriots 36, Saints 20
10/13/13 - Patriots 30, Saints 27
11/30/09 - Saints 38, Patriots 17
11/20/05 - Patriots 24, Saints 17
11/25/01 - Patriots 34, Saints 17

Broadcast Map (via 506sports): Check your local listings, but Saints-Patriots are projected in green.

Saints-Patriots projected in green.
506sports

Saints Storylines

The Saints enter this weekend relatively healthy, as only one player (Erik McCoy) was ruled out of action on the team's final injury report. This means New Orleans should have Marshon Lattimore (hand/thumb), C.J. Gardner-Johnson (knee), and Tanoh Kpassagnon (calf) back in the lineup. That will be a huge boost to the defense, and it should produce a much better showing overall.

I asked Chris Hogan, who makes a bit of a homecoming on Sunday, about what he's seen from Jameis Winston and the team's mentality this week.

Hogan said, "I think un-wavered. We just turn the page. This is Week 3. We're early on in the season. I think top to bottom, things were not clicking last week. That's going to happen in the NFL. I think to win in this league, you have to turn the page. We watched the film Monday, have corrected the mistakes, and I think Jameis has been locked in this week. I think a big emphasis for us is going to be communication and I think just playing well in all phases of the game. I think that's what we did in Week 1 and we really worked off of each other on offense, defense, and special teams. That will be something we try to harp on and try to do on Sunday by playing fast and being ready to play. We put in a lot of work this week, so hopefully we can go out there and play well on Sunday."

Kenny Stills and Austin Reiter were the players elevated from the team's practice squad this week. Stills could provide a nice boost to the receiving corps, who has been fairly disappointing to start the season.

Look for how Dennis Allen schemes against Mac Jones and the chess match on both sides. Allen will want to be aggressive and blitz the rookie, and we haven't seen much of the deep ball from Josh McDaniels' offense. This could be a big change today, and hopefully the Saints are not caught sleeping.

Getting Winston in a comfortable groove will be key to this game. Expect some short and intermediate throws to get him going while leaning on a good one-two punch of Alvin Kamara and Tony Jones Jr. Winning 1st and 2nd Down will be the biggest key for the Saints going into this game.