Will the Saints Play the Rams Again
Drew Brees and Alvin Kamara make up two thirds of a mortiferous trio in New Orleans
The NFL'due south all-time leading passer, arguably the all-time dual-threat running back in the league, and the NFL'southward undisputed No ane receiver; with such an assortment of weapons, is information technology time to consider the New Orleans Saints Super Bowl favourites?
Drew Brees, Alvin Kamara, Michael Thomas and co have helped inspire the Saints (9-one) to a nine-game win streak - the latest of which was a 48-vii shellacking of the defending Super Basin-champion Philadelphia Eagles - leaving them second only to the Los Angeles Rams (10-i) atop the NFC.
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Highlights of the Eagles' trip to the Saints in Week xi of the NFL.
Sure, Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes has lit upwards the league this year (3,628 passing yards and 37 TDs, leading the NFL) and Todd Gurley has been a beast for the Rams at running back (1,484 scrimmage yards and 17 TDs, once more league highs). Plus at that place is Adam Thielen's record-run of 100-thousand games to starting time the flavour, Julio Jones' league-leading 1,158 yards and Tyreek Colina and Antonio Chocolate-brown's xi TDs apiece to top the receiving charts.
Brown had formed part of the league's well-nigh devastating trio, the 'Killers Bs', when teamed upwards with Ben Roethlisberger and Le'Veon Bell in Pittsburgh, but with Bong absent for this flavour - equally much every bit James Conner has admirably stepped in - in that location is a new dominant iii-headed monster in the NFL, and it comes out of New Orleans…
Brees playing at MVP level
Drew Brees is playing some of the best football game of his career at the age of 39
With Tom Brady withal trucking at 41 years of age, it's easy to forget that Brees is operating at an extraordinary level for a 39-year-old.
Brees' 2,964 passing yards is good enough for 6th in the NFL and his 25 passing TDs fourth. Plus, Brees holds an NFL-best 25:1 touchdown-interception ratio this twelvemonth, as well equally his career-loftier completion pct - a staggering 76.9 per cent, another career loftier. His passer rating of 126.9 through 10 games is also a career best. Not merely that, but all would be NFL-record marks if the season concluded today.
Despite the impressive numbers, this is no longer a Saints squad Brees needs to carry on his shoulders lonely similar he did when putting up his record five five,000-k passing campaigns in 2008, 'xi, '12, '13 and '16. He now has the talent around him to operate (somewhat) more conservatively.
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Drew Brees bankrupt Peyton Manning's all-fourth dimension NFL passing record with a stunning 62-k touchdown pass confronting the Redskins.
Yet, even with his multiple 5,000-yard seasons, and his solitary Super Bowl triumph in the 2009 season, Brees has yet to be awarded the accolade of the league'south leading role player. How fitting it would exist that changes in the season he became the NFL'south all-fourth dimension leading passer.
The dual-threat of Kamara
Alvin Kamara has been a revelation for the Rams since beingness drafted in 2017
Lessening the brunt on Brees has certainly been the inflow of Kamara - 67th overall option in the 2017 draft - and the dual threat he offers out of the backfield, complementing the more ground-and-pound game of Mark Ingram.
It is widely considered that Gurley has been operating on a different planet to anybody else over the past two years but, since the get-go of the 2017 season and Kamara'due south NFL arrival, he is second but to the Rams running back in scrimmage TDs, notching 28.
He is also a dissimilar kind of threat to Gurley, who does the majority of his work between the numbers. Kamara, meanwhile, provides Brees with another option on the outside - he leads all running backs over the terminal two seasons with receptions and receiving yards working on the sidelines.
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Alvin Kamara scores one of his three touchdowns confronting the Rams with a throw outside the numbers.
Besides, the 2d-twelvemonth thespian is only improving, on step to eclipse his rookie numbers in 2018 - 10 games into the season he already has 617 rushing yards (728 in 2017), 510 receiving yards (826, 2017) and xv scrimmage TDs (thirteen, 2017).
Part of the reason for that is Kamara was required to stride up every bit the Saints' pb back over the first four games of the season, while Ingram was suspended. Step upward is exactly what he did.
Kamara tallied 275 yards on 56 carries over that span, an average of iv.nine a tote, while his 134-yard and iii-TD effort in Calendar week Four against the Giants were career highs, and he added two farther 100-k receiving outings to that in Week One against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and Week Three against the Atlanta Falcons.
The numbers have tailed off slightly since Ingram's return, though Kamara has been dorsum to his subversive best in the recent wins over the Rams and Cincinnati Bengals, scoring a combined five touchdowns and topping 100 scrimmage yards in both, before bringing up a ton once more against the Eagles final week as well a returning one TD reception.
Thomas' claim to be No 1
Is Michael Thomas the No 1 receiver in the NFL right now?
Crowning Thomas as the NFL'south undisputed No 1 receiver in the opening paragraph of this piece is bold claim, only not one without substance.
In 2018 lonely, Thomas has the 2nd-virtually catches (82), third-most yards (1,042), and 5th-most touchdown receptions (8). Plus, he has the highest reception per centum of any 1,000-one thousand receiver over the last 10 seasons in the NFL, registering at 90.1 per cent - well articulate of Golden Tate's side by side best effort of 76.vii final year and with his rookie mark of 76.0 in third.
Not only that, merely Thomas needs just 11 more receptions over the Saints' terminal six games of the season to come across him register the highest number of catches through a player's first three seasons in NFL, chirapsia both Odell Beckham Jr and Jarvis Landry's 288.
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Saints broad receiver Michael Thomas did this 'telephone phone call commemoration' subsequently his deep touchdown against the Rams.
And, much like Kamara, Thomas appears to only exist getting better. The 47th overall pick in the 2016 draft is on course to obliterate his rookie (1,137 yards, 9 TDs) and sophomore (i,245, five) numbers. Plus he has a receiving TD in his last three games straight, tying his career-longest streak, also notching his first-ever 200-yard game over that span, in the stunning win over NFC rivals the Rams.
Super Bowl aspirations
Drew Brees and the Saints are aiming to get back to the Super Bowl 9 years on from their final triumph
Sterner tests prevarication ahead for the Saints. A potential Rams rematch in the playoffs being one of them. But, most encouraging for the Who Dat Nation down in New Orleans is that such clutch performances from their biggest stars are existence reserved for the games that matter most.
And the Rams win wasn't just a flash in the pan either. Of the Saints' nine-lucifer win streak, their final six have come against the might of the Washington Redskins, Baltimore Ravens, Minnesota Vikings, Rams, Bengals and Eagles - the defending Super Basin champions are the only team over that currently accept a losing winning record.
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Highlights from the NFL equally the Rams took on the Saints in Calendar week 9.
Another tricky consignment awaits on Thanksgiving 24-hour interval this Th, with a visit of their NFC Due south rivals the Atlanta Falcons. It's a sign of things to come, every bit the Saints' season rounds off with iii divisional games in four weeks, including two against their biggest threat for the crown, the Carolina Panthers.
It won't be easy, but with the offensive weapons at their disposal, you lot would have to exist dauntless to dorsum confronting the Saints.
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Source: https://www.skysports.com/nfl/news/11549400/new-orleans-saints-drew-brees-alvin-kamara-and-michael-thomas-to-inspire-super-bowl-run?basketId=12119
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