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Early look at the Detroit Lions 2017 Opponents: New Orleans Saints

By Ash Thompson

NEW ORLEANS, LA - DECEMBER 21: Willie Snead
NEW ORLEANS, LA - DECEMBER 21: Willie Snead /
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The Detroit Lions’ week six match up is against the New Orleans Saints. The Lions beat the Saints 28-13 in 2016, but how do the teams stack up for 2017?

NEW ORLEANS, LA – DECEMBER 04: Drew Brees
NEW ORLEANS, LA – DECEMBER 04: Drew Brees /

The Lions beat the saints in week 14 of last year by a score of 28-13. It was the only dominant performance that the Lions managed last season. It was the return of Joe Lombardi, the Saints QB coach, and former Lions offensive Coordinator. As the Lions offense often did while Lombardi was at its helm, the Saints struggled to sustain drives. Drew Brees did complete

Drew Brees did complete 70% of his passes but finished the day with no touchdowns and three interceptions. MArk Ingram led the Saints in rushing yards with 37, 22 of which came on a single carry. The Saints offense managed only 19 first downs on the day, with another coming from a Lions penalty. The Lions defense bottled up what had been a pretty good Saints offense.

Offensively the Lions did just enough on most of their drives to come away with points. Matt Prater was 5-5 on field goal attempts. The Lions scored 28 points but managed only two touchdowns. Matthew Stafford completed 71% of his passes against a terrible Saints defense. He was sacked twice by the Saints but avoided turning the ball over. He completed multiple passes to seven different receivers on the day.

Zach Zenner and Dwayne Washington carried the load on the ground. While Zenner had a good day, nine carries for 40 yards, Washington did not, seven carries for 21 yards. The Lions won the day based on their advantageous field position, and ability to avoid three and out drives. Sam Martin had only two punts on the day.

With the majority of the offseason in the books at this point, both teams look a bit different than they did last year.  The Saints have added a lot of defensive personnel. Much like the Lions they had a linebacker corp that left a lot to be desired before injuries hit them. Their secondary was equally decimated. Here is a look at the Lions Week six opponent.

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