Game Preview: Week 9, Patriots vs. New Orleans

Win. Loss. Win. Loss. Win. Loss. Win. Loss. Win. ???

I'm going to make this short and sweet this week. The New England Patriots (5-4), despite placing two more players on injured reserve, are attempting to win two games in a row this season for the first time. Fortunately, they have the 2-7 New Orleans Saints coming to town. The Patriots, as we know, are generally pretty solid in Gillette Stadium. This will be the Saints' first trip to the "new place", after losing what was the first of nine straight wins for the New England on their way to their first Super Bowl title in 2001 in the "old place".

The losses of center Dan Koppen and cornerback Randall Gay to injures will certainly have an effect on this team. Koppen now becomes one of several players missing from last years front five. The rest of the offensive line, which has done a pretty admirable job this year, will need to take another step up to maintain the status quo. The loss of Gay is less severe because of the cumulative losses there already. Gay is now the seventh defensive back who started the season with the team.

Old friend Antowain Smith returns to Foxboro to carry the ball for New Orleans. He's averaging an unbelievable 5.9 yards per carry in his last three games. He never did that for New England. Now the Patriots have to stop him. Shouldn't be a major concern. The major concern, of course, is the defensive secondary. Even with Donte Stallworth not at 100 percent, he and Joe Horn make a formidable deep threat, and that could be bad news if Bill Belichick and crew don't find some way to contain it without opening up any other gaping holes in the dike.

Look for Heath Evans take the lead in the offensive backfield again. He'll probably share some time with Patrick Pass. Corey Dillon is still ailing. Watch for problems in the snap between Tom Brady and the center. It will be the first time in 40-odd games Brady takes regular snaps from someone other than Dan Koppen.

Time is short. I gotta go.

Prediction: Patriots, 31-17.