NEW ORLEANS — It's Christmas week and the New Orleans Saints and LSU Tigers both have massive football games.
The Saints go into this weekend still with a chance at getting a bye in the playoffs, they just need a little help from either the Seattle Seahawks or Detroit Lions.
Meanwhile, LSU is in Atlanta in the College Football Playoff for the first time and looking to continue the most magic of seasons.
Let's get right to this, shall we?
Saints Fan Mood and Meditation Music:
All I Need Is A Miracle -- Mike and the Mechanics
Since 1990, 83% of the teams who won the NFC had a bye the opening week of the playoffs. It really is the difference between going to Super Bowl and not.
Sure, you can scream at me about the five teams since 1990 who won three NFC playoff games and went to the Super Bowl, but my response would be to tell you about the 24 teams that had a bye and won the NFC.
The week off is critical.
The trouble for us and the Saints is we are depending on the Lions, losers of 8 straight games, and the Seahawks who just brought Marshawn Lynch out of retirement because they have no healthy running backs. Miracle might not be a strong enough word for what we need this week, but you can't get one if you don't ask right?
The Games
Last Week: 3-2
Season: 44-31-1
Oklahoma (+12.5) vs LSU: The 2019 LSU offense without Clyde Edwards-Helaire to me is like the 2011 Saints offense without Darren Sproles. The Tigers will still be amazing on offense because they have Joe Burrow and those incredible receivers, but Edwards-Helaire is the card LSU plays that makes every defense turn to dust.
"You want to drop 8 in coverage? Fine, we are gonna run Clyde or throw dump off passes to him."
"You wanna blitz? Clyde will pick up that linebacker so Joe Burrow can throw a 30 yard strike downfield."
LSU's offense is going to be fine, but they'll score in the 30s and not the 40s.
It'll make Saturday a lot closer than it would have been otherwise. The good news for LSU is their defense is finally healthy and the Tigers also have experience facing Sooner quarterback Jalen Hurts from his days at Alabama.
This one will be tight throughout until Joe Burrow wraps it up late
LSU 34-24
New Orleans (-13) at Carolina: Remember that Indianapolis Colts team the Saints destroyed on Monday night two weeks ago? The team that looked like they couldn't win another game if their lives depended on it? They just beat the Panthers 38-6 and ran for over 200 yards.
Carolina is completely checked out and looking towards the offseason. I've put more effort into this column than Carolina has given the entire month of December.
The only question I have about this game is how long Sean Payton will care about winning it? The reason is, the Saints get a bye if Seattle beats San Francisco, whether the Saints beat Carolina or not.
So the question for Payton is how far ahead of the Lions do the Packers have to be before he starts pulling starters? If I was Sean Payton and saw the Packers ahead 14-0 in 2nd quarter, I'd pull as many starters as possible.
There's ZERO chance the Lions will beat the Packers after falling behind 2 scores.
The thing is, even if Payton pulls starters early because Green Bay is rolling in Detroit, the Saints are probably still going to win going away.
If Teddy Bridgewater isn't throwing passes in the 2nd half and Dwayne Washington isn't getting carries, I'll be very surprised. Get Michael Thomas to 150 catches, try to avoid injuries and play hard until Green Bay-Detriot is decided.
Saints 27-10
Green Bay (-12.5) at Detroit: Can you even name the Lions quarterback without Google? I thought so. Whoever he is, he's not beating the Packers.
Packers 28-3
New York Giants (+4.5) vs Philadelphia: There will be chaos in the NFC, it's just not going to help the Saints. Giants are going to gift Dallas the NFC East.
Giants 23-17
San Francisco (-3) at Seattle: You realize the Seahawks turning to retired Marshawn Lynch is going to be like one of those sad sequels to old movies everyone wishes would be fantastic but five minutes after the show begins wishes would've never happened.
Beast Mode will be Sad Mode by mid-2nd quarter. Seattle and Saints fans have one hope: Russell Wilson becoming a superhero. He's capable but it's not going to happen.
49ers 31-21
Ralph Malbrough is a contributing writer and Saints fan living in Houston. Email him at saintshappyhour@gmail.com, find him on Facebook, or follow him on Twitter at @SaintsForecastor download the Saints Happy Hour Podcast.
(Warning: The Saints Happy Hour Podcast may contain language that is not suitable for all audiences)
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