Lions vs. Saints: Matthew Stafford Will Outduel Drew Brees

America is currently enamored by Drew Brees and for good reason.

The reigning offensive player of the month set the NFL record this year by throwing for 5,476 yards. He has caught up with Aaron Rodgers in the MVP vote and his team has won eight consecutive games.

Nobody is hotter entering the postseason right now.

Yet as we have learned time and time again, peaking too early can sometimes be a death sentence in the NFL. Just ask the New England Patriots the past three years.

That’s why the young Matthew Stafford is going to outplay his counterpart. He’ll be going up against a Saints defense that is ranked 30^th in the league against the pass and has already torched them for 400 yards once this season.

Stafford already did his job this season. He led his team to the playoffs for the first time since 1999 and was able to play in all 16 games for the first time in his three-year career. He threw for over 5,000 yards and is a Pro Bowl alternate.

Everything else for the rest of the season is gravy. Stafford is playing with house money and should be much looser than the veteran Brees.

The Saints were shocked by a 7-9 Seahawks team last year in the playoffs and need to win at least one game in the postseason to avoid 2010 looking like an aberration. At the age of 32, Mother Nature’s clock is ticking with Brees and he only has so many years left of highly productive play. This may be his last chance at winning a Super Bowl before the window is closed.

In the first matchup between these two, Ndamukong Suh was suspended. This time around Suh and Kyle Vanden Bosch will be flushing Brees from the pocket much more often than in early December. In the first game Brees was sacked twice and knocked down four times. I expect that to double on Saturday.

Without Mark Ingram and potentially Lance Moore, the high-powered Saints offense will be missing key components. With Brees constantly on the run his accuracy will not be near the 71-percent clip he accumulated during the regular season.

If the Lions have a second-half lead I think panic will ensue on the Saints sidelines, which will lead to poor decision by Brees that will result in turnovers.

As long as the Lions pass rush shows up for four quarters, Stafford is going to be the better QB at the Super Dome this weekend.

Will it be enough to win?