Colts at Saints: NBC Sunday Night Football Preview and Prediction

The 0-6 Indianapolis Colts will travel to New Orleans and take on the 4-2 New Orleans Saints on Sunday night.  It will be the second game this season the Colts have played on NBC's Sunday Night Football national TV coverage.

The first game was a Week 3 last second loss against the Pittsburgh Steelers in Lucas Oil Stadium.

Both games in the offseason looked to be prime matchups for the NBC telecast.

The Colts vs. Steelers was a matchup of the last two AFC representatives in the Super Bowl, including five of the last six years.

The Colts at Saints was primed as a rematch from Super Bowl 44 in Miami in which the Saints won 31-17.  It also was supposed to be a homecoming in New Orleans for Colts quarterback Peyton Manning. 

His dad Archie was the quarterback for the Saints from 1971-1982.

Now just like in Week 3 against the Pittsburgh Steelers, Peyton Manning won't be on the playing field for the prime-time matchup.

The Saints come into Sunday off of a three-week road trip.  They won the first two games, but lost last week at Tampa Bay.  The Saints haven't played a home game since the 40-33 comeback win against the Houston Texans on September 25th.

The Colts are in their second game of a three-week road trip.  They lost last week at Cincinnati and travel to division foe Tennessee next week before returning home to play Atlanta on November 6th.

The Saints are going to be a tough matchup for Indianapolis.  They average 29.5 points per game, which is sixth in the NFL.

Their 344.3 pass yards per game is second in the league, while the 107.8 yards a game they get on the ground ranks 18th.

The Saints also are good at holding onto the ball and making long drives.  They average 32:15 of possession a game while the Colts' defense averages 35:09 on the field.  Don't look for that to change Sunday night in the Super Dome.

The Saints have converted 49 first downs on third down in 87 attempts.  That's something the Colts struggle in.  They've given up 42 first downs on 87 third-down attempts.

The Saints are led by starting quarterback Drew Brees.  Brees is completing 68.6 percent of his passes this season for 2,152 yards and 13 touchdowns.

If the Colts want any hope on Sunday, they better get a good pass rush on Brees.  Brees has been sacked 11 times and has already thrown eight interceptions this year. 

The problem is that the Colts' secondary is one of, if not the worst, in the league, and Brees has spread the ball around so much this season that it will only make it harder.

Brees' favorite target this year is tight end Jimmy Graham.  Graham is tied for the team lead in receptions with 39 and tied for the team lead in touchdowns with three.  Graham also has the team lead in receiving yards with 620.  Graham will force the Colts linebackers to stay put in the middle and not help on the slant route.

With that happening, the slant route will be open as will the outside routes.  Robert Meachem leads the Saints wide-receiving core with 23 receptions and 251 yards.  To go along with that he's tied with Graham for the team lead with three touchdowns.

If you stop him, you have Marques Coltston on the other side of the field who has 19 receptions for 276 yards a touchdown.

Those two can make Jerraud Powers and Jacob Lacey look worse than they already do.

The key threat will be in the slot.  Lance Moore has 20 catches for 220 yards and a touchdown.

If the Colts defense plays like they have this year, it will look like they're playing 11 against five out there.  That combo is hard to stop.

The Saints also bring in a big receiver in Devery Henderson, who has 14 receptions for 288 yards and two touchdowns.

The other threat is the screen pass, or lining up the Colts' nemesis Darren Sproles in the slot.  Sproles is tied with Graham for the team lead in receptions with 39.  He has a receiving touchdown as well.  That will be dangerous and keep the Colts on their heels all game.

To make matters worse, the Saints rushing attack isn't bad either.  They're led by a rookie out of Alabama, Mark Ingram.  He has 71 carries for 238 yards and three touchdowns this year.  He's not the only back they use though.

They will be bringing in Pierre Thomas who has 41 carries for 165 yards, and Darren Sproles, who has 27 carries for 201 yards and a touchdown out of the backfield.

The Colts have looked better on offense the last few weeks and could put up some points on a struggling Saints defense. 

Curtis Painter has shown he deserves to be the starting quarterback.  He threw his first pick in 115 pass attempts in the fourth quarter against Cincinnati last week.

He's 56-for-102 so far, which is a 54.9 percent completion percentage.  He has 806 pass yards and five touchdowns. 

His favorite target has been Pierre Garcon.  Garcon has 27 catches for 472 yards this year and four touchdowns.  I expect another big day for Garcon his week.

The Saints struggle against the wide-receiver screen and the Colts hit big gains using that play.

I also expect New Orleans native Reggie Wayne to have a good day too.  He is tied with Garcon for the team lead with 27 receptions.  To go along with those 27 catches he has 390 yards receiving, but only has one touchdown and that came in Week 1 against Houston.

The only other Colt with a receiving touchdown is Dallas Clark with two.

The ground game could get some good gains on Sunday too.

The problem is the crowd noise will be a factor and could force the Colts into some dangerous situations.  If forced to punt deep in their own zone, Darren Sproles could take some kicks back for a touchdown.  He's already returned one and the Colts struggle badly on kick coverage.

Prediction:

New Orleans 41  Indianapolis 24