NFL Predictions Week 8: Saints Will Dominate on Ground for Second Straight Game

We don't typically associate the New Orleans Saints as a great running team. Thanks to Drew Brees' arm and Sean Payton's bag of tricks, they prefer to conduct their offense through the air.

But hey, sometimes you gotta change things up a bit, and the Saints did just that in their 62-7 destruction of the Indianapolis Colts on Sunday night. Brees was his typical brilliant self, throwing for 325 yards and five touchdowns, but the Saints also racked up 236 yards rushing.

Not too shabby, especially when you consider it wasn't any one guy doing the bulk of the damage. Mark Ingram got 14 carries, Darren Sproles got 12 and Pierre Thomas got 10. Nice distribution, that.

If nothing else, the Saints' willingness to run the ball on the Colts told us that they had done their homework and noticed the Colts were having a very hard time against the run this season. All they had to do was pick up where others had left off.

Presumably, they'll look at the St. Louis Rams and come to the exact same conclusion. The Rams have the worst rush defense in the league, and it's not even close. The Rams are allowing 183.8 rushing yards per game, and the next closest team is allowing 150.9 rushing yards per game. Coincidentally, that other team is the Colts.

Now, it's not like the Saints are going to go out of their way to take the ball out of Brees' hands just so they can exploit the Rams' major weakness. Brees is going to get his throws, and it will be up to Ingram, Sproles and Thomas to serve as role players, albeit uber-productive ones.

Well, maybe not Ingram. Per SportingNews.com, we know the bruised heel Ingram suffered against the Colts has been an issue all week, and it's possible he could miss some time. If he can't go on Sunday, the Saints will have to active Chris Ivory, who has heretofore been on the PUP list.

Nevertheless, I'm of the mind that the Saints don't truly need Ingram to dominate the Rams on the ground. That they are the worst team in the NFL when it comes to stuffing the run is not an accident. DeMarco Murray did inflate the Rams' stats in Week 7, but they made it a little too easy for him. And with Brees in the pocket, the Rams certainly won't be able to stack the box.

So Ingram or no Ingram, I see a second consecutive prolific rushing day for the Saints.

Prediction: 190 yards rushing, two rushing TDs