New Orleans has continued its tradition of fielding one of the NFL's more explosive offenses. Unfortunately for the Saints, they can't say the same about their defense.
They'll bring the NFL's No. 1 passing offense and No. 31 passing defense to Kansas City for a battle between two teams looking to bolster their postseason cases. The Saints, stuck at 2-3, need a win to establish themselves as the No. 2 team in the NFC South behind Atlanta. The Chiefs, 3-2 after last week's win, need a victory to keep pace in the meat grinder known as the AFC West.
New Orleans needs to step up its defensive efforts or risk wasting a legendary performance from Drew Brees. The 37-year-old quarterback is throwing for more yards per game than anyone in the NFL and is on pace for a 5,500-yard, 45-touchdown season. If he can hit the former, he'll reclaim the league's single-season passing record (which he set in 2011 before being usurped by Peyton Manning in 2013) and notch his fifth season with more than 5,000 passing yards. No other quarterback in the league has more than one.
With Brees at the helm, New Orleans is scoring 31 points per game. Unfortunately for the Saints, that hasn't been enough to win the weekly shootouts in which they've been trapped. The team's defense has been gashed to the tune of 419 yards and 33.6 points per game. Remove a Week 2 loss in which it only gave up 16 points to the Giants, and that figure jumps to 38 points every week.
That should present a big opportunity for a Kansas City team looking to add a little offensive punch to its lineup. The Chiefs have scored nearly 28 points per game in wins this season but have been shut down in their losses. They've averaged just 13 in losses to Pittsburgh and Houston.
Those performances have been dictated by the performance of quarterback Alex Smith. When defenses force the otherwise efficient passer into low-percentage passes, they shut down the KC offense. The team's deficient offensive performances have come in the only two games where Smith failed to complete more than 60 percent of his passes and had his yards per attempt average driven under seven.
That's a key blueprint for the league's more disciplined defenses, but it seems unlikely the Saints will be able to follow it. Here's how quarterbacks have fared against New Orleans this fall:
| CMP | ATT | YDS | CMP% | AVG | TD | INT | RAT | |
| Derek Carr | 24 | 38 | 319 | 63.2 | 8.4 | 1 | 0 | 98.5 |
| Eli Manning | 32 | 41 | 368 | 78 | 8.98 | 0 | 0 | 104.1 |
| Matt Ryan | 20 | 30 | 240 | 66.7 | 8 | 2 | 0 | 113.2 |
| Philip Rivers | 28 | 43 | 321 | 65.1 | 7.47 | 2 | 1 | 93.3 |
| Cam Newton | 27 | 47 | 322 | 57.4 | 6.85 | 2 | 1 | 83.8 |
That's a tough lineup of passers, and the only one New Orleans was able to limit to fewer than seven yards per pass or a 60 percent completion rate was Newton, who has struggled in 2016. Everyone else has been able to sling the ball downfield almost at will against the Saints.
How to watch Saints vs. Chiefs
Time: 1 p.m. ET
Place: Arrowhead Stadium, Kansas City, Mo.
TV: FOX
Announcers: Kenny Albert, John Lynch, Pam Oliver
Online: Sunday Ticket