The Saints have a lot of matchups that look good for them against the Colts. The best matchup for the Saints defense is DE Will Smith lining up against rookie LT Tony Ugoh on Peyton Manning’s blind side. If Smith wins this battle in a big way it will cause Manning to be a little jittery in the pocket. But if Ugoh wins the battle the Saints could be in for a long night. Corners Mike McKenzie and Jason David will have problems stopping WRs Marvin Harrison, Reggie Wayne and Anthony Gonzalez if Peyton Manning is getting a lot of time to set up in the pocket. The Saints don’t blitz a lot because the linebackers are not the most athletic bunch. Still, tackles Kendrick Clancy and Brian Young must keep the linebackers clean to make plays on Joseph Addai in the running game. Mark Simoneau, Scott Fujita and Scott Shanle might be able to contain Addai as long as the grunts are doing their job in front of them. Saints safeties Roman Harper and Josh Bullocks will have their hands full with Dallas Clark, Ben Utecht and Bryan Fletcher over the middle.

The Colts defense just doesn’t match up too well with the Saints offense. DEs Robert Mathis and Dwight Freeney will have their hands full trying to get around tackles John Stinchcomb and Jamaal Brown when the Saints pass the ball. The thinking here is that the Saints will try to push the Colts soft defense around by attacking it with the running game. Deuce McAllister will likely be running behind C Jeff Faine and guards Jamar Nesbit and Jahri Evans right up the middle of the Colts defense challenging tackles Raheem Brock, Ed Johnson and middle linebacker Gary Brackett. After the Saints establish the power game look for Reggie Bush to attack the perimeters of the defense with sweeps and short passes. OLBs Freddy Keiaho, Rob Morris and strong safety Bob Sanders must contain Bush on those plays. When the Saints are passing the ball the Colts must be physical in the secondary. CBs Kelvin Hayden and Marlin Jackson will have to bring the hurt to Marques Colston and Devery Henderson to keep them from flying down the football field. Safeties Bob Sanders and Antoine Bethea must be aware of TE Eric Johnson’s whereabouts at all times as he will be the Saints’ secret weapon of offense on Thursday Night.

Another pivotal matchup will be the Colts’ punter (Hunter Smith) vs. punt returner Reggie Bush. This is not a good matchup for the Colts so look for them to try to angle the football out of bounds on punts. The Colts do have an edge at placekicker as Adam Vinatieri is much more dependable than Olindo Mare.

PREDICTION: I have a feeling that the Saints are going to win a very close, high scoring and entertaining football game on Thursday Night in Indianapolis. The matchups dictate that the Saints are going to be the better team this season.

Â