Seahawks will beat the Saints in week 3, at least our staff says so

Will the Seahawks move to 3-0 with a defeat of the Saints in week three? Our staff thinks so and here is why they think the way they do.

The Seahawks haven’t started a season 3-0 since the Super Bowl-winning year of 2013. But if Seattle defeats the Saints on Sunday they will still be undefeated after three weeks. New Orleans might be without quarterback Drew Brees, but back up Teddy Bridgewater is solid and he has weapons like Alvin Kamara.

Group that with a very good Saints defense and a week three win for Seattle is anything but guaranteed. What does our staff think will happen on Sunday? Here are our best guesses.

Geoff Shull, contributor

I spent some time analyzing our opponent. Drew Brees may be out, however, Teddy Bridgewater is no slump. He has the talent to be a starter for at least half the teams in the league. Looking at the past two games the Saints defense has sacked the opposing QB a combined 9 times. To put into context, Russell has been sacked 8 combined times through two contests. This Saints defense is really going to push the Seahawks offense to the brink, especially the offensive line. I foresee a defensive battle. I think our defensive front seven, namely Poona Ford and Jadeveon Clowney, will show up for the challenge. I have ultimately the Seahawks getting the win after Poona records multiple sacks in the game for the first time in his career. Clowney will be tasked with containing Kamara, where he will end with 3 tackles for a loss.

Prediction: Seahawks 17 Saints 13

Colby Patnode, contributor and host of the 12th Man Rising podcast

The Seahawks may have caught a few breaks on the injury font early in the 2019 season and they caught another one this week. Drew Brees will miss this game, meaning Teddy Bridgewater will make his first start of 2019 at Centurylink Field against a 2-0 Seahawks team.

Bridgewater, or perhaps Taysom Hill, wont have it easy, but Bridgewater is starter quality, so it won’t be a walk in the park for Seattle. However, the Seahawks are not missing Russell Wilson and are at home, so I’ll take the team to get to 3-0, but it’ll be tight.

Prediction: Seahawks 27 Saints 23

Blake Waldron, contributor

This is a trap game. On paper this should be the an easy win for a Seattle team coming off a huge road win, playing against a team who will be without their starting quarterback. But this game is not as simple as it seems. The Saints defense leads the NFL in sacks and will be matching up against a Seahawks’ offensive line that continues to struggle. The backup who will be starting at quarterback for the Saints is Teddy Bridgewater. The guy is a former Pro Bowler and has a compiled a 17-12 record in 29 career starts. He is more then capable of leading the Saints to victory. The Seahawks will realize this very quickly when they fall behind 10-0. Fortunately they will wake up as they always do and will put together a strong second half to just pull out the victory.

Prediction: Seahawks 23 Saints 17

Todd Vandenberg, co-expert

At the beginning of the season I predicted this would be the Seahawks first loss. That was before future Hall of Fame quarterback Drew Brees for hurt. Sean Payton hadn’t announced who’ll start in his place as of mid-week. Teddy Bridgewater led New Orleans to a measly nine points last week, and Taysom Hill has attempted all of seven passes in his career. So of course I should pick the Saints for the upset…but I won’t. I think the game will be much tougher than it should be without Brees. New Orleans has allowed almost 800 yards and 55 points in two games. Without Brees, they won’t keep pace with Seattle.

Prediction: Seahawks 34 Saints 24

Lee Vowell, co-expert

I will go against the grain here. Any team can overcome the loss of their key player for a few games. The Saints are a talented team with or without Brees. In fact, having no Brees makes the Saints dangerous after a week of practice without their quarterback. New Orleans has a good defense and a good running game. In a close and low scoring game, the Saints win and Wilson gets sacked five times.

Prediction: Saints 17 Seahawks 15