NFLWith the start of the NFL season almost upon us, I figure I probably need to start WOWING you with my unparalleled football knowledge and intimate details about the teams I’m breaking down. …Yah– Whatever!!

Seriously, I am extremely excited about the kickoff matchup Thursday night. If the NFL wanted to start off with a bang, I think they’re going to!! The Colts and the Saints are going to put up some big numbers offensively and, hopefully, some of the questions for both team’s defenses will be answered. I don’t have to tell you that the Colts defense was depleted by free agency and, at least on the surface, the Saints didn’t solve their big play problems from a year ago.

ColtsThe Colts appear to be addressing the defections by “coaching up” players rather than building through free agency. They have a number of players on that side of the ball who aren’t exactly household names. 3rd year CB Kelvin Hayden and rookie DT Ed Johnson are being asked to step into “starter” roles on a unit that already is considered weak.

SaintsThe Saints addressed their most glaring defensive weakness by signing one of the Colt’s talented DB Jason David. He is being asked to take the place of the “oft-burned” Fred Thomas, however, David saw very little action in the pre-season and Thomas was all over the field. This has alot of people in the bayou scratching their head.

My opinion is, … the game will be like a tennis match. Everyone will watch the two offenses run up and down the field and whichever defense can make ONE STOP will win, but who knows, maybe it will be a 6-3 battle of field position. I guess we’ll see in a couple of days.