New Orleans Saints: 5 X-factor players for Week 8 vs. Bears
Which New Orleans Saints players hold the key to beating the Bears?
Heading into Week 8, things for the New Orleans Saints aren’t exactly as everyone pictured they would be. At this point, most of us thought the Saints would have a better record or at least, be leading the NFC South right now. Instead, the team is currently in second behind the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and it’s a little more than surprising. However, the Saints have dealt with a lot of adversity thus far this season.
The Saints receiving corps is incredibly depleted with both Michael Thomas and Emmanuel Sanders out. Additionally, Drew Brees is showing his age while the defense is not living up to the hype.
Overall, 2020 hasn’t been the year most of us predicted for the Saints but they’ve still pulled through. For Week 8 against the Bears, the team is once again going to have to step it up to go up against Khalil Mack and the rest of the Bears defense.
The Bears have been surprisingly solid this season and could prove to a challenge especially for the Saints defense. Before the game kicks off though, it’s only right to look at which players hold the keys to victory. In particular, these five guys are going to end up being the catalyst for a Saints win so let’s get into who will be the first X-Factor.
5. Marcus Davenport, DE
Starting things off this week is a player who was the catalyst for Week 7 and that was Marcus Davenport. Davenport dealt with an injury during the offseason and it was unclear if he would come back and have another solid year.
Thankfully, things are starting to look up for him as he sacked Teddy Bridgewater for his first sack of the year. It really helped to shift momentum in the Saints favor and I look for Davenport to have another good day against the Bears.
While the team didn’t end up living up to the expectations from last week, Marcus Davenport did make a key stop. If he can keep the same energy for Week 8, then the team will hopefully keep their winning streak. While Davenport isn’t the only impactful player on defense, he might end up being one of their biggest secret weapons in the second half of the season.