I think the Cards have a good chance of winning this one, and it will be a high scoring game. While Shaun Alexander is a very good back he plays to the level of the game, he plays his best in prime time games and can be very average for "unimportant games." As good as he is, I don't think I've ever heard his name mentioned when anyone talks about premier runningbacks. As far as the Saints offense, they are the most erratic offense in the league. Brooks has shown flashes of stardom but simply isn't consistan enough to make it to the next level, so stopping him isn't a huge accomplishment, it just depends on what day you catch him on. Besides, he had 274 yards with 1 td and 1int, so it's not like they shut him down.
To say they held Deuce under 100 yards is a technicality, he had 99 yards on 22 carries for a 4.5 average. Seatles top reciever had 3 catches for 56 yards. To me, the Seahawks don't seem that powerfull.
What is the status on Bell and Davis? If those two are playing we will be much better. Everyone was complaining about the play of our line, but we had 2 backs averaging at least 4.5 ypc and the only real complaints were directed to our backups' backup Dishman, who was only playing because of several injuries and a suspension.
If Bell is back that should help our pass rush. Against detroit we didn't have any sacks but we did have some pressure, and we really need to keep in mind that Detroit allowed the fewest sacks in the NFL last year. The Lions line allowed less sacks than the Eagles great line, less than the Niners with 3 probowlers and a very mobile Garcia, less the Atlanta with the elusive Mike Vick. No one gets sacks against them. Our pass rush has been an embarrasment the last few years and we need an improvement in that area more than anything, but Detroit is a really bad test for us. If we had played against a crappy line with a statue QB and piled up 10 sacks, that wouldn't have been accurate either, we need to see how we look after a couple of games.
Even though the Seahawks have upgraded their D, if they want to double Bolding, or even leave the safeties back to prevent big plays, we should be able to run on them. They allowed a 100 yard rusher so far (screw the technicality) in their only game, and that was with a 3 score lead. I'm still not convinced this isn't the same team that let Thomas Jones run all over them last year.