Drew Brees:

This will mark the fourth time that the Patriots and Saints will conduct joint practices, the third time in Foxboro. 2010, 2012 were here and 2015 in WV.

A quick look at the final eight teams that rounded out the NFL’s season from the Divisional Round thru the Super Bowl shows that for the most part, teams that ran the ball well were the ones standing in the end.

New Atlanta head coach Dan Quinn spent nearly twenty years as a defensive line coach prior to becoming Seattle’s defensive coordinator for two years, when the Seahawks were the NFL’s best defense and won the Super Bowl. While it is still a work in progress, Atlanta’s defense has noticeably improved from the porous sieve that they were the last couple of years. The Falcon offensive line suffered through more than their share of injuries last year; that group being healthy has led to a much improved offense, especially running the ball

The Patriots and Saints should each play their starters a bit more this week as they gear up for the regular season. This should be a good matchup for each

Bill Belichick was ahead of the curve on the joint practice bandwagon and the Patriots will get more from those than the actual preseason game vs the Saints