New Orleans Saints:

The Patriots opened the preseason with a 34-22 victory over the New Orleans Saints as the defense stepped up with three turnovers and played well overall.

Rob Gronkowski, Julian Edelman, and Martellus Bennett will likely not play. So what things will Bill Belichick and the coaching look to accomplish tonight?

According to NFL Media’s Mike Garafolo, it looks like Bill Belichick will sit veteran quarterback Tom Brady for their first exhibition game of the year, giving more reps to Garoppolo as he continues preparing to start the first four games of 2016.

The Patriots, however, weren’t at their best offensively and were rather sloppy with dropped passes across the board by multiple players.

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.

He’s always coming out with a competitive edge, his arm always looks strong. His football knowledge, you don’t have to talk about it, it’s second to none.”

In both conferences the race for the number five seed is nearly as meaningful as getting a first round bye. Both of the number five seeds will most likely be playing against a team with a .500 (or losing record). On the other hand the number six seed will have to go on the road against a ten or eleven-win club.

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 trade for DL Akiem Hicks was a good one. He brings depth to the interior DL and has the opportunity to be a nice role player on the front seven

New Orleans’ trade of Hicks is not all that surprising when you consider his diminishing role in the defense as the Saints turned to rookies Tyeler Davison and Bobby Richardson in recent weeks. Hicks’ snap count dwindled from 68 percent in Week 1 to 44 percent in Week 2 to 43 percent last week in Carolina. The talented but inconsistent Hicks clearly had fallen out of favor with the team’s staff and brain trust. Still, his precipitous fall from grace is startling when you consider just 13 months ago he was considered a lynchpin along the Saints’ defensive front. The Saints have been in the market for a third tight end throughout the offseason. They have carried only two on the roster this season and desperately need to improve their in-line blocking at the position.

According to ESPN’s Adam Schefter , the New England Patriots completed a trade for second-year return specialist/receiver Jalen Saunders from the New Orleans Saints for a conditional draft pick.

Patriots QB Jimmy Garoppolo had a strong performance in week two, settling in and helping rally New England from a 21-0 deficit.

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