What the devil is going on with the New Orleans Saints? Earlier this year the New Orleans Saints had their head coach Sean Payton suspended for the entire 2012 NFL season, former defensive coordinator Gregg Williams banned indefinitely and it’s current general manager Mickey Loomis suspended 8 games for their involvement in Bountygate, the pay-for-injury scheme.

Now, there are allegations that their GM also illegally eavesdropped on visiting NFL coaches as recently as eight years ago.  According to reports, Loomis had an electronic device in his Superdome suite that let him listen to opposing coaches.  Agents from the U.S. Attorney’s office in the Eastern District of Louisiana are now investigating to determine whether Loomis broke federal laws.

This eavesdropping scandal could very well mark the end for Loomis.  Even if he is proved innocent, he has further embarrassed the Saints, their fans and especially their owner, Tom Benson.

Remember, Loomis has already been suspended for actions that were insubordinate. When the owner discovered that the league was aware of the team’s bounty program, he told Loomis to shut it down. Instead, Loomis let the practice continue until it publicly embarrassed the franchise and destroyed its chances for a successful season this fall.

So we’ve all heard about the Devil went down to Georgia. Obviously, he moved on to New Orleans, disguised as a Saint.

Watch out Saints fans, it may not be long before Benson performs an exercism and expels Loomis from the organization.  With the devil and the evil gone, soon after you’ll be hearing that old Saints cheer down in the French Quarter – “who dat dere gonna beat dem Saints”.

The NFL Thursday night game of the week heads to Nashville for an AFC South match-up between the Indianapolis Colts (6-6) and Tennessee Titans (5-7).

The Indianapolis Colts (6-6) are hoping to avoid their first four game losing streak in 9 years. Indianapolis lead the division for the first nine weeks before losing three straight. The Colts are still very much alive in the 2010 NFL playoff picture and, more importantly, control their own destiny. With 4 games remaining, they play two against their AFC South rivals the Titans, and one against the current division leader Jacksonville Jaguars. In the event of a tie with Jacksonville, the Colts would win the tiebreaker and head to the NFL playoffs as the AFC South division champions.

The Titans could also make the playoffs by winning their final four games, but also need outside help. Tennessee started out strong 5-2 before losing five in a row. Injuries and in-fighting have sent the Titans spiraling.

The Titans have lost their last three games against the Colts, with Manning passing for five touchdowns and one interception.

Over the last three weeks Peyton Manning has 11 interceptions, and has thrown four in each of his last two games. In last week’s OT loss to the Cowboys (38-35), two were returned for touchdowns and other for the game winning field goal.

The Colts woes stem from their inability to run to ball. They are averaging just over 54 yards per game over their last 5 games and have had to rely on the passing game to score points. However, the Colts may have some better results against the Titans, who have 4 defensive players who are questionable for game time.   Last week the Titans gave up 258 yards to the Jacksonville Jaguars.

Kerry Collins will start for the Titans and WR Kenny Britt has been activated after being out for over a month with a hamstring injury.

Many analysts and football experts would pick the home team. But our analysis points to the Colts as our NFL expert pick of the week.

COLTS Vs. TITANS: GAME DAY PARTICULARS
Visitors	Indianapolis Colts(6-6)
Home	Tennessee Titans (5-7)
When	Thursday, Dec 9 8:20 PM EST
Where	LP Field
TV COVERAGE	NFL Network
GAME DAY FORECAST	Temp: 34º Prec: 0%
Favorite	COLTS -3
Under/Over	46.5

COLTS – TITANS OFFENSE/DEFENSE AVERAGES

COLTS OFFENSE		TITANS DEFENSE
Rush Yds/Gms	79.1 32nd	Rush Yds/Gms	123.4 22nd
Pass Yds/Gms	303.3 1st	Pass Yds/Gms	238.7 23rd
Tot Yds/Gms	382.4 5th	Tot Yds/Gms	362.1 4th
TITANS OFFENSE		COLTS DEFENSE
Rush Yds/Gms	112.6 12th	Rush Yds/Gms	142.8 29th
Pass Yds/Gms	179.0 31st	Pass Yds/Gms	200.0 4th
Tot Yds/Gms	291.6 30th	Tot Yds/Gms	342.8 18th

INJURY REPORT

INDIANAPOLIS COLTS
PLAYER	POS	INJURY	STATUS
Mike Hart	RB	Ankle	Out
TENNESSEE TITANS
Dave Ball	DE	Knee	Questionable
Tony Brown	DT	Knee	Questionable
Sen’Derrick Marks	DT	Ankle	Questionable
Ryan Mouton	CB	Hamstring	Questionable

COLTS TITAN NFL WEEK 14 GAME PREDICTION
The Titans injuries on defense (2 defensive ends, a defensive tackle and a cornerback questionable) should allow the Colts to move the ball on the ground. That alone will take some pressure off Peyton Manning and make the Colts passing game more effective.

The Titans have only scored six points in its last two games. They haven’t had an offensive touchdown in 13 quarters.

And what are the chances of Peyton Manning having 4 bad games in a row?

The results of this NFL matchup will bring the NFL playoff picture a little bit more in focus.

The NFL pick of the week – take Peyton Manning and the Colts

COLTS 35 TITANS 10

The New York Jets hope of taking over sole possession in the AFC East were crashed after their devastating loss the New England Patriots (45-3) Monday night in Foxboro.

You could almost hear Dandy Don Meredith singing “Turn out the lights …”, after the Patriots took a 17-0 first quarter lead. By half time it was 24-3.

But this is NFL football, and most of us expected to see the Jets come out of the locker room, hell-bent on kicking Patriot butt – but who would have “thunk” it. The Jets never got over their shell-shock from the first half!

While Tom Brady and the Patriot offense added 21 more points, the Patriot defense, ranked 31st in the NFL, shutout (and shut up) the Jets in the second half. The final score 45-3.

Why did the Jets lose so badly? Are the Patriots that good? Is the Jets Bark bigger than it’s Bite?

The answer is both, plus another factor – Tom Brady! Here are some tidbits to back it up:

• With Tom Brady at QB, the New England Patriots have won last 25 consecutive games at home.
• Brady hasn’t thrown an interception in his last 228 passes.
• Brady has thrown at least one TD pass in all 12 of the Patriots games in 2010.
• Brady followed up a 4 touchdown, perfect 158.3 QB rating against Detroit last week with a 4 TD passes and 148.9 QB rating against the Jets.
• 8 different receivers caught Brady passes against the Jets.
• An ex-Jet, Danny Woodhead, had 4 receptions for 104 yards. Wes Welker had 7 catches for 80 yards and 1 TD. Deion Branch, Aaron Hernandez and Brandon Tate were each on the receiving end of a Brady TD pass.
• Brady is the NFL MVP
• The Patriots have the #1 ranked offense in the NFL.
• The Jets allow an average of 19 points per game – 6th worse in the NFL.
• The Jets score on average 22 points per game – 14th in the NFL.
• The Jets average 356 yards per game – 12th in the NFL.
• The Patriots have beaten Baltimore, San Diego, Indianapolis, Pittsburgh and the Jets.
• The Jets record of 9-3 comes against teams with a combined record of just 39-68, with only one of those teams being over .500 (the Patriots in Week 2, who were 1-0).

The Jets can take one consolation from the game; it only counts as one loss. If they can come to terms with this loss and play better football, they may still have a chance to snatch first place in the AFC East division title from the the Patriots. But it won’t be easy and they’ll need some help!

The Jets play the Miami Dolphins (6-6) at home, travel to take on the Steelers (9-3) and the Bears (9-3), and return home for the season finale against the Bills (2-10).

The rest of the Patriots schedule is away at Chicago (9-3), home at Green Bay (8-4), away in Buffalo (2-10). They finish at home against the Dolphins (6-6).

But one question remains:  Will the Jets get out of their seats after their near-fatal crash in Foxboro?

We’ll have to wait a week!

Sources: new york daily news, sportsillustrated.com