Seahawks at Saints
The Seattle Seahawks will put their top-ranked scoring defense to the test when they travel to New Orleans to face Drew Brees and the high-octane Saints on Sunday. Brees leads the league in passing for 350 yards a game but said during the week that the Seahawks are the best defense he's ever faced.
Seattle is unbeaten in four games - including a rare 6-6 tie at Arizona a week ago, where both teams missed short field goals in overtime. Seahawks quarterback Russell Wilson threw for 225 yards in the game and carried the ball just once as he continues to be slowed by ankle, knee and pectoral injuries. Brees also leads the league with 17 touchdown passes and is always more effective at home where he has thrown 11 scoring passes against just two interceptions. New Orleans, which has lost three straight in the series including two playoff matchups, had its modest two-game winning streak snapped last week at Kansas City 27-21.
TV: 1 p.m., FOX. LINE: Seahawks -2.5. O/U: 47.5.
ABOUT THE SEAHAWKS (4-1-1): The balanced Seattle defense ranks fourth against the run and ninth versus the pass but was taxed greatly at Arizona last week, spending 46 minutes (95 plays) on the field. Wilson's injuries have limited the team's offense as the former dual threat has only 33 rushing yards and a 1.5-yard average on the season. The game marks the return of Jimmy Graham to New Orleans where the tight end caught 54 touchdown passes from Brees from 2010-2014. He has 23 catches for 355 yards in his last four games with the Seahawks.
ABOUT THE SAINTS (2-4): While New Orleans ranks last in the league in scoring defense (allowing 32.5 points a game) and has surrendered at least two touchdowns in 29 of its last 30 contests, it truly hang its hat on a prolific offense. New Orleans ranks second in the league averaging 29.3 points a game and got its second 100-yard rushing game of the season last week as Mark Ingram gained 62 yards on 16 carries. The Saints secondary is a battered unit with five players on the injured list but cornerback Delvin Breaux put in a limited practice Wednesday, marking the first time the second-year pro has joined teammates on the field since suffering a broken fibula in Week 1.
EXTRA POINTS
1. Brees has 2,101 passing yards and is on pace for 5,602 yards, which would break Peyton Manning's mark of 5,477 yards from 2013 with the Denver Broncos.
2. Seahawks S Kam Chancellor has sat out the previous two games with a groin injury, but will return against the Saints on Sunday.
3. Since Wilson's rookie year in 2012, the Seahawks are just 9-8 in 1 p.m. (ET) kickoffs - and 42-11-1 in all other games.