SPORTS

Detroit News predictions: Lions vs. Saints

The Detroit News

James Hawkins, Justin Rogers, John Niyo and Bob Wojnowski predict the outcome of Sunday's Lions-Saints game.

The Lions go into New Orleans on a three-game winning streak.

James Hawkins: After facing one of the league’s top defenses in two of the past three games, the Lions will switch gears and try to slow the No. 1 offense. Detroit’s bend-but-not-break defense has been able to do just enough but will be put to the ultimate test. Lions 27-26

Justin Rogers: This is a tough matchup, on the road, against one of the greatest QBs in NFL history who is still playing at an elite level. On top of that, the Saints rediscovered their ground game in November and have a defense finally showing signs of life. Saints 27-20

John Niyo: The Lions defense has improved, but won’t be able to keep the Saints out of the end zone the way they did their last few opponents. Drew Brees has too many options. Saints 28-24

Bob Wojnowski: Drew Brees has the Saints offense humming again, and we’ve seen how an accurate quarterback can pick apart the Lions. The Saints are 5-6 for a reason, though — their defense has been mostly awful — so this is where Matthew Stafford will have to crank up the passing game to keep up. Saints 38-28

Lions vs. Saints preview: Force Brees into mistakes