Houston's defense is playing extremely well giving up just two touchdowns during the last 14 quarters. J.J. Watt is having another MVP-type season with 11 1/2 sacks, including 7 1/2 sacks in his last four games.

The Texans are No. 1 in the NFL in third down defense and rank fifth in fewest passing yards allowed. Drew Brees is 36 and while still good, no longer is an elite quarterback.

The Texans' defense playing well has coincided with Houston's offense reducing its tempo. The Texans are going at a much slower pace than they did earlier in the season. This makes sense because the Texans do no have a dynamic offense. They are going to look play ball control with their various mediocre running backs playing for field position and to run clock to keep the ball away from Brees.

The Saints were idle last week. There was a significant decision that happened during the Saints' bye week and that was defensive coordinator Rob Ryan getting fired replaced by former Raiders head coach Dennis Allen. Ryan has been out of touch with today's passing attacks for a long time. The Saints are on a record pace to give up the most touchdown passes in a season. Too many times New Orleans defensive players were out of position. Ryan's firing should have happened much earlier.

I see the Saints defense being much improved under Allen, who built a strong reputation when he was the defensive coordinator of the Broncos. New Orleans' defensive talent is better than its statistics indicate.

The combination of Houston's hot defense, conservative offense and expected huge improvement from the Saints defense puts me on the under.