Herm Edwards and Bill Polian agree that it's un-Patriots like to lose two games in row and despite being on the road in Drew Brees' territory, the pair pick New England to come out on top. (0:41)

METAIRIE, La. -- Can the New Orleans Saints survive without Brandin Cooks? Probably. They’ve proved time and again throughout the Sean Payton-Drew Brees era that their offense can keep thriving without past playmakers.

But the bigger question Sunday will be: Can the Saints survive against Brandin Cooks?

“We can’t let Brandin Cooks get a deep ball,” safety Kenny Vaccaro said of what should probably rank as New Orleans’ No. 1 priority when it hosts Cooks and his new team, the New England Patriots.

“I mean, you can run your curls, you can run whatever your little route tree is besides the home run ball,” Vaccaro said. “But when you put on the tape, Brandin Cooks is running deep a lot. So that’ll definitely be something that we have to stop.”

The Saints were haunted once again in Week 1 by their biggest nemesis from the past few seasons: the deep ball. They allowed eight passing plays of 20-plus yards in Monday's loss at Minnesota, which was the most in the NFL in Week 1. And since the start of the 2014 season, they have allowed 75 pass plays of 30-plus yards -- also the most in the NFL, according to ESPN Stats & Information.

Cooks, meanwhile, is a home run waiting to happen.

The dynamic speedster, who was traded from New Orleans to New England in March, caught three passes for 88 yards last week in his Patriots debut, including a 54-yarder. And he is tied for the NFL lead with 12 catches of 42-plus yards since the start of 2015.

Last season, Cooks caught TD passes of 98 and 87 yards inside the Mercedes-Benz Superdome.

“Guys like him, like DeSean Jackson, he’s definitely one of those guys [on the short list of the league’s most dangerous deep threats],” said Vaccaro, who pointed out that he sees Cooks playing much of the same role in New England that he played in New Orleans, whether Cooks likes it or not.

Cooks vented his frustration last season when he felt he was being used too often as a deep, clear-out receiver instead of being used more on short and intermediate routes.

And he was traded, in part, because the Saints felt they could get by with a cheaper field-stretcher in newly signed free agent Ted Ginn Jr., while they could use a valuable resource like the No. 32 pick in the draft to fill bigger needs. (They wound up using the pick on offensive tackle Ryan Ramczyk, who was thrust into the starting left tackle job when Terron Armstead was injured this summer).

“He’s still running deep,” Vaccaro said. “I know he wanted to run a lot of routes. That’s why he was kind of mad about being here; he didn’t get the whole route tree. But now I still see him running the same routes he did when he was here. But he’s a great receiver, he’s a good friend of mine, and I’m excited for him.”

Saints coach Sean Payton pointed out one key difference with Cooks’ role in New England: He is primarily playing the “X” position (or split end) instead of the “Z” (or flanker).

But otherwise Payton said he sees the 23-year-old playing a similar role.

“You see him getting down the field, you see him stretching the defense, and obviously he’s someone you have to really pay attention to where he’s at and stay on top of,” Payton said. “He can run extremely well.”

The Patriots’ offense is still somewhat a work in progress, particularly after losing longtime go-to receiver Julian Edelman to a preseason knee injury. But quarterback Tom Brady and Cooks have been developing a solid chemistry all summer. And now they should be licking their chops to try to exploit a young Saints secondary that struggled in Week 1, allowing Sam Bradford to throw for 346 yards and three touchdowns.

Bradford isn’t even known for throwing the deep ball, which is what Vaccaro said made Monday’s performance so “hurtful” and “embarrassing.”

With veteran cornerback Delvin Breaux on injured reserve for the first half of the season, the Saints’ top three cornerbacks Monday were rookie Marshon Lattimore, third-year pro P.J. Williams (playing in his third career game) and second-year pro De'Vante Harris. The Saints also started rookie free safety Marcus Williams. And Vaccaro -- the one experienced member of the bunch -- made his own costly mental errors during the Week 1 onslaught.

Unfortunately, it’s too late for the Saints to trade for Patriots cornerback Malcolm Butler, who was discussed as possible compensation for Cooks months ago.

Now the Saints will have to try and survive without both of them.

“Obviously he was a great part of this team for three years,” Saints quarterback Brees said of Cooks. “We wish him the best of success. Although we’d rather him not go off in this game.”