Well, we’ve made it to the end and we leave the best for last. The New Orleans Saints turned a franchise known more for losing and embarrassment into a team known for excitement, success and championships. There was a reason this team was referred to as the “aints.” At the same time, their success helped a community get through some really tough times by being the positive distraction they needed to forget about their troubles for a few hours every single week.
The question everyone has been asking about the Saints heading into this season is simple: Can they repeat as Super Bowl champions? They may bring back the same team on paper, but unlike last year, they will have targets on their backs as the opposition will line up to give their best shot. Can they handle that extra added pressure?
Drew Brees comes back to lead the most dynamic offence in football and with the same pieces in place from a year ago, there’s no reason why they can’t duplicate their unbelievable stats. Tops in the NFL for points scored and total yards gained. They were also Top 5 in the NFL in passing yards and first downs.
Marques Colston, Devery Henderson, Robert Meachem and Lance Moore represent the most solid group of receivers in the NFL and Jeremy Shockey at tight end gives up to five traditional weapons. Brees even has a sixth option in Reggie Bush or Pierre Thomas if needed. It’s just such a scary proposition for a defensive coordinator to have to plan against the Saints attack.
The one thing that concerns me about the repeat is the talent level on defense. The Saints were really helped by being in the top 5 for interceptions and takeaways and managed to pick up 8 touchdowns on defense, but can they duplicate that? It will be hard to do with Darren Sharper on the PUP list and missing the first half of the year. He accounted for nine interceptions a year ago.
On paper, the Saints defense is not as strong as other Super Bowl contenders, but because the offence is so dynamic, it doesn’t have to be relied on heavily. Their total numbers actually had them closer to the bottom of the league than the top, but with their offence almost scoring 500 points during the regular season, it covered up a lot of mistakes.
Two players to watch out for in camp are Pierre Thomas and Malcolm Jenkins. Thomas broke out last season and emerged as the “running” back of this offence. Despite his total rushing yards being relatively the same, his yards per carry went up significantly. Can he continue to progress so that the Saints can have a legitimate threat to run the ball? Jenkins will have to step up to cover the loss of Sharper due to injury. After a decent rookie campaign, can he elevate in his second year to become the kind of player that they expected when picking in the first-round in 2009?
2010 Prediction: 13-3