New Orleans Saints are now the NFC’s most dangerous team
By Josh Hill
The Saints started the season 0-2, and have turned a corner unlike any other team has been able to this year.
In a game where the New Orleans Saints were up 37-3, Sean Payton sent out his field goal kicker. It wasn’t to rub it into the Bills, the team on the wrong end of a Sunday blowout, Rather it was a shot across the NFC: the Saints are back, and you better beware.
After the first two weeks of the season, New Orleans looked cooked. The defense was abysmal, Adrian Peterson was openly feuding with his coaches, and all looked to be lost. So far gone seemed the glory days of the high flying Drew Brees teams that competed for Super Bowls.
Since that Week 2 loss to the Patriots, the Saints have been a completely different team. Sean Payton has coached his team to a 7-game winning streak, one underscored and bolded with a 47-10 statement win against the Buffalo Bills.
No team has embodied the idea of figuring it out on the fly like the Saints have. Payton and his coaches identified the team’s problems after the first two weeks and corrected. Now New Orleans is the most dangerous team in the conference and should be taken very seriously as a Super Bowl contender across the league.
Aside from the defensive improvements, New Orleans’ offense is only picking up steam. Alvin Kamara is a dark horse for Rookie of the Year and fits the mold of a Darren Sproles-style pass-catching running back destined for success with Brees. Mark Ingram, since the team traded Adrian Peterson, is averaging 100 yards per game. Ted Ginn Jr is a thousand years old but is finding ways to be one of Brees’ most productive receivers.
New Orleans has gone from a 0-2 joke to a team that teams need to be really nervous about matching up against in the playoffs.
Right now the Saints are in control of the NFC South and in a position to earn a first-round bye. Should that happen, New Orleans hammering down home field advantage only makes them more dangerous than they already appear to be. New Orleans is 3-1 at home this season, and have scored 122 points while allowing an average of 24-points in each of those games. Outside of games against the Patriots (a Week 2 loss) and a shootout against the Lions (a 52-38 win). Historically, when the Saints are a great home team especially in winning seasons.
The upcoming schedule will be the true mark of what kind of team New Orleans is. Week 11 features a home game against the Redskins followed by a road game against the Rams. Two of the Saints last three games are against the Jets and Buccaneers, meaning if a first-round bye is on the line the schedule is hardly going to stand in the way.
New Orleans has gone from a 0-2 joke to a team that teams need to be really nervous about matching up against in the playoffs.
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Let’s not discount the ‘been there, done it before’ factor Brees and Payton present. It looked like their glorious marriage together in New Orleans would end with a whimper, despite how amazing the era had been at times. Now, like an actor experiencing one last late-career revival, they’re a feel-good story prepared to destroy the dreams of your favorite team. Brees and Payton know how to win, and this is the best team — and the best shot at a Super Bowl — they’ve had in years.
What a way for the boys on the bayou to end the important era in New Orleans sports history.