1. New Orleans Saints
One of the most surprising upsets of the first week came in New Orleans where the Tampa Bay Buccaneers upset the Saints. Anytime a score line reads 48-40, it’s anyone’s guess as to who won the game. It just so happens that Ryan Fitzpatrick, better known as Fitzmagic, was able to out duel the legendary Drew Brees. That is not something that happens very often.
However, this was more than simply a loss for the Saints. Everyone knew that their offense was going to be electric, that was never the question. The loss was more on the defense, a unit that was pegged to be pretty good coming into the season. Anytime you concede 48 points, something is wrong. But conceding 48 points to a team led by a back up quarterback and Peyton Barber in the running game? That’s laughable.
In Week 2 however, the Saints get a relatively easy match up against the Cleveland Browns. Now I know this is the same Browns team that tied a strong Steelers side, but there were multiple factors in that one. It would be quite surprising to see the Browns travel into the Superdome and hand the Saints their second consecutive loss.
Slow starts have been the m.o. for the Saints in recent years, but they need every win possible in such a stacked NFC this season. A win against the Browns would have them moving in the right direction again just in time for a big divisional game against the Falcons in Week 3.