For the first time in over a year the New Orleans Saints can finally focus on just football. A year removed from the “Bounty Gate” scandal it is finally time for the Saints to continue marching forward, led by their reinstated head coach Sean Payton.
Without Payton, last year was a disappointment to say the least. The Saints Defense was abysmal allowing 444.10 yards per game (Ranked last in the NFL). They also let up 454 points over the course of the season. The only team to allow more than that was the Tennessee Titans. The reason for these terrible defensive numbers? One could look to the fact that the Saints defense couldn’t get off the field. On average the Saints defense was on the field for almost thirty-two minutes a game and over the course of the season, the defense faced 1,089 plays from opposing offenses. That was third worst in the league.
Offensively the Saints weren’t the same without Payton calling the plays. In 2011, the Saints led the NFL in yardage with 7,474 yards (461.1 yards/game). In 2012, Drew Brees and company finished the year second in yardage but it was significantly less than the year before at 6,574 yards (410 yards/game). In 2012, the Saints scored over 50 points less in 2012 without Payton. The most important stat line for the Saints was in the win and loss columns. New Orleans went form a Division winning 13-3 season to a playoff-less 7-9.
The Saints hope to rebound in 2013. The defense will have a new look under newly hired defensive coordinator Rob Ryan. The Saints will switch from a 4-3 defense to a 3-4 under Ryan. This will allow the Saints to have more athletes on the field with four linebackers in their base defense instead of three. In the draft, the organization made defense a point of emphasis. With the 15th overall pick the Saints took Kenny Vaccaro, a versatile defensive back from the University of Texas. The Saints were without a second round pick due to penalties from Bounty Gate, though they were able to trade up in the third round to select Georgia nose tackle Jonathan Jenkins. In a 3-4 defense it important to have a quality nose tackle that can control the middle of the line of scrimmage (i.e. Vince Wilfork of the Patriots). The Saints are hoping Jenkins can fill that role sometime in the future.
On offense, quarterback Drew Brees returns with a plethora of
weapons at his disposal. A three headed attack at running back featuring Pierre Thomas, Mark Ingram and the elusive Darren Sproles. Wide receivers Marques Colston, Lance Moore and Joseph Morgan all return as well. Tight End Jimmy Graham will also be a highly targeted receiver for Brees as well.
As OTA’s begin, the Saints are finally able to focus on just football. No one is more excited about the return to normality than Drew Brees. ““It’s great. I said this last week, but this is the first normal offseason we’ve had since the 2009 offseason. We won the Super Bowl in 2009, so the 2010 offseason was crazy” said Brees. The quarterback was also very excited that the team had 100% OTA attendance this year. It’s the first time that has happened in the Sean Payton Era in New Orleans. “Guys want to be here. Guys want to be working, whether it’s in the weight room or on the practice field. Guys want to be putting in extra time, whatever they can, to find a role on this team. I think we all realized that we have something really good going here.”
It seems that the Saints are primed to have a bounce back season in 2013 as long as the question marks on defense get answered. However in a division that features the Atlanta Falcons, Tampa Bay Buccaneers and the Caroline Panthers, the Saints will not have an easy road. With arguably two legitimate playoff teams in each division Wild Card spots for the playoffs will be hard to come by let alone a division title. New Orleans will play the entire AFC East as well as the NFC West this season. The rest of their schedule will be difficult with a game at Chicago and a Sunday Night matchup at home vs. Dallas. The Saints hope to improve on their 7-9 record from a year ago.
Can the Saints be considered a contender again this year with the return of Sean Payton? Are they back to the Saints of old? Only time will tell. They certainly seem to be on the right track. The return of Payton will bring stability to an organization that had 2 different interim head coaches last season. The return of the Saints could be a big storyline of the 2013 NFL season. The hype and weight of that storyline all depends on how deep the Saints march into December and January.
