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Published: July 15, 2010
The 2009 New Orleans Saints finished their regular season with a 13-3 record and owned home field advantage throughout the NFC playoffs.
In the NFC Divisional playoff the Saints defeated Arizona at home 45-14 and a week later defeated Bret Favre and the Minnesota Vikings 31-28 in overtime.
The Saints were matched up against Peyton Manning and the Indianapolis Colts and won 31-17 to take home the Super Bowl.
The Saints began the regular season with 13 straight wins but lost their last three regular season games. The Vikings crumbled down the stretch allowing the Saints to earn home field advantage throughout the NFC post season.
The Saints were led by an explosive offense that ranked #1 in total offense with 403.8 yards per game. They were also the #1 scoring offense in the league with 32.5 points per game.
The Odds:
Bodog odds makers have set the 2010 regular season win total for the New Orleans Saints at 10 ½ wins with under favored at -140 with the over returning -110.
The New Orleans Saints are lined at Bodog sports book as 9-1 to win Super Bowl XLV.
They are 9-2 to win the NFC Championship and -160 favorites to win the NFC South division.
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2010 New Orleans Saints Regular Season Schedule:
The Saints compete in the NFC South so that means 1 game home and away against the Atlanta Falcons, Tampa Bay Buccaneers and Carolina Panthers.
New Orleans’s division in 2010 must play against the NFC West and AFC North.
The team will play from the NFC West a home game against the St Louis Rams and Seattle Seahawks with road trips at the San Francisco 49ers and Arizona Cardinals.
New Orleans will host AFC North opponents Cleveland Browns and Pittsburgh Steelers and will hit the highway against the Cincinnati Bengals and Baltimore Ravens.
The Saints were the first place team from the NFC South so they must play the two other first place teams from that division so that brings a home game against Minnesota and a road trip to the Dallas Cowboys.
As the defending Super Bowl champion the Saints will be facing high profile teams at high profile times.
Their game with Minnesota is on a Thursday night and is the opening game of the season.
The Saints must travel on a short week to face the Dallas Cowboys on Thanksgiving Day.
New Orleans is at division rival Atlanta Falcons on a Monday night. Their game at San Francisco will also be played on a Monday night.
Offense:
Drew Brees will find many of his weapons back in 2010 that aided the club in their number one ranked scoring offense a year ago. Brees certainly had a super season as the 10 year veteran completed 70.6% of his passes for 4388 yards 34 touchdowns and 11 interceptions.
Brees was only sacked 20 times last regular season and only twice in three post season games. In the Super Bowl Brees connected on a mind boggling 82.1% completion percentage for 288 yards two touchdowns and 0 picks. Brees had 8 touchdown passes and 0 picks in the post season.
Reggie Bush returns in 2010 as the Saints locked up their big play running back. Bush showed brilliance during the season and ended the year with a 5.6 yards per carry average and 5 touchdowns. The 5 year pro caught 47 passes with three touchdowns. He also dazzled in punt return work.
Pierre Thomas is back for the club and the 4 year pro is coming off a solid year with a 5.4 yards per carry average on 147 carries and 6 touchdowns. He was a factor as well in the passing game with 39 catches for 302 yards and two touchdowns.
Mike Bell was lost in free agency to the Philadelphia Eagles. Bell may have hit the doghouse following slipping on a critical fourth down play near the goal line costing the Saints a touchdown near halftime of the Super Bowl because he was wearing the wrong cleats.
The Saints big time receiving corps are all back. Devery Henderson and Marques Colston will be the #1 and #2 with Lance Moore and Robert Meachem providing outstanding depth at the #3 and #4. Veteran Jeremy Shockey is back at the tight end position. Shockey had a huge touchdown pass reception in the Super Bowl victory against the Colts. Colston had a big 2009 with 70 catches for 1074 yards and 9 touchdowns. Robert Meachem had 9 TD receptions on 45 pass catches.
The Saints offensive line is in tact with center Jonathan Goodwin, guards Carl Nicks and Jahri Evans with tackles Jonathan Stinchcomb and Jammal Brown. Brees passed the ball 514 times last season and was sacked only 20 times.
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Defense:
Defensive coordinator Greg Williams made a tremendous impact for the Saints. The Saints had 26 interceptions finishing 3rd in the league. The Saints with a +11 turnover differential and finished #3 in the league.
The Saints run a 4-3 defense. On the defensive line will be ends Alex Brown and Will Smith. The interior tackles are Sedrick Ellis and Remi Ayodele. Brown replaces Charles Grant who was released during the off season. Will Smith led the team with 13 sacks a year ago. Smith was the player who recognized the Colts third down play in the fourth quarter of the Super Bowl and informed the secondary of it leading to the game winning pick 6 by Tracy Porter.
At the linebacker position will be Jonathan Vilma and he is flanked by Scott Shanle and Jo-Lonn Dunbar. Veteran Scott Fujita was lost to Cleveland in free agency. The Saints are hoping that second year linebacker Jonathan Casillas can be more than a special teams player and can make an impact with the loss of Fujita.
The Saints finally have erased doubts entering the season about its secondary because its rock solid. Jabari Greer and Tracy Porter return at the corner position and Roman Harper and the veteran Darren Sharper are at safety. Sharper had 9 picks in 2009. Randall Gay and Malcolm Jennings provide depth at back up positions.
And now to my Selection:
The Saints draw the NFC West this season and they are good enough to at the very least to win 3 of those 4 games. The team faces Carolina and Tampa Bay twice who are inexperienced at quarterback.
Coach Sean Payton enters the season with the respect from his players of that of a Super Bowl winning coach.
That will go far in the locker room and Payton is not afraid to challenge players he feels is not performing and does not reward loyalty with playing time only performance.
For that reason I don’t believe the Saints will have the Super Bowl hang over and play below their talent level.
Their offense is explosive and very hard to defend. The offensive line protects Brees and its another big season for the New Orleans QB. They get to at least 11 wins in 2010.
Selection: Play Over 10 1/2 wins in 2010 Regular Season.
