Down the Stretch: A Look at the Remaining 2010 Saints Schedule

They’re the tougher opponent in my opinion.

Living in Cincinnati, I see a lot of Baltimore news. I can’t really agree. They may be more complete on offense, probably, but not on defense. Baltimore is still better there even with their suddenly weak (comparatively, 13th overall isn’t that bad) run defense.

No the Altanta game may actually be tougher. I would expect it to be actually. But not necessarily because they’re better, just because they’re division rivals. They know us and we know them, and that leads to tight hard fought games about 90% of the time.

But either way, it should be a good game tonight. Too bad so many of us can’t see it because of the cable disputes over the NFL network.

Dallas has nothing to lose and that national audience makes the game one of a kind…. I dont doubt for a second we will swipe Atlanta and Baltimore (both… yessir). This team delivers in big games.

I am more worried by a loss of concentration a-la’ Arizona and Cleveland… prime suspect is IMO when the Rams are in town, especially if we are on a streak by then and, although less so, Cincy.

We’ll lose no more than one game to the end of the reg season… there I said it

Biggest worries:

Dallas on a short week
Cincy on the road
Baltimore’s 3-4 defense
Atlanta on the road

…but that’s because I predicted 13-3 at the beginning of the year.

Honestly, even if the Saints lose to Baltimore, I still see them winning the division by a game over Atlanta. I think the Saints have worked out the kinks, and I think Atlanta still has a stumble or two in them. If Atlanta wins against the Ravens—especially if they have the sort of win the Saints had last year in big games against the Giants and Patriots—then I’ll be a believer. But not before.

As for the flex scheduling, the only game I see being a real candidate is New Orleans-Baltimore, and that Sunday’s night game is Green Bay-New England…which is just as compelling, and appeals to a bigger market. I don’t see a change being made.

As for Dallas…if you were a player, would you buy into Jason Garrett? Didn’t think so. But having said that: never say that winning should be “no problem.” This is the NFL.

Sounds about right, i agree about the St. Louis game being an issue.

Anyone going to the Bengals game on December 5th? Any Saints tailgating parties going on or anything?

because the schedule looks like a tough one. I am not worried about any individual game- they could beat any opponent if they just play even 80 or 90 % as good as they played the last 2 games. But it does concern me that every team could beat us – now 2008 or 2009 Detroits there – even the Rams are looking better. I think clearly the Baltimore game is the toughest – outside in potentially bad weather in December- the Ravens are built for that- the Saints are not. Not saying the Saints don’t have the ability to play well outside in bad weather , they do. But, edge to Balt if the weather is bad.

Gotta be wary of Dallas. You figure they must have a little pride left for a nationally televised game. I think Atlanta, starting tonight, will start to show vulnerability.

I said 11-5 going in and I’m sticking to it. In terms of difficulty, I’d rank the remaining games:

1. Week 16 at Atlanta
2. Week 15 at Baltimore
3. Week 17 Tampa Bay
4. Week 13 at Cincinnati
5. Week 14 St. Louis
6. Week 12 at Dallas
7. Week 11 Seattle

For parity’s sake, I’ll say we lose one of the (easier) next four and one (more difficult game) down the stretch. If we beat Atlanta, we’ll win the division. If we don’t we’ll get a wild card. That’s all barring castastrophic injury.

*catastrophic

For whatever reason, I’m unable to reply directly to posts at the moment.

@Jimmmie … I’ll be at the Cincinnati game.

O’course don’t necessarily believe me. I went o for three on my predicts last week. I’m a little concerned about the cold weather games at Bengals and Ravens. A lot of the fans don’t remember but the NFL wouldn’t give us a franchise unless we agreed to build a Dome. And that was because they were worried about the rain. Wish that was a league wide requirement. Yeah I can hear the purist already but if they don’t want to play in the rain then we shouldn’t have to deal with the snow/ice and cold. If our offense keeps improving we should be able to handle Atlanta and Tampa Bay. I think Atlanta will be exposed tonight. We could have a win even during our bye week, HA, HA.

As long as they stay focused and as prepared as they have been the last couple of weeks. They may have to in order to take the division from Atlanta.

True Dat! I hope we do that. Would hate to have to play up north in the play-offs.

Yeah pizza I’ve tried to reply directly — it works in some articles and not in others. Weird.

I’m also planning to be at the Cinti game. But I haven’t bought tickets yet. With how bad the Bengals have been so far this year I’ve got plenty of time. It may not even sell out by the deadline they’re playing so badly.

If we win, I get to redecorate the bar I hang out at, replacing any cowboy memorabilia with Saints gear until the start of the 2012 season. If they win, my truck gets repainted in their colors with a star on the hood for the same time frame.

Reply will not work for me, and my Z button isnt working either. Damn SBN they keep trying to make this site better. LOL

Yeah just having to make new post can’t seem to reply either. At least on this article.

I don’t think Jason Garrett is going to light a fire under the Cowboys. And even if he does, there is not enough combustible material on earth that cannot be put out by the hulking mass of John Kitna. I think the Saints will be motivated by last year’s thumping for three quarters (Saints played lights out in the 4th, but it was just too deep a hole). Baltimore and Atlanta are obviously tough, and I think the Saints will go 1-1 on those two. The games that worry me are Seattle and St. Louis. Both have looked very good and very bad at times, and the Saints got two of their three losses from teams that are in most respects vastly inferior. Cincinnati should not be a problem. Carson Palmer hasn’t looked good in a season and a half. As for Tampa – I’m hoping the season is wrapped up at that point, but if not, the Saints should win. I’d trade a loss with any of these teams to beat Atlanta in December, though. I think that’s going to be essential to winning the division.

how? we’ll beat atlanta so bad we’ll get that win back!

@nanvinnie

Maybe we’ll get a bad call or two overturned from that game and they give the game back to us retroactively.

Not bloody likely, but I’d sure take it if it happened.

I mean, for that matter, the Seahawks could bring their big bats. I’m much more worried about the Atlanta and Baltimore games than I am about the Rams and Cowboys.

However, the past has taught me that we win the games we’re not supposed to win, and lose the games we’re not supposed to lose. Typical.

so…what’s wrong with Jason Garrett? How do we know he will be a poor coach?

But, I’m hopeful we’ve got the losing to an inferior opponent bug out of our system at this point.

IF Jason Garrett ever had any chance of turning the Cowboys around, that chance got much smaller with Romo out for the season. I think Dallas might win two more games this season but that will probably be it.

Weather might be a big “what if” for the Ravens game that could definately increase their homefield advantage. However, If that game winds up being a preview of the Super Bowl, losing that game might be to our advantage. I don’t think they beat the Saints a second time in a domed stadium.

If the Falcons have a “statement” game tonight, they’ll probably win the division. But, I’ve got a feeling it’s going to be a close game with the Ravens coming out on top. Right now, Atlanta has the feeling they can’t lose at home. A loss tonight could damage that confidence level for the remainder of the season with tough future home games against the Packers and Saints down the road.

I’m still not convinced Tampa Bay is as good as they’ve looked recently. The fact they looked so bad against the Saints and Steelers certainly weighs in that opinion. They’ll win some more games, but I don’t see them in the playoffs this year.

As for the Saints, I wouldn’t be totally surprised if we go 12-4 and win the division, but 11-5 is probably more realistic….. wheather that’s good enough for a division title or not remains to be seen but it’ll at least get us into the playoffs where anything’s possible.

Unless major injuries come into play, the NFC playoff teams should be be (in alphabetical order): Atlanta, Green Bay, New Orleans, New York, and Philadelphia. Who the division winner is and who the wild card will be is up for grabs in the East and South. St. Louis will probably win the West but that’s less certain (I’m pretty certain there is an NFL rule that says somebody has to win that division). And finally, not too many folks outside of the Daily Norseman thinks Minnesota will make it to the post season.

And that is a game they were supposed to win, so maybe things are looking up.

I would honestly like them to face a “good” Dallas team so if we lose I can at least leave with some form of pride. Hopefully they have something to prove since Dallas beat them last year.

Weird how last year they started strong and went downhill towards the end of the season but this season it’s the opposite.

Our remaining games are a lot more difficult than anyone seems to think. Which isn’t surprising as most everyone enjoys wearing their super duper homer glasses. Unfortunately looking at Atlanta’s schedule…only way i see us topping them is for them to lose versus GB and then for us to win out. Definitely don’t see that happening given our inconsistency this year. I see us losing against BAL and ATL and splitting between Dallas and Cincy.

Honestly at this point i think ATL winds up with the number 1 seed going into the playoffs. Atlanta and Green Bay i think have the easiest remaining schedules as far as the top clubs go, but Atlanta’s is just a little easier. That said, if it happens i hope we get the number 5 seed and crush the NFC West winner while sixth seeded NFC East team faces the 3 seed NFC East winner Philly/Giants and wins that one. That way we can meet ATL in the Georgia Dome for the NFC Championship game and give a big middle finger to their confetti parade by beating them in their own building. But that’s just me.

Even IF the Saints finish 13-3, Atlanta would still win the Division if they also finish 13-3 with their only remaining loss being to New Orleans. If both teams win out (except for Atlanta losing to the Saints), they would split the first tie-breaker (head to head), they would split the second tie-breaker (division record) and Atlanta would win the third tie-breaker (common opponents) as they’ve already beat Cleveland and Arizona.

Unless Atlanta loses another game in addition to losing to the Saints, a 13-3 record would only make us the highest winning wild card team in NFL history.

…and the Saints should be able to get on a nice roll over the Seahawks, Cowboys, Bengals and Rams on their way to matchups with the Ravens, Falcons and Buccaneers to finish things off. I saw we finish 12-4 with our only loss in the last seven games being to the Ravens In Baltimore. I say we get regrouped and play up for the Falcons in Atlanta to even that series and then take the momentum home against the Bucs to end things out on a positive note before the playoffs. I just hope it translates into a division championship with the Falcons losing a couple more along their way (I can dream right?).

I think there’s a high possibility that we win out. As far as the birds, we will win that one because the Saints will not lose to them twice.
 Honestly, I think the scariest game will be Dallas, believe it or not. We will win but something makes me think it will be scary.
 As far as the Ravens, I think we blow them away. honestly.
 I think the Rams would be a problem, but not, because by the time we play them we will be so fired up that it won’t even be close.
 I think that after this bye the Saints will be so ready to play that they will once again be dominant and hard to beat, regardless of injuries,(except Brees).
   So really, I ain’t worried. WHO DAT.

I gotta tell u fellas. I see alot of u saying easy team here and there to beat. C’mon man, u know no matter what your record is in the NFL, THERE ARE NO EASY TEAMS TO BEAT.
 Unless you’re a 2009 Saints team, there’s a big possibility u can be beat.
 WHO DAT.