2010 Season Opener
by LV Steelers Fan on Feb 8, 2010 11:24 PM CST
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Hell Saints fans! Congratulations on ypour exciting victory over the Indianapolis Colts on Sunday. I wanted to stop by to get some feedback on something I posted on BTSC last night(I would have cross-posted it sooner, but my account only activated 24 hours after I joined CSC. :-/). Here it is:
The confetti is still fluttering down in Miami and New Orleans, but the offseason has now begun. Andthat means it's time to look ahead to next season(good news for 31 teams in the league). As anyone who follows the NFL even casually knows, the defending NFL champion gets to host a primetime regular seaon opener on the Thursday before kickoff Sunday. Here are the eight teams that the Saints will host next season, the only ones who they can face in the opener:
- Tampa Bay Buccaneers
- Carolina Panthers
- Atlanta Falcons
- St. Louis Rams
- Seattle Seahawks
- Minnesota Vikings
- Cleveland Browns
- Pittsburgh Steelers
The NFL and NBC obviously want great ratings for the season opener, meaning that they will almost certainly pick a high quality opponent for New Orleans. Since the tradition of the primetime opener began back in 2004, the only matchup that didn't look great was Oakland at New England in 2005. The Pats won, 30-20. 2004 featured IND @ NE, always a great game. 2006 had MIA @ PIT, which was heavily hyped since the Fins were a trendy SB pick that season. 2007 was NO @ IND, a matchup of two explosive offenses. 2008's game was WAS @ NYG, a game that featured a darkhorse championship candidate in the Redskins. And, of course, 2009 saw TEN @ PIT, a huge game for obvious reasons.
Now, let's go through the eight possible candidates for a shot at the Saints on September 9th. Tampa is a team that could contend for the division title in a few years, but they are still very bad at the moment. Carolina looked decent with Matt Moore late in 2009, but they are a risky choice all the same. Atlanta had a disappointing season in 2009, and their defense is very mediocre. Even so, they could be good enough to put a scare into New Orleans. Seattle is in total turmoil, and has very little talent and no national following. The same could be said of the sickeningly bad Rams. Minnesota probably should have beaten New Orleans in the NFCCG, but if Favre chooses to retire the Vikes will be heavy underdogs in the Superdome. Cleveland is, well, Cleveland. No one wants to have the clowns forced on them in primetime.
That leaves the Steelers. They have the best QB and largest fan base of any of the eight teams. Their defense, with Troy back, is the second best in the group. And a matchup of the last two Super Bowl champs is a ratings grabber made in heaven. The bottom line is that Steelers-Saints is the most likely matchup for the first game of the 2010 season. And Steelers fans should be excited about that.
Now, who do you think the Saints will face, and who do you want them to face? FWIW, my percentage breakdown is as follows:
Browns: 1%
Seasquawks: 1%
Rams: 1%
Buccaneers: 2%
Panthers: 15%
Falcons:20%
Vikings: 25%
Steelers: 35%
-LV-
This FanPost was written by a reader and member of Canal Street Chronicles. It does not necessarily reflect the views of CSC and its staff or editors.
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You are probably right, if Favre retires.
If Favre plays, I want it to be the Vikings. That would be the best match up, IMO.
"They're ready to be like 'Same Old Saints'" - Roman Harper, on each of the New Orleans Saints vanquished foes of 2009
I think that Favre will retire
My percentages include that assumption. If Favre returns, you can switch the Vikings and Steelers percenatges.
Glory is fleeting, but obscurity is forever.
Napoleon Bonaparte
Stampede Blue's Resident Steelers Fan
Oneil Cousins is the Steelers' best Offensive Lineman
Frank Walker is their best CB.
by LV Steelers Fan on Feb 8, 2010 11:44 PM CST up reply actions
ViQueens?
I wish we would never have to play them again ever! The worst bunch of sore losers in all my years posting they were…waaahhh waaaah waaaah was the worst…I wonder if all Vikings were crybabies? Sure does not seem to fit the image of Kirk Douglas in the movie or my mind!
Gris Gris Man, Voodoo Surgeon General and Master of Witch Doctory
by Gris Gris Man on Feb 10, 2010 12:11 PM CST up reply actions
Excuse me but it's not 2010 anymore.
It’s the year the Saints won the" SUPERBOWL", as in Farve retired the year the Saints won the “SUPERBOWL”.
I'll be your huckleberry- Doc Holliday to Ringo
Favre will be back next year. He just won't know where the hell he is!
Fat, dumb, and happy. Hell, two out of three ain't bad!
I Want To Die In My Sleep Like My Grandpa – Not Screaming and Yelling Like His Passengers.
by Just 'Nother Day on Feb 9, 2010 2:34 AM CST reply actions
Favre dont want no more punisment from our Saints
He would be on injury reserve after the first game in the assisted living wing………..
My Magnificent Black and Gold Warriors
gun shy
he would flinch everytime we showed blitz….I like the guy very much…but not the V fans so much…I vote STEELERS!
Gris Gris Man, Voodoo Surgeon General and Master of Witch Doctory
by Gris Gris Man on Feb 10, 2010 12:13 PM CST up reply actions
Favre will be back....
But the best game would be the Steelers. That should be the way that we defend the title. Kickin the Steelers in ass on opening night.
WHO DAT?!
Eat, drink, and be merry, for tomorrow we die!
*WHO DAT?!*
I think sometimes the schedulers try to schedule the SB coulda/shoulda/woulda's
If you look at 2007, the Saints VS Colts coulda/shoulda/woulda been the SB matchup if the Saints had won. So sometimes I think the schedulers take that view. I don’t know if any of the other matchups you presented fit that mold or not.
Favre will retire...
If he see’s he has to play the Saints again for the first game of the year!
PSN: greenwald2004
Hit me up on the sticks! Madden 10 is my game now.
Excuse me a moment...
…you posted this:
“Minnesota probably should have beaten New Orleans in the NFCCG”
Go back to your blog, sneaky troll.
The hell they should have beat the Saints, the Saints TOOK THE GAME AWAY FROM THEM.
I am getting REALLY IRRITATED at the constant “…yeah, but…” comments from the media and everyone else.
The Saints EARNED the wins they got this season, every single one of them. That comment is the typical sour grapes sound coming from a fan of a team that underperformed at fantastic levels. You’re so mad at your favorite team’s inability to even make the playoffs this season that you want to throw backhanded compliments at the team that DID win it all this year.
STFU & go away, LV.
Irony: An atheist Saints fan.
by GSO Saints Fan on Feb 9, 2010 7:04 AM CST reply actions 7 recs
Rec'd
WE ARE THE WORLD CHAMPIONS
by mississippisaintsfan on Feb 9, 2010 1:59 PM CST up reply actions
World Champs!
Snap, place, kick! And it's good! It's good! It's goo-hoo-hood! Pigs have flown! Hell Has frozen over! The Saints are going to the Superbowl!
by Joseph William Stern on Feb 9, 2010 10:16 PM CST up reply actions
Tampa is a team that could contend for the division title in a few years, but they are still very bad at the moment.
In the lifetime of the NFC-S, only one year has the last place team from the year before not won the division crown the next, and that was only because our defense couldn’t hold up their end of the bargain and knock off Carolina in the 2008 finale. And that Falcon team that “just missed out” was a team that nobody thought had a chance before that season as well. So don’t count these guys out THAT fast.
Carolina looked decent with Matt Moore late in 2009, but they are a risky choice all the same.
Except of course for the minor detail that they are the last team to have beaten us. I’m sure some PR people could do something with that. Until we kicked their faces in of course.
Atlanta had a disappointing season in 2009, and their defense is very mediocre. Even so, they could be good enough to put a scare into New Orleans.
Could be? Hell they already ARE! The only way these guys aren’t the division champions next year is if we take it from them or Tampa has the semi-typical NFC-S resurgence.
Seattle is in total turmoil, and has very little talent and no national following. The same could be said of the sickeningly bad Rams.
The Rams still were able to give a badly beat up Saints D a bit of a scare, so don’t count them completely out just yet.
Minnesota probably should have beaten New Orleans in the NFCCG, but if Favre chooses to retire the Vikes will be heavy underdogs in the Superdome.
So says an apparent idiot who hasn’t even bothered to watch his own team much less ours. Our defense thrives on takeaways, and so does yours. When you couldn’t get any later on this year, even the Raiders were able to beat you. Ouch. And when we couldn’t get any, even Tampa was able to beat us. We took that game away by forcing turnovers.
Cleveland is, well, Cleveland. No one wants to have the clowns forced on them in primetime.
You mean the same clowns that kicked your butts late in the season? Those clowns? Oops.
It could work out that you are right
It would be a good story line to have the 08 Champs and the 09 Champs play to start the season. Plus, Big Ben was pretty much the only top notch QB that the Saints didn’t get to take down in this past season, so it would be cool for Gregg Williams to cross him off the list.
I think it comes down to Favre retiring, which at this point, he definitely should. But nobody wants to see a Sage Rosenfels/Tavaris Jackson VS. Drew Brees matchup.
"I want to hand this trophy to the MVP of the Super Bowl -- and the MVP of the entire league.''
-- Saints coach Sean Payton, handing the Vince Lombardi Trophy to Drew Brees after Super Bowl 44.
I think the highest ratings and biggest storylines would be a Saints-Vikings rematch... regardless of Brett's retirement decision.
Vikings 70%
Steelers 20%
Everyone else, you divvy it up, it doesn’t matter.
Pigs have flown! Hell has frozen over! The Saints HAVE WON the Superbowl!!
Pittsburgh won't be that good next year
Hines Ward is old, Roethlesberger never was that good really, just made a few good plays per game and the NFL has changed where that is just getting harder and harder to do (play mediocre for 3 qtrs and then make a few good plays at the end) and then the Pittsburgh defense- well if they suck when Polamualu is out, then I guess they are really not that good. Like in losing to KC this year when it really counted, No, Pittsburgh window is closing fast.
"I think we agree, the past is over" - George W Bush
"The greatest enemy of knowlege is not ignorance; it is the illusion of knowledge" Stephen Hawking
Our window is not closing at all
Our offense is very young and there is plenty of talent on defense. The Steelers WILL be a playoff team this year. They almost were last year depite the horrible defensive collapses caused by the lack of our 2 best defensive players.
Glory is fleeting, but obscurity is forever.
Napoleon Bonaparte
Stampede Blue's Resident Steelers Fan
Oneil Cousins is the Steelers' best Offensive Lineman
Frank Walker is their best CB.
by LV Steelers Fan on Feb 9, 2010 5:46 PM CST up reply actions
Troy makes the Steelers
A Super Bowl contender.
It’s that simple.
Behind Ed Reed, Troy is tied with Sharper as my second favorite safety. He’s probably the most talented safety to ever play the game.
"I definitely believe in destiny, and I believe in karma and what goes around comes around. We have been on the other side of this deal probably too many times. Maybe it's our time that we start catching some of the breaks, and start being the team that wins them like this in the end." -- Drew Brees
Ronnie Lott was better. There were others too. At this juncture I would even put Brian Dawkins over him. Depends on what Polamaulu does in the future
"I think we agree, the past is over" - George W Bush
"The greatest enemy of knowlege is not ignorance; it is the illusion of knowledge" Stephen Hawking
Furthermore......
" Minnesota probably should have beaten New Orleans in the NFCCG" yeah….and we probably shouldn’t have kicked Brett Favre’s ass, but we did.
"I think we agree, the past is over" - George W Bush
"The greatest enemy of knowlege is not ignorance; it is the illusion of knowledge" Stephen Hawking
the NFL
want the champ to win their 1 game i think it will be ATL or CAR for u guys
okay i have cereal palsy arhrtis and chronic fatiue as well i have a grea life loveing folks some days are better that other days i got a make a wish in 2001 saw my favorive team the broncos was the trip of the lifetime i wish everyone couild gotten to enjoy that with me i know some of u hate the broncos and that ok but i bleed organ and bule reseident broncos fan for ap lol denver will rise again resident broncos fan for every blog resident broncos fan for stanpleid bule
no
but espn and fox will beg for minn-no
okay i have cereal palsy arhrtis and chronic fatiue as well i have a grea life loveing folks some days are better that other days i got a make a wish in 2001 saw my favorive team the broncos was the trip of the lifetime i wish everyone couild gotten to enjoy that with me i know some of u hate the broncos and that ok but i bleed organ and bule reseident broncos fan for ap lol denver will rise again resident broncos fan for every blog resident broncos fan for stanpleid bule
opening game
Definitely, Favre vs. Brees. And a re-match at the Superdome!!!!! No one is going to want to watch Ben and the Steelers, but fans all across the US want to see if the Vikes can get some kind of redemption. What a great game.
Ugh
Now I regret defending you LV. I see you’ve gone on over to the Colts blog to get support from them.
Furthermore, I don’t think we have an inferiority complex as cass put it. That’s pretty narrowminded and unfair to think of Saints fans this way.
Sour friggin’ grapes.
"I definitely believe in destiny, and I believe in karma and what goes around comes around. We have been on the other side of this deal probably too many times. Maybe it's our time that we start catching some of the breaks, and start being the team that wins them like this in the end." -- Drew Brees
Wow
Years ago, we would have BEGGED for a “powder puff” game as the opener. Lighthouse for the Blind perhaps? Sister Mary Margaret’s Home for Wayward Children? It’s kind of nice hearing people discuss some of the NFL’s “elite” teams, and the Saints, as an opening game, in the same sentence.
I vote for whichever team won the Lingerie Bowl!!
WHO DAT!!! (sue me No Fun League)
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