Five Reasons to Be Pessimistic About The 2011 New Orleans Saints Season

I was positive is was CP

In response to Jon’s #4, I predict the Saints will sweep the NFC South this year. I also believe an injury free Drew Brees will put all "Decline " rumors to Rest.

Morning JB. Nice post and nice Payton photo (rawr).

I share your concerns – Hartley and Brees in particular – though I do think Brees is uber competitive enough to still be haunted by the the 2010 season. Agree with cc58… Brees will have a good season.

What’s wrong with you? You know Saints fans are easily frightened.
Not this year. This is the best roster the Saints have ever assembled. Seriously. Significantly better than 2009. Anything less than making the Superbowl will be a disappointment.

need an avatar?

I actually have faith in Hartley. Otherwise I’m concerned. When Reggie Bush was out last year we sucked. When he was injured we sucked. And now he’s gone. That scares me and it’s related to two items on the list here.

I thunk the defense will be better with the exception of the cornerback position. With Porter out and rumors that he hasn’t worked out all summer, I’m nervous. But I expect the line and linebackers to improve.

I’m going to just say that I’m really impressed with you, Banksy, for writing a counterpoint piece to the usual kool-aid style news. Didn’t know you had it in you.

Drew was injured last year, remember the knee brace? Lingered a while.

You’re Fired. Just kidding.

To tell you the truth, I believe that Hartley isn’t the answer. Don’t get me wrong, he has made some clutch kicks for us and has done pretty good, but I can see him being on the chopping block if he doesn’t get his head out of his @$$.

The NFC South is getting stronger and tougher each year. Freeman is improving quickly as a QB, Atlanta has picked up some good looking talent and the Panthers are trying to rebuild and show – be careful of the spoiler team. I don’t see any team in the NFC South sweeping the division.

The LB’s are good enough, but that is no real guage of talent. We look at LB’s like the Cowboys and 49er Fans look at QB’s, Aikman and Montana aren’t coming back and neither is the Dome Patrol. Gregg Williams seems to like what he has, and maybe that is why he doesn’t go after name recognition like the Eagles.

Drew had an off year, and I think all QB’s do at some points. With a lack of running game going on, most teams knew the pass was coming and could sit back and wait for it. When you mix that in with Brees trying to make too much happen, and on some plays, running for his life like Archie, then these things have a tendency to happen. I look for Brees to rebound this year and hopefully throw the ball away instead of just throwing the ball up in the air.

The RB situation doesn’t necessarily look like a “Woe is Me” scenario at the moment. PT will share carries with Ingram as they both basically make up one “Workhorse” back. I think PT has a special knack for screen passes in the redzone, and I think he will be relied on as a “Workhorse” redzone back while Ingram gets the ball down the field as a “Workhorse” back. Sproles will be the COP/Third Down Back and Ivory will be the relief back to keep these guys as fresh as possible. I don’t think that Ivory will sit on the PUP list to start the season. I think by week one he will be listed as a Healthy Inactive at the worst and should be ready to rock and roll by week two or three avoiding 6 weeks of inelligible play due to injury, especially if they plan to use him in limited roles or as fatigue relief.

Just my take on it. I could be wrong and your pessimism might be deserving of higher merit, but I will try to stay as possitive as possible while remaining realistically humble.

Looks like someone else needs to spend some quality time in the back of Dave’s store taking a few hits from the “item” along with a few swigs of cscmember’s Purple Drank….don’t forget the Doritos.

I say we go 5-1 within the division, with the only loss coming at Tampa. We embarrass Atlanta in the Georgia Dome. Drew throws for a mediocre 4200 yards with 35 TD’s and 12 INT’s. Our backfield combination, however it plays out, will gain 2500 yards on the ground, with a combined 25 TD’s and 7 fumbles lost. Colston will lead the team in receiving, with 1200 yards and 11 TD’s. With Franklin in front of him, Vilma leads the team in tackles with 140 combined. Will Smith gets back to 09 numbers, and he finishes with 12 sacks, even while missing the first four games. Jenkins gets 9 INT’s, and brings two back to lead our team in both categories. Final record of 15-1, and then we go 3-0 in the playoffs, defeating the Falcons then Packers, finishing with a 24-14 win over the Jets in Indy. Drew Brees wins MVP and OPOY.

Mark Ingram-OROY
Cam Jordan-DROY
New Orleans Saints-2012 Super Bowl Champs


 by Northfan on Aug 3, 2011 8:33 AM EDT up reply actions 2 recs

Despite their records last year, I don’t see much special about the Falcons, Panthers or Bucs. There is nothing besides injuries that will keep the Saints from sweeping this division in 2011.

#5: Garrett Hartley: Refilled his ritalin prescription. Also, an improved offense should yield more TDs and fewer field goal attempts. A running game that can produce 1st downs results in much shorter field goals.

#4: The NFC South: Freeman will be allowed to do more after last season. I believe that will only result in more mistakes. The guy is still terribly young. Overall, the Bucs are young. That will likely result in some inconsistency. They invested millions upon millions of dollars in a punter. If they think punting is going to be that important to their team, who am I to argue. The Panthers are still one of the worst teams in the NFL. Now they have a QB that has never been asked to really learn a real playbook, and is more concerned with being an “entertainer” than a champion. Have fun with that. The Falcons overlooked other areas of need in the draft just to improve at their #2 wideout spot. That kind of tunnel vision rarely yields massive rewards. Their pass rush is going to be much worse than people think. Abraham was never elite to begin with and is aging. Edwards lined up with an entire line of Pro Bowlers in Minnesota and still wasn’t all that great. Even if Julio cures their one dimensionality on offense, their defense will continue to let them down when games are on the line.

#3: The Saints Linebackers: With Jenkins making leaps and bounds by all accounts, and a very deep CB lineup, the LB corps will be playing in front of the defense’s strength. The revamped defensive line should, in theory, be more productive. Sandwiched between the two, the LBs will be called on to do less which will cover up some of their deficiencies. A coverage unit that was really focused on during this offseason should yield better starting field position for our defense and give them more room to bend before they break.

#2: Drew Brees’ 2010 Season: A gimpy Brees, toting 22 INTs, and no running game led the team to the playoffs and put up a hell of a fight in the midst of the defense making a team with a losing record look like a bunch of all pros. His track record suggests the numbers last year were an anomaly, and he was a victim of circumstance, and we still made the playoffs. It’s hard to take concerns about Brees seriously.

#1: The Saints Running Backs: Improvement across the board. Hungry young guys and proven vets. Every single one of them wanting to prove themselves worthy of carries. Ingram’s workload and what he was asked to do at Alabama only resulting in one major injury is a positive, not a negative.

It’s hard to take concerns about Brees seriously.

True. Brees had no running game. Every defense knew we going to pass pass pass. On top of that he had that knee problem and didn’t get the best protection up front like he did the year before.

I have faith we will be locked and loaded.

If this is the worst things we have to worry about, then I’m feeling pretty good. I mean, trying to pass off Da’Quan Bowers as something to be pessimistic about doesn’t fly with me. I believe stujo4 mentioned something about bone on bone? And I really think youre reaching with the Panthers.

All teams have some weaknesses to some degree. 5, 1 and 2 are ridiculous stretches. Nothing can be done about 2. 3 is an issue, but apparently not for PayLoo since they didn’t get rid of now starting for your New Orleans Saints, number 58 Scott Shanle.

Here, try one of these:

just draw a picture of goalposts somewhere back behind the endzone or up high in the distance and let him aim for that!! Maybe someone in the second level can bring in inflatable goal posts and set them up before he kicks!

if you, go on the premise that we went through 7 Rbs last year and the RBs are extremely important in pass (blitz) protection and for check down / outlet passes, I think it’s understandable that Brees was under duress and more likely to throw ints when his comfort level was way off under those circumstances.

No worries about our depth at CB’s?

Is that our expectations of what constitutes a “successful season” are a wee bit higher now.

SP and GW. Whatever our strengths and weaknesses are, it’s up to the coaches to plan for that. Lesser teams have won the SB, let’s count on coaches to get the most out of our good and minimize the consequences of the bad.

Game-Point-Win

How many training camps did we spend poring over the schedule hoping to find a couple games we could steal and maybe go 8-8 with some kind of shot at the playoffs?

You brung me to the dark side and I didn’t like it over there. But honestly, it’s just a reality us Saints fan have to live with. I’m one of the guys who’s hoping it’s Wilson and Casillas that’s with Vilma, and with our brand new "fleur-d-line " maby they will be able to roam free.

..“for God’s sake, man.. get a hold of yourself..” hahaha..

1. we are da saints.. (read: the baddest..)
2. we got the craziest coach with b@lls-like-this (mental image of hands spread about 10 inches apart)..
3. we drafted well.. we should get production out of 3 maybe 4 players drafted..
4. we had good free agent additions..
5. the weakest link (LBs) have gotten some competition & as stated above by many other SB-nationites, they are better protected, front & back..
6. (bonus) luck & breaks are a result of fortuitous events, “bent & coerced” by preparation.. the 1st part of the equation cannot be forecasted.. as for the 2nd. our key players & coaches prepare, minimum 1 notch above the rest of the league with the possible exception of the patriots..

And Jon and Dave are ready to jump off the deep end. A week ago, we were talking about how great of an off-season we’ve been having. All this flip-flopping and back and forth makes me wish for one thing….the actual start to the season, where all questions will be answered, whether good or bad.

As far as the competition in the NFC South goes, Atlanta provides serious competition. However, they too have big questions to answer. Their ground game revolves around one man, Michael Turner. He’s got quite a few miles on his treads already. They could be in for a letdown if Turner starts to slow down.

Tampa scares me. Josh Freeman is looking more and more like atop 10 QB. This team is one of the youngest in the league and still has a lot of cap space. I will say, however, that a lot of playmakers on this team last year were rookies, and they could be in for a sophomore slump.

Carolina drafted Cam Newton as the QB of the future. Need I say more?

after that, we look at “who’s next?”

BURN HIM. BURN HIM!!!

Better hurry up with that ‘Five Reasons to be Optimistic’ post before these guys turn violent. By the looks of the pics above it’s too late. Good luck, Jon.