Season Summary: New Orleans Saints
Quick Summary: The Saints bombed out after their near-Super Bowl run in 2007. People can point to injuries, but SPF warned before the season started about the Saints and the team's inability to sustain success from season to season. Right now, Sean Payton is looking like eerily similar to Jim Haslett.
There is little doubt that the Saints had a fine roster filled with talent. They just didn’t play with any kind of consistency for most of the season. They started 0-4 on the wrong end of blowouts in 3 of those 4 games. Then, the team went 4-0.
At that point in the season, the Saints looked as though they had righted the ship, only to lose to two non-playoff teams, St Louis and Houston. Ending with decisive losses to Chicago and Philadelphia (two other playoff teams from a year ago who also were missing this year's playoffs like the Saints) doesn't bode well for 2008.
Were they a one year wonder fueled by New Orleans post-Katrina spirit? Next year will tell the story.
Signs of Hope: The Saints still have one of the NFL’s best offenses. Drew Brees only showed how valuable he is to the team in the face of all of this adversity. Brees can execute all aspects of Payton's offense. The coach/QB relationship is critical, and these two seem to have a very good one.
Reality Check: Two seasons ago, the Saints relied on the 1-2 punch running game of Deuce McAllister and Reggie Bush to balance out Brees and his WRs. When Deuce went down, Reggie Bush didn't step up. Right now, Bush is looking more like a speciality back than any every down threat.
This is a problem because of all the marketing hype around Bush. The Saints need to take the spotlight off of him and put it on Drew Brees.
Additionally, McAllister is rehabbing from two knee surgeries. Deuce is a tough back who can absolutely change the Saints "on the field" dynamic. Looking at the Saints last year, they ranked near the bottom in rushing. Again, the perception about Reggie Bush is not the reality. He isn't a difference maker yet, and he may never be.
There still has concerns about owner Tom Benson and his commitment to New Orleans. This team is part of the football culture in Louisiana and along the Gulf Coast.
Benson and crew are talking a good game about New Orleans, but this is the same man that openly campaigned to move the team to San Antonio or Los Angeles in the wake of Katrina.
New Orleans has limitations that other markets don't have, but few cities have a culture that is recognized on a worldwide basis. Being a part of that fabric has huge marketing potential for the Saints. Just like Green Bay which sits in the smallest NFL market, the Saints could market themselves beyond the confines of their metro area. They claim to be doing this, but there is much more work to do.
As long as the Superdome remains below modern NFL standards and Los Angeles has no team, SPF expects Benson to hold the city hostage. This type of situation only serves to undermine fan support rather than galvanize it.
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