| Andrew Perna. 14th November, 2007 - 12:30 pm
 “What if I say you’re not like the others,
What if you’re not just another one.
Look at your face, you’re the pretender,
What if I say I’ll never surrender.”
- The Foo Fighters, “The Pretender”
Ten weeks into the 2007 season we still don’t know who the New Orleans Saints really are. Are they the team that opened the season with four losses, the one that rallied back to win four straight, or the team the St. Louis Rams beat last weekend for their first win of the year?
In their first four games of 2007, all losses, the Saints averaged just 12.8 points per game. That’s not exactly something you’d expect from a team that put up nearly 26 points a week during the 2006 season and advanced fairly deep into the NFC playoffs.
Then suddenly things seemed to click for New Orleans as September turned into October, and the Saints rattled off four consecutive wins (Oct. 14 to Nov. 4). Their victims, Seattle, Atlanta, San Francisco and Jacksonville, all possess different styles. That bodes well for their turn around, as does the 31 points per game they averaged during their four-game run.
Unfortunately, the Rams’ first win of the season set them back a little bit.
Sunday’s loss to the previously winless Rams wasn’t a result of an offensive lapse. Once again the Saints had their suspect defense to blame in defeat.
Through their first nine games this season the Saints are allowing their opponents to put up over 350 yards of offense each game, good enough for twenty-fifth in the NFL. Drew Brees and the offense are doing their best to keep New Orleans in games with the leagues sixth best offense, just barely out-gaining the opposition with 355 yards a contest.
While the defense deserves some of the blame for the Saints’ five losses, Brees and company haven’t been all that consistent either. During the team’s four-game run Brees had a 113.4 quarterback rating to go along with 11 touchdowns and just one interception. However, his numbers drop considerably when you isolate New Orleans’ five losses – a 63.5 QB rating, three touchdowns and 11 picks.
If the Saints are going to make a run towards the 2007 playoffs, they will have to get more from Reggie Bush to open things up for Brees and the passing game. Their rushing attack took a huge hit when Deuce McAllister went down with a season-ending injury in Week Three, but not even that can explain their dismal ground game. The Saints, who averaged 110 rushing yards a game in 2006, are only getting 87 from their Deuce-less attack in 2007.
New Orleans (4-5) is one game behind Tampa Bay for the lead in the NFC South, and in order to earn a playoff berth this season the Saints are probably going to have to win the division. Down the stretch they will enjoy a favorable schedule, with just one game against a team that currently possesses a winning record (the Buccaneers at 5-4).
The remaining seven games of the season will determine whether or not the Saints are contenders in the NFC, or they surrender and continue to look like pretenders.
Are the Saints contenders or pretenders? Andrew.Perna@RealGM.com |
