The New Orleans Saints: Brees, Bush and Payton

The Jim Haslett-led Saints of the last few years had been classified as enigmatic. They'd lose games they weren't supposed to, win games they weren't supposed to, suffer through lengthy losing skids and then turn around and reel off a few in a row. They were a .500'ish team quarterbacked by Aaron Brooks, who experts say is one of the more talented QB's in the league, but isn't the QB you'd want for your team.

Last year, Hurricane Katrina devastated New Orleans. The Saints were displaced. Jim Haslett and Aaron Brooks were no longer wanted. They practiced in San Antonio and played seemingly everywhere. The Saints were not the 2nd worst team in the league last year. Hurricane Katrina and the resulting circumstances put New Orleans in a position to get the USC star with the #2 pick. The poor play also allowed them to cut ties with Haslett, who'd been rumored to be on the hot seat for a couple years, and Brooks, who never quite got New Orleans over the hump.

The replacements, QB Drew Brees and Head Coach Sean Payton have been widely praised for the turnaround. Brees has played pretty well and has developed into a quality starting QB (7th in QB rating this year) in the NFL, something Brooks never seemed to do. Sean Payton has led the Saints to a 5-1 record. Reggie Bush has 480 yards from scrimmage, that's an average of 80 per game ... 80*16=1280 yards per scrimmage for the season (his current pace). Plus, he's contributing on punt returns. Those three are being hailed for turning the team around.


In 2001, the Saints were 7-9. The next year, they finished 9-7. Then, in 2003 and 2004 they posted 8-8 records. The Saints have been mediocre for years, just look at the graph (sorry, my Apple PowerBook is the reason "Wins" is upside down). They aren't an awful franchise. Last year's 3-13 record was an aberration, not a trend. This year, the Saints are 5-1 with wins over Cleveland (1-4), Green Bay (1-5), Atlanta (3-2), Tampa Bay (1-4) and Philadelphia (4-2). The two big wins, over Atlanta and Philly were at home in the renovated Superdome in front of enthusiastic - to say the least - fans. The only blemish on their record is a road loss to 4-2 Carolina, a quality opponent.

You never know how an NFL season is going to materialize, but it seems like the toughest part of the Saints' schedule is still to come. Tampa Bay has been playing better recently and they are, along with San Francisco, the easy games remaining on the schedule. They have division foes Carolina and Atlanta again, along with the big 3 from the AFC North, Baltimore, Cincinnati and Pittsburgh. They also have 3 more games against the NFC East: at Dallas and NY Giants and home for the 'Skins. Hey, shouldn't they play that Saints - Giants game in the Superdome in New Orleans and just say the Giants are the home team to make up for last year?

The Saints should be better this year with Brees and Bush, over Brooks and whoever they would have taken with a mid first round draft pick. But, they aren't going to go 14-2. They shouldn't have much trouble getting to .500, but 11 wins would be an accomplishment given the remaining schedule and Deuce McAllister's ailing hamstring. That would be a significant improvement, but it's not fair to compare them to the 2005 Saints who really didn't have much of a chance ... compare them to all the years before that.