Each and every year an NFL team comes in ready to repeat as Super Bowl Champions. The New Orleans Saints are no different. But having won the Super Bowl at a pivotal moment in an NFL labor dispute, the Saints may have caught a break. Most winners of the Super Bowl are stripped of talent on both the player level and the coaching level. The New Orleans Saints lost only Scott Fujita, a capable but not extraordinary linebacker, and Mike Bell, a capable but not extraordinary running back. here’s why I think the New Orleans Saints have a good chance of getting back to the Super Bowl.
1) As indicated above, all the biggest impact players are returning.
2) Both Sean Payton and Drew Brees are remarkable leaders, and the combination of the two can’t be found anywhere else in the NFL.
3) Undrafted rookie Chris Ivory shows every sign of being better than Mike Bell and could surpass Bell’s contributions.
4) Running back Reggie Bush is healthier than he’s ever been.
5) The Saints defense could be better, but still seems to have the ability to generate takeaways.
6) Lance Moore returns to a receiving corp that has no equal in the NFL in terms of across the board depth.
7) Judging by pre-season play, the New Orleans offense is still the best in the NFL
While the Saints special teams play hasn’t been great it’s gotten better in the last pre-season game against the Chargers
9) Fullback Heath Evans returns healthy and provides Brees with another weapon and better blocking than they had for most of last season.
The biggest impact of all will come from the leadership of the New Orleans Saints. This is a team that buys in big time when Brees and Payton speak, and has been handpicked by Payton for both talent and character. When the hard times come, and they wioll, this is an NFL team that will stick together.