2012 Record: 7-9
2012 Rankings
Total Offense: 2
Passing Offense: 1
Rushing Offense: 25
Scoring Offense: 3
Total Defense: 32
Passing Defense: 31
Rushing Defense: 32
Scoring Defense: 31
Offense
Any offense with Drew Brees at the helm will always have a chance to compete. The Saints are stacked with weapons, from RBs Mark Ingram, Pierre Thomas and Darren Sproles to TE Jimmy Graham and WRs Marques Colston and Lance Moore. The Saints are loaded with talent at the skill positions and present matchup problems across the board for opposing defenses. Up front the Saints have the best guard tandem in the league in Ben Grubbs and Jahri Evans. The return of offensive mastermind Sean Payton will keep the offense at the top of the league.
Defense
The Bountygate scandal shredded the Saints defense last season and the unit is still rebuilding. They added Keenan Lewis and Victor Butler in free agency, but Butler was lost for the season with a knee injury, leaving the Saints thin at outside linebacker. The defense should be better than last season, but the pass rush is still an issue. The Saints were in the bottom five in the league in sacks last year and will likely be there again this season. First round pick Kenny Vaccaro will be expected to start at safety and provide some stability to the defensive backfield.
Intangibles
The Saints play 6 of their 8 road games outside of domes. Drew Brees is a totally different quarterback outside than he is inside.
Prediction
The Saints still have a lot of questions on the defensive side of the ball. The offense will score points, but it also doesn't have the depth of receiving talent that it did in years past. They should improve over last season, but they're still not as good as Atlanta. 9-7.
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