By Craig Ellenport
Some thoughts regarding the New Orleans Saints’ bountygate
fallout, now that four players have been suspended for various lengths of time
to go along with the coach and front office punishments:
Streak overshadowed
All the focus on how the Saints play without Sean Payton
and Joe Vitt on the sidelines and without defensive standouts Jonathan Vilma and
Will Smith through the first quarter of the season (Payton and Vilma the entire
season), is going to overshadow and take away from what should be one of the
coolest stories of the 2012 NFL season.
Drew Brees enters the season with a streak of at least one
touchdown pass in 43 consecutive games. That’s four shy of the record held by
Johnny Unitas – and I am not in the minority when I say I thought that was the
most unattainable record in NFL history. (That honor now belongs to Brett Favre
for his iron-man starting streak.)
Assuming Brees does keep the streak going – and obviously
the Saints will be passing a lot regardless of how their defense plays – he
will tie the record in Week 4 when New Orleans is at Green Bay. He’ll then have
a chance to break the record in Week 5 at home vs. his old team, the San Diego
Chargers – a nationally-televised Sunday night game.
It’s been 52 years since Unitas’ streak ended. If Brees
breaks the record, it could easily be one that stands another 52 years, at
least. Too bad the fanfare will be overshadowed by a media that is consumed
with the Saints’ punishment.
Still the one
I agree with NFL.com’s Steve Wyche, who said on NFL Network
Wednesday morning that he thinks the Saints remain the team to beat in the NFC
South despite being shorthanded on the field and the sidelines.
Not taking anything away from Payton’s value as the head
coach, but Brees is much like Peyton Manning in his ability to serve as an
on-field coach and leader of the offense. The Saints will have no trouble
scoring points this year. The defense, meanwhile, ranked 24th in
2011 in yards allowed per game and the team still finished 13-3 and won the
division by three games. The Falcons remain a dangerous team; the Panthers and
Buccaneers will both be improved. But none of those teams are as good as the
Saints, suspensions or not.
The Vegas angle
Between the extra incentive on Brees and the offense to
carry this team and the defensive holes that got bigger with the player
suspensions, will the folks in Vegas have to think long and hard before setting
the over/unders for Saints games?
They were used to setting that number high to begin with. Only
the Green Bay Packers last season had a greater overall point total (combined
for and against) than the Saints. For the record, here are the four teams with
the highest average total points per game in 2011:
Green Bay Packers -- 57.4
New Orleans Saints -- 55.4
Detroit Lions -- 53.8
New England Patriots -- 53.4
It’s a safe bet the Saints will allow more points in 2012
and score at least as many as they did last year. It’ll be interesting to see
how Vegas adjusts.
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