Saints Bountygate will overshadow big moment for Brees

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 24^th 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.

Will Parcells coach the Saints... again?

While it now sounds like there might be some truth to the idea that Sean Payton is recruiting Bill Parcells to coach the New Orleans Saints this year as Payton serves a one-year suspension, let's get one thing straight: The Tuna has already helped the Saints win a Super Bowl.

It was a little over two years when the Saints were preparing for Super Bowl XLIV against the Colts in South Florida. On Monday of Super Bowl week, I had the privilege of moderating a live chat on NFL.com with Parcells, then an exec with the Miami Dolphins. We conducted the chat at the Dolphins facility. The third question Parcells fielded was one about the offensive play-calling of Payton, a former Parcells assistant who remained good friends with his mentor.

After Parcells answered the question, he offered an aside: "That guy's been trying to call me all week."

Payton was calling Parcells, he explained, to see if the should-already-be-in-the-Hall-of-Fame coach would speak to the Saints players. After all, Parcells had taken three teams to the Super Bowl in his coaching career and carried off the Lombardi Trophy twice with the Giants.

As fate would have it, the Saints arrived in South Florida right around the time that live chat was taking place. Their first stop: a news conference at the Dolphins' facility. So after his chat with NFL.com readers, Parcells went downstairs and spoke to Payton's boys about what to expect on Super Bowl Sunday and how to prepare for the biggest game of their lives.

Oh, and he imparted some advice to his friend Payton. He stressed the element of surprise -- the importance of planning to throw a curveball or two at the Colts. This was, after all, the same coach who called a flea flicker in Super Bowl XXI and a ballsy fake punt that helped the Giants win the 1990 NFC title game over the heavily-favored 49ers.

Thus was born the idea to try an onside kick in Super Bowl XLIV. Even if it had already been worked on, Parcells' advice cemented the idea for Payton. Trailing 10-6 at halftime, Payton called for the onside kick to open the second half. The Saints recovered and scored the go-ahead touchdown six plays later.

Thank you, Coach Parcells.

There are still many players on the Saints roster who played in Super Bowl XLIV. If Parcells does come out of retirement to coach them, they'll have no trouble following the man who helped them win their first title. Of course, Parcells may be a little tougher on them than Payton was.