Aaron Kromer Will Benefit from Saints' Soft Schedule During Interim Role

New Orleans Saints' interim head coach Aaron Kromer will simply be along for the ride during the team's first six games of 2012.

According to ESPN.com via The Associated Press, Saints' offensive line coach Aaron Kromer will replace assistant head coach Joe Vitt while Vitt is suspended for the regular season's first six games for his role in the Saints' bounty scandal.

The coaching change won't make much of a difference in terms of success for New Orleans though. Kromer will benefit from an extremely soft opening schedule.

Half of the Saints' first six games in 2012 are at home, and only one of their first six matchups will be against a team with a winning record in 2011. In addition, Kromer will have the NFL's No. 1 passing attack at his disposal for each and every game. 

That will come in Week 4 when New Orleans hits the road to take on the Green Bay Packers at Lambeau Field. Still, one could easily argue that the Saints would have the edge in that game based upon the fact that the Packers will be returning from a Monday Night Football showdown with Seattle in the Pacific Northwest. 

Before the Saints have to travel to Green Bay though, they will play against losing teams the first three Sundays of the regular season. 

New Orleans will host the Washington Redskins in Week 1, who went 5-11 last season and will likely be fielding a rookie quarterback in Robert Griffin III. 

A week later Kromer and the Saints will hit the road for the first time to take on division rival Carolina. The Panthers won just six games all of last season, and were swept by the Saints by a combined score of 75-44.

In Week 3 the Saints will host the Kansas City Chiefs, who finished the 2011 season 7-9. That means the Saints' first three 2012 opponents boasted a combined record of 18-30 last season. Kromer would have to make some terrible coaching moves in order for New Orleans come out of its first three games anything worse than 2-1.

Realistically, I see the Saints distancing themselves early with three straight wins to open up the season. 

Of course the Week 4 matchup with Green Bay could go either way for Kromer's squad. Worst case scenario: New Orleans loses on the road and returns home to take on another team that was mediocre in 2011. 

Kromer's Saints will host the San Diego Chargers in Week 5, a team that went 8-8 last season and won just three road games all year long. New Orleans will have home-field advantage yet again and should emerge with another win.

After a bye week in Week 6, Kromer's final game as interim coach will come against the Saints' dismal division rival, Tampa Bay. The Buccaneers went 4-12 last season, losing 10 straight games to finish up 2011. There's no way the Saints lose this game after having a bye week to rest up.

With that said, the Saints should be well atop the NFC South division by the time Joe Vitt returns to coach the team the rest of the way in Week 8. I expect New Orleans to be 5-1 when Vitt takes over. 

New Orleans began the 2011 season 4-2, and despite their troublesome offseason, they'll be one game better under Aaron Kromer through the first six games of 2012.

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