New Orleans Saints to Pull Away From The NFC South This Season

If history repeats itself then the New Orleans Saints much like Daniel-san, will rise from their late-blooming, too-small, too-inept status to win the NFC South this year.

The Saints finished 8-8 in the 2007-2008 season, good enough for last place in what is, statistically, the best division in professional football.

For five of the last six years, with last season being the exception by one game, the worst team in the NFC South has gone on to win the division the succeeding year.

However, the Saints have a little bit more for them and a little bit more against them then simple history. It all starts with defense and it continues with a little Sean Payton pizazz, a little Matt Ryan sophomore slump, a little bit too much time for Jake Delhomme and a little lack of direction for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

The Saints actually have all of the pieces to see the playoffs this season, beginning with their offense. Quarterback Drew Brees was on pace to break Dan Marino's single season passing records for most of the season and, as a result, the Saints led the league in most major offensive statistical categories.

However, the Saints struggled to find a balance as they finished in the bottom half of the lead in both rushing yards, touchdowns and rushing yards per carry, as well as finishing six spots away from being the worst scoring defense in the league.

New Orleans has found its identity in Sean Payton "trickeration" for too long and the front office is ready for change, to say that there will be some changes to the Saints identity this season is like saying that there will be some minor changes to the football-player-formerly-known-as-Chad-Johnson's jersey this season.

Unfortunately, wishes do not alway turn into reality as the New Orleans front office failed to improve the rush offense prospects for the Saints during the offseason. (Note to New Orleans front office: drafting a too-big, too-slow Wisconsin running back isn't improving the rush offense.)

To add injury to injury, long gone are the days that New Orleans fans and coaches can believe that tailback Reggie Bush is underperforming and waiting on his peak.

With the shelf life of the average NFL running back topping off around 27 or 28 years old it's safe to say that Bush has neared his peak. Meaning that he's not a feature back, he's a great special teams player and receiver out of the backfield with the chance of breaking a sweep every now and again.

Where the Saints lacked in improvement in the ground game, they made up for improvement on the defensive side of the ball. An adjustment that was extremely important for New Orleans.

Although "defense wins championships" has become a boring cliché in the NFL, it still stands as truth. Only three of the top fifteen scoring defenses missed the playoffs last season and two of those teams missed the playoffs by only one game.

New Orleans added renowned defensive coordinator Gregg Williams to give its defense a spark.

Not only will the Saints reap the benefits of Williams' fire and knack for play calling but they should also see the benefits of a revamped defensive secondary that is about as different from last year's team as near is to far.

Young players such as cornerbacks Malcolm Jenkins and Jabari Greer will have a huge impact on this year's New Orleans defense and will benefit greatly from having veteran and free agent signee Darren Sharper on board as well.

Things are certainly changing in New Orleans but the Saints will still expect plenty of fireworks from the likes of Marques Colston and Jeremy Shockey, provided Shockey's hangovers don't prevent him from showing up to games.

Improving one's own team certainly helps in the quest for the playoffs but seeing other teams decline is never discouraging. That is the case in the NFC South, which may still be the best division in the NFL.

In Carolina quarterback Jake Delhomme is aging fast and the defense is missing a few key wheels. Meanwhile, Tampa Bay will most likely be suffering the major growing pains that come along with a new coach.

New Orleans has a legitimate shot to crack the top two in the NFC South, which means a wildcard spot for certain. However, in order to do that, the Saints will have to improve their scoring defense. Whether that's by virtue of a more ball-control oriented offense of a defense that keeps its opponents out of the endzone on an even semi-respectable basis, one cannot tell.

The bottom line is, New Orleans has plenty of pieces. It's now up to Payton and Williams to put those pieces together. If they can do that, and they should, then the rest of the NFL will certainly be hearing chants of "Who dat?" echoing from the Big Easy this postseason.