2010 New Orleans Saints Preview: Who Dat Say Repeating Ain't Easy?

2009 Recap: The New Orleans Saints were the feel good story of the 2009 NFL season. They won 13 games and captured the NFC South title. With an electrifying offense and an opportunistic defense, they scampered through the playoffs and brought the first Super Bowl title ever to the city of New Orleans.

Now the challenge to repeat as champions begins.

BetMania has released the 2010 odds on the New Orleans Saints to win the NFC South, the NFC, and Superbowl XLV. Here are the most current odds.

Saints Odds to win Superbowl XLV: +1100

Saints Odds to win the NFC: +470

Saints Odds to win the NFC South: -175

Draft: The Saints deserve high praise for their draft picks considering they drafted 32^nd overall.

Most notable was the first round selection of cornerback Patrick Robinson out of Florida State. He is a quick reacting ball hawk that will play in packages immediately and enhance the Saints' ability to cover one-on-one.

The selection of tight end Jimmy Graham out of Miami is a work in progress, considering he only played football in his senior year. He has amazing athleticism allowing him to fit right into the passing game and become a big target.

Offseason Key Moves

Overall, the Saints had a successful offseason. They had several players that could have left as free agents, but the front office made sure to keep many of the key parts that led to a championship.

New Orleans lost defensive end Charles Grant to free agency, but proved that they could win without him when he missed several games due to injury. The team picked up Alex Brown after the Bears cut him. He will be a quick pass rusher that should take over where Grant left off.

The key to the Saints' offseason was bringing back free safety Darren Sharper. He is a veteran leader on and off the field for the Saints defense. He is as important to the defense as quarterback Drew Brees is to the offense.

Offense

The Saints had one of the best offenses in football led by one of the best quarterbacks in the league.

Brees put up astounding numbers last year on his way to winning a Super Bowl championship and seemingly every award under the sun. He is the undisputed leader of this team and is a precise pocket passer that can perform under pressure. He makes other players step up to another level and gets everyone involved on offense.

The wide receivers are not household names, but in this offense have all flourished. Marques Colston is becoming a solid go-to-guy, and posted another season of 1,000 yard campain in 2009. Devery Henderson has breakaway speed and is the best New Orleans receiver at running after the catch. Finally, Robert Meachem gives the Saints the deep threat they need to keep the underneath routes open.

The passing game is the staple of this offense and it makes up for a running game that needs to improve. Reggie Bush is a human highlight film on special teams and when he catches passes in the flats, but as a running back he struggles. Pierre Thomas is the dependable back for the Saints and will have to carry the load. As usual, the Saints will look to pass to set up the run.

Sean Payton is an offensive mastermind and with Brees at the helm, the offense will be dangerous again in 2010.

Defense

The other side of the ball is powered by a scoring defense that was first in scoring touchdowns off of turnovers and second in takeaways.

The main reason for all of the turnovers was an explosive and quick reacting secondary. They bolstered the backfield with the draft and by re-signing Sharper. Defensive coordinator Greg Williams is all set in the secondary, but has his work cut out for him in other areas.

Grant is gone and although he was hurt, he was still a force to be dealt with on the line. Will Smith needs a compliment and the Saints brought in Brown and hope to get help from draft picks. Someone will need to step up if the Saints want to pressure opposing quarterbacks.

Scott Fujita left in free agency, but he is not the answer to some of the issues the Saints have at linebacker. Jonathan Vilma is a bright spot, but he can’t do it alone. The Saints linebackers are not very quick and have trouble tackling in the open field. They respond well to the blitz schemes that Williams implements, but they were the reason that the defense surrendered so many yards.

If the defense can’t pressure the quarterback the secondary will be vulnerable to a balanced offensive team. The Saints defense will be hard pressed to repeat the turnover performance from a year ago and this will be the Achilles' heel of this team.

Schedule Breakdown with Projected Results

Week 1 vs. Minnesota (Loss)

Week 2 @ San Francisco (Loss)

Week 3 vs. Atlanta (Win)

Week 4 vs. Carolina (Win)

Week 5 @ Arizona (Win)

Week 6 @ Tampa Bay (Win)

Week 7 vs. Cleveland (Win)

Week 8 vs. Pittsburgh (Win)

Week 9 @ Carolina (Loss)

Week 10 Bye

Week 11 vs. Seattle (Win)

Week 12 @ Dallas (Loss)

Week 13 @ Cincinnati (Win)

Week 14 vs. St. Louis (Win)

Week 15 @ Baltimore (Loss)

Week 16 @ Atlanta (Loss)

Week 17 vs. Tampa Bay (Win)

Circle Your Calendar

Week 16 @ Atlanta (Loss)

This game could decide the NFC South division. The Saints are off to what is sure to be a very physical game against the Ravens. They have to travel to Atlanta to take on the Falcons in front of a very loud and raucous Monday night football crowd. This sets up as a loss for the Saints.

Play Against: Saints on the road in Atlanta in week 16.

2010 Final Prediction

The Saints will be a top notch team once again in 2010.

The burden of being defending champions will be hard to handle. Every team they face will raise their level of play when the Saints come to town. This could lead to some unsuspecting losses on a competitive schedule.

Williams will need to find a pass rusher on the front line and try to reproduce the successful scoring defense from a year ago. The Falcons provide some stiff competition for the crown in the South and the Saints will fall short of a division title. They will still make the playoffs and anything can happen when this team is on the field in the post season.

2010 Projected Record: 10-6 Second in NFC South

Best Bet: New Orleans Under 10.5 Wins for the 2010 NFL Season

More NFL 2010 Previews:

Atlanta Falcons