New Orleans Saints: 2010 Regular Season, Back To The Playoffs They Go

The New Orleans Saints start off the season as the Super Bowl Champions and the No. 1 team in the NFL until someone knocks them down a peg during the season.

Let's look at some of the teams that might pose a threat during the season for New Orleans as they try the repeat what is the most difficult in sports, perhaps.

Week One of the regular season brings us the rematch of the NFC Championship last year in New Orleans.

No Brett Fave, no chance for the Vikings in this one. 1-0 for the Saints.

Week two brings the Saints to the Bay Area in California to tackle the San Francisco 49ers, a distant playoff foe, maybe as the Niners try to show the country on Monday Night Football they are ready for a larger stage.

I will give the Niners' defense some credit here for an upset, possibly. Let's just say 1-1 for fun.

The Saints quickly rebound from that trip to play Atlanta at home in New Orleans, which they win before a sold out crowd, hopefully as this area still needs something to cheer about in life. 2-1 now for the Saints.

Next on the schedule is Carolina, also a home game for New Orleans, which they will win easily. 3-1.

If the Saints can keep the battalion of running backs healthy that they have on the roster, this schedule does not seem that difficult.

The next game is against Arizona, on the road for the Saints as they come away with another win and start the season right at 4-1.

Tampa Bay is next on the hit parade as the record goes to 5-1 now.

Next, the Cleveland Browns come calling to Mardi Gras Land and New Orleans should not be too concerned with this team getting the upset. 6-1 now as I am waiting for another possible derailment of the Saints ride back to the play offs.

Pittsburgh is a difficult place to win a game for many teams, so lets give the Steelers one here and New Orleans is a very realistic 6-2 now for 2010.

A trip to Carolina eases tension and refocuses the team on goals as they win another division game to reach 7-2.

Week 10 is a perfect bye week as the Saints rest up and prepare for Seattle, who always travels horribly this time of the season to the east coast.

No difference here as the Saints grab another win on this seemingly easy schedule for 2010. 8-2 now after getting two weeks to get ready for the Seahawks.

Dallas might be a tough win, seeing as they beat the Saints last year on their own field. A loss here will have New Orleans at a comfortable 8-3 now.

Now the schedule gets a little dicier as the Saints travel to Cincinnati in the winter. Let's say Drew Brees is not quite on form that dat as the Saints could go 8-4 maybe.

They could win this game just as easily, but the odds of losing this road game are not high.

The Rams come to New Orleans next and that should end the only losing streak of two games the Saint might have—and that is a might, not a given. 9-4 now.

Here's a tough game next as the Saints travel to Baltimore. This could be a Super Bowl preview so pay attention to this game. Baltimore gets this one at home and the Saints fall to 9-5.

A bit of pressure may be on the Saints if they lose to Dallas, Baltimore, and Cincinnati. If they can get one of these road games, of course they will be in a bit better shape for this game.

Regardless, of them being 10-4 or 9-5, they win this game against Atlanta next and at the worst I see 10-5 going into the last game.

At the best I think the Saints are 11-4 at this point of the season.

The last game of the season is a win against Tampa Bay to set the playoff stage at 12-4 for the regular season. 11-5 would be about the worst I see the Saints doing in 2010, which will win this division.

The closest team to them would be Atlanta finishing at 10-6 and maybe a wild card in that division.

Obviously the playoffs are a much bigger deal this year for the Saints who want to peak again in late December and January of course to have a shot at the repeat.

Good luck to the Saints and God bless all the strong folks in the Gulf region this coming year.

Thomas [NFL Mikee] Moreland