Welcome to the 2020 installment of the “How Your Favorite Team Won The Super Bowl” Series.
In this adventure, we’ll take a good, hard look at select NFL teams, show you their Super Bowl odds heading into the season, give you a little overview on what they’ve got to work with and what might be going on in their facility, then proclaim three key factors that must go in their favor in order for them to be crowned atop football’s Aggro Crag when all the confetti has settled.
For some, the list of variables that need to go right might not only be plausible, but expected. For others, their three factors might require a bit more creativity.
For this article, we look at the New Orleans Saints.
State of the Franchise
Looking back at the Saints’ rosters since 2017, it’s hard to believe they haven’t won a single NFC Championship, let alone a Super Bowl. Sean Payton remains one of the most innovative and aggressive head coaches in the NFL, and the results for him and his squad have been three straight double-digit win seasons, three straight division titles, and two straight seasons of 13 wins.
As for his squad, Drew Brees is in the final years—maybe final year?—of what is without a doubt a Hall of Fame career as one of the best quarterbacks to ever play the game. Over the past three seasons, the Saints have surrounded him with a growing and improving offensive line (now one of the best in the league), a star wide receiver in Michael Thomas, a reliable, versatile running back in Alvin Kamara, and a defense that takes on the personality of their head coach with aggressive play and plenty of talent infused into it.
Unfortunately for New Orleans, the Minnesota Vikings have had the Saints’ number the past few years when it comes to the postseason. Minnesota has knocked the Saints out of the playoffs twice in the last three years, first in the divisional round in 2017, then in the wild-card round in 2019. The season in between, 2018, is the one where New Orleans had the strongest argument to win it all, but they came up short in the NFC Championship game to the Los Angeles Rams.
As for 2020, the Saints are once again poised to make a big postseason run, and if a few factors go their way, it could be one of their best chances to win it all.
Preseason Super Bowl Odds
12/1 (4th best)
WHAT MUST HAPPEN FOR SAINTS TO WIN THE SUPER BOWL
1. “One More Year! One More Year!”
There was no guarantee that Brees was going to play another season in 2020. After a thumb injury that kept him out five games in 2019, plus another soul-crushing defeat to the Vikings that surely has taken a toll on not just Brees but the current regime of the Saints altogether, Brees riding off into the sunset of sweet retirement was certainly on the table.
But that’s not the decision he made. Brees told the Saints and the world that he would be giving it at least one more go for 2020, and honestly, he’s a smart man for doing so, as this might be the best team he’s ever had around him.
Brees’ accuracy was as elite as it has ever been in 2019, as he completed 74.3 percent of his passes, which was just 0.1 percent shy of his career-best 74.4 from the season before. His yards per game were higher, and though his yards per attempt were slightly lower, his quarterback rating was slightly up. All in all, it was a similar stellar season to the one before for Brees, even with the thumb injury.
The good news is the weapons around him have only gotten better going into 2020.
Thomas will likely still be a top tier reliable weapon in the passing game, but for the first time since Thomas really became a target monster and the meat of the passing game plan, he now has a legit No. 2 wide receiver to take pressure off him in Emmanuel Sanders. On top of that, Kamara should be more healthy and available than he was the season before. And if tight end Jared Cook picks up where he left off at the end of 2019, he’s poised to be one of the top five tight ends in the league in 2020.
As for their outlook, Brees is still with the team, but there’s no telling when his now 41-year-old arm will turn from gold to gravel (and we know it can happen quickly). The team around Brees is as strong as it has ever been, so as long as Brees can give them one more year of top quality quarterback play, they have shot.
2. Someone Help Demario Davis
Saints linebacker Demario Davis has been one of the top linebackers in the game for a good bit now—and yet he remains one of the most underrated players, too.
New Orleans knows it’s going to get good play from Davis week in and week out. But what they don’t know is what kind of play—or even who will be playing—next to Davis at the other linebacker spot.
Saints linebackers Kiko Alonso and Alex Anzalone are good for New Orleans, on paper. But that’s the problem... they’ve looked better on paper than the field lately, and a big reason for that is because they haven’t been on the field much at all. Alonso underwent another knee surgery following the 2019 season, and Anzalone only played in two games in 2019 himself before he also underwent surgery. Anzalone has been fighting shoulder problems throughout his college and pro career.
As of right now, the starters next to Davis are once again Alonso and Anzalone. One of them has to stay healthy and has to help Davis. They must have reliable play outside of Davis at the linebacker level.
3. Luck Be a Saint Tonight
Honestly, the Saints could win it all—this article isn’t even that much of a stretch. But the thing is, I would have told you that in each of the previous three seasons, too. The biggest consistency for the Saints beyond their regular season success has been their postseason bad luck.
In 2017, it was the miracle pass to Stefon Diggs in the divisional round. In 2018, it was the egregious no pass interference call against the Saints in the NFC Championship Game. In 2019, though quarterback Teddy Bridgewater was able to win them enough games to stay in contention, it was the injury bug with both Brees and Kamara.
It’s always been something. This year, it can’t be. That something has to be on their side.
In order to win a championship, not only do you have to have talent but also timing. New Orleans has the talent. Do they have the timing?
To slightly alter the words of Frank Loesser, made famous by a Frank Sinatra cover, can luck be a Saint tonight?
Filed In
Related Articles
NFL Draft
Arik Gilbert Doesn’t Need Big Workload To Be A Top NFL Draft Pick
- Aug 22, 2022
NFL Draft
2023 NFL Mock Draft: Marino 1.0
- Aug 22, 2022
Written By