I’ll admit I’ve been waiting for this. I knew it would happen, and it has. I’m responding to the NFL Network staff’s picks for various awards and games in the upcoming NFL season, in which my beloved New Orleans Saints have been dissed.
Some things to remember. Drew Brees has been exactly as good as Peyton Manning and Tom Brady over the last four years. Brees has thrown for more yards than either of them, more touchdowns than Manning, with the same QB rating as both of them, with a higher completion percentage than either of them. He’s admittedly thrown a few more interceptions than they have in that time span, but he’s also won a Super Bowl in the last four years, against Manning no less.
Speaking of that Super Bowl, yes, that would be the game in which Drew Brees proved he was an equal of Manning and Brady. That’s the game where the Saints dismantled the favored Colts in a come-from-behind victory with an efficient, balanced offense, a defensive touchdown, perfect execution on special teams, and perhaps the largest disparity in coaching style and quality in Super Bowl history.
But now the New Orleans Saints’ season of dominance has been swept away and forgotten (I’ll resist the obvious metaphor). Of eleven NFL Network analysts, only one listed Drew Brees as the most likely offensive player of the year. Well, actually I would probably agree with that. Hasn’t Brees finally progressed from the subtle insult of that award to the legitimacy of being the league’s most valuable player, should he reach the same mastery as he did last season? No. Not a single expert is picking Drew Brees, the best quarterback of last year statistically and one of the best three for the last four years, to be our most valuable player.
In fact, of the eleven analysts, only four think that New Orleans will even repeat as the champions of the NFC South! The rest pick the Atlanta Falcons.
Four of the eleven also see the Saints reaching the NFC Championship game. Only Deion Sanders predicts the Saints will return to the Super Bowl. Sanders emphasized that Saints coach Sean Payton is “the best play-caller” in the league and called Drew Brees “the best quarterback in the game today.”
Now I’m not saying the Saints are entitled to predictions of a Super Bowl-repeat. These people make predictions based on evidence to say what will happen, not what should happen. But I think they have made a mistake here. A long tradition of dismissing the “Aints” is clouding their judgment. It’s the same reason that last season week after week sports writers talked about the Saints needing to prove they were for real. When they were 3-0, it was said they needed to beat the Jets to be the real thing. They did. When they were 5-0 they weren’t legit until they beat the Giants. They did. Even at 10-0, people were saying the Saints needed to prove themselves by beating the Patriots on Monday night. Bam, it was done. And then the Drew Brees and the Saints outgunned, out-thought, and out-fought the four-time MVP Peyton Manning and his Indianapolis Colts.
I don’t blame these people for not picking the Saints. They might not be my choice either. But I’ve never seen a Super Bowl champion regarded with this little respect. And, based on last season, there’s a common outcome when people doubt the New Orleans Saints. It involves Gatorade, a halftime show with an aging rock band, and some new jewelry.
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