New Orleans Saints 2013 Season Preview

This is a preview of the upcoming season for the New Orleans Saints. The schedule and tickets for the New Orleans Saints are included.

Last season: 7-9 (3rd in NFC South)

Vegas Over/Under: 9 Wins

Key Additions: CB Keenan Lewis (FA), S Kenny Vicarro (TEXAS), T Jason Smith (FA)

Key Losses: T Jermon Bushrod, WR Devery Henderson, RB Chris Ivory

Strength of Schedule: 3

The 2012 season was one from hell for the New Orleans Saints, who were without head coach Sean Payton for the year after he was suspended for the infamous Bountygate. Interim coach Joe Vitt was also suspended for the first six game of the season, making Aaron Kromer the first interim interim coach the league has ever seen. The defense was abominable, letting up the most yards in league history at 7,042. It did not help that linebacker Jonathan Vilma and defensive end Will Smith missed time due the scandal either. When you sit back and think about it, its remarkable that the Saints even made it to 7 wins. Defensive coordinator Steve Spagnuolo has been fired, and replacing him is former Cowboys coordinator Rob Ryan, who will be bringing his 3-4 scheme over with him. This move should improve one of the worst defenses ever, and if not Rob Ryan will be out of job for much longer than “five minutes”.

Sean Payton and Drew Brees couldn’t be happier to be reunited, and we can expect a huge F-U season coming from this Saints offense after the penalties handed down by Roger Goodell last year. The Saints are a bit thinner at the wide receiver position with deep threat Devery Henderson gone, but they still have tight ends Jimmy Graham and free agent aquistion Ben Watson. Chris Ivory is also departed to the Jets, but the Saints still have Pierre Thomas, Darren Sproles and former Heisman winner Mark Ingram, who could be poised for big year. The Saints lost their stud tackle Jermon Bushrod to the Bears, so they went out and signed former Rams second overall pick Jason Smith hoping that they can resurrect his disappointing career. The Saints are still strong on the inside though with Ben Grubbs, Brian de la Puente, and Jahri Evans.

The defense, as always is the weak point for the Saints. Even on their Super Bowl run, they were hemorrhaging points (21.3 per game) but were able to force a ton of turnover to make up for it (39). Rob Ryan will try to right the ship with his 3-4 scheme, but is lacking pass rushers to do so after free agent linebacker Victor Butler tore his ACL in OTA’s and will likely miss the entire season. Martez Wilson, Junior Galette and Will Smith will be called upon to create the pass rush, with Wilson and Galette likely to be slotted at outside linebacker. Third round pick John Jenkins out of Georgia will plop his 350 plus pound frame at nose tackle, with Cameron Jordan moving inside to one of the defensive end positions. By drafting safety Kenny Vicarro in the first round, the Saints now have three capable safeties on their roster including former all pro’s Roman Harper and Malcolm Jenkins. It will be interesting to see how Ryan decides to use the three, and we can expect a fair amount of hybrid defenses with all of them on the field.

The Saints open the season in front of Who Dat nation with the rival Atlanta Falcons coming to town. These two teams will likely be atop the division at season’s end fighting for the title. You can find tickets to the opener here, and check out the rest of the Saints game through our schedule of tickets below:

Bottom Line

The Saints were robbed of a season last year by the commish and his absurd and unprecedented penalties, despite the lack of evidence available. If I’m on the Saints schedule I want no part of this team, who will be playing for vengeance all season. The opening line of nine is high but you can’t under-estimate New Orleans on their revenge tour, so I’m taking the over.