Of all the professional sports, repeating in the NFL might just be the toughest to pull off. Parity is high in the world of pro football and so is short-lived time on top, so the reigning champions will need something extra in the bag if they want to go down in the books as one of the teams to pull of this amazing feat.
Here's the 2010 New Orleans Saints schedule (all times Eastern):
Sept. 9 Minnesota at New Orleans (8:30 PM)
Sept. 20 New Orleans at San Francisco (8:30 PM)
Sept. 26 Atlanta at New Orleans (1:00 PM)
Oct. 3 Carolina at New Orleans (1:00 PM)
Oct. 10 New Orleans at Arizona (4:05 PM)
Oct. 17 New Orleans at Tampa Bay (1:00 PM)
Oct. 24 Cleveland at New Orleans (1:00 PM)
October 31 Pittsburgh at New Orleans (8:20 PM)
Nov. 7 New Orleans at Carolina (1:00 PM)
Nov. 21 Seattle at New Orleans (4:05 PM)
Nov. 25 New Orleans at Dallas (4:15 PM)
Dec. 5 New Orleans at Cincinnati (1:00 PM)
Dec. 12 St. Louis at New Orleans (4:05 PM)
Dec. 19 New Orleans at Baltimore (1:00 PM)
Dec. 27 New Orleans at Atlanta (8:30 PM)
Jan. 2 Tampa Bay at New Orleans (1:00 PM)
New Orleans has most of its roster back from 2009 and are again the favorites to win the NFC South. They remain a media darling this season with a club-record five prime time games: four at night and the franchise's first Thanksgiving Day game, coming at Dallas.
This year's schedule is very manageable as it ranks just 27th in strength of schedule with a cumulative opponents' record of 120-136. Don't expect another 13-win year, however. There are only five games against 2009 playoff teams, although four of those come on the road. Outside of their divisional games, the Saints also face teams in the AFC North and NFC West, that latter division probably to be the worst in football again.
Of course, the Saints as the defending champions will host the NFL season opener on Thursday night, Sept. 9, in a rematch of the NFC Championship Game against the Minnesota Vikings - that's the Saints' lone home game vs. a playoff foe from last year. New Orleans already has opened as a seven-point favorite in that one, although that number would certainly change if by some miracle Brett Favre doesn't don a Minnesota Vikings uniform.
That back-to-back against Pittsburgh and then at Carolina will be a challenge but at least the bye then arrives at a good time. A win over Seattle should be a given before the Saints visit Dallas, the first team to beat New Orleans last year and in pretty dominating fashion. Being as that game is such a quick turnaround, that hugely favors Dallas at home.
The month of December is notable in that New Orleans plays in two cold weather cities in Baltimore and Cincinnati, which is important because the Saints never fare very well in cold weather games. Every divisional game will be key, but it is safe to say that the Saints are well ahead of their quartet in Atlanta, Tampa Bay and Carolina.
This looks like a 10-6 record to me, and I expect the sports books to have the Saints' total at 10.5 so I would go 'under' for those NFL odds. Just about everything went right for New Orleans last year, and it's probably unrealistic to expect Darren Sharper to play at such a high level again. The defense will be a problem again in 2010. I would expect New Orleans to edge the Falcons for the division but don't see the Saints winning the NFC again.
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