Problems Already for the Saints?
They became the new America's team last year following a magical year, reinspiring the devastated New Orleans area and becoming a damn good football team in the process. The Saints looked prime to continue the wave of emotion and talent into the new season, but things are looking rocky early for the team everyone loves to cheer for now.
Following an embarrassing beatdown by the Steelers in the Hall of Fame game, coach Sean Payton turned what was supposed to be a mild walkthrough into a full blown practice. Things got scary when left tackle Jammal Brown crumpled to the ground and laid there for 20 minutes. Luckily, what appeared to be a major knee injury has turned out to be a bone bruise, and should not cause the lineman to miss much time.
This does allow Saints fans to breathe a sigh of relief, but the team still appears to have major problems. Anyone who watched the Hall of Fame game saw a Saints team with what appears to be a far worse defense and secondary than last year, which was their achilles heel in that magical season. The Steelers seemed to be able to go deep on the young secondary at will at any time, and the Saints seemed hopeless to stop the run.
Still, the fact that their left tackle, one of the three most important positions on the field so key for keeping the blindside of the quarterback protected, is not seriously injured is great news for the Saints. However, the early look of the Saints suggests that defense, particularly the secondary, will still be too weak to go deep into the playoffs.
nfl, Saints, Steelers, Jammal Brown, Hall of Fame Game
