Will the New Orleans Saints get back to the playoffs? Can Jameis Winston thrive without Sean Payton? Is Dennis Allen destined to repeat his crash-and-burn Raiders experience in his second stop as a head coach? These are all of the questions NFL experts are asking in making their 2022 season predictions, and there isn’t any real consensus developing as everyone adds their own opinion into the mix. It’s reflected in the preseason power rankings. And we’re seeing it from a variety of media outlets with the season’s start just days away. Some analysts don’t see the Saints reaching the postseason. Others call them a Super Bowl contender:
Sports Illustrated
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- Record prediction: 7-10
- Playoffs seed: N/A
SI’s Connor Orr predicted the result of every single game to be played in 2022, but the Saints are not a team he’s high on. Orr sees New Orleans dropping four losses in a row from Weeks 7 to 10 (losing on the road to the Cardinals and Steelers, and at home against the Raiders and Ravens) and coming out of their Week 14 bye to lose three in a row (at home with the Falcons and on the road to the Browns and Eagles). It leaves the Saints with a mediocre record and a shallow second-place finish in the NFC South. Bizarrely, he has them sweeping the Buccaneers and both Super Bowl teams (the Bengals in Week 6 and the Rams in Week 11). Here’s what Orr had to say to justify his take:
“My hope was to land the Saints close enough to the No. 7 seed where they could back in. I have said multiple times this offseason, after chiding myself for not seeing it, that this is a roster good enough to make the playoffs in theory. In practice, they may end up looking more like the Buccaneers before Brady arrived: a talented receiving corps and a great defense, but not enough consistency from the quarterback position to survive stretches of the season where they’ll face six good teams in six weeks from Weeks 6 to 12, all with vastly different strengths defensively.”
Pro Football Talk
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- Record prediction: 12-5
- Playoffs seed: No. 1
Peter King’s latest “Football Morning in America” column for PFT and NBC Sports is a great illustration of just how widely-split expectations are for New Orleans this year. King has legitimate questions about Winston’s ability to rebound from a serious knee injury (and then take a big step forward) as well as what the absence of Sean Payton means for the top of the organization. But he credits them for smart free agent signings like Andy Dalton and Jarvis Landry, and for making so many big investments at wide receiver. Here’s why King is all in on New Orleans this year:
“I’ve gotten smitten with the Saints this summer. I love how they turned a weak wide receiver corps in 2021 into the biggest strength on the roster with a big if—if Michael Thomas can come back to health after two injury-ruined seasons. Rookie Chris Olave and homecoming vet Jarvis Landry give the receiver group a shot of adrenaline that will help Jameis Winston be the best he can be coming off his torn ACL. The Saints were smart to add insurance in top backup Andy Dalton. It’s unsaid around the team and a bit of an elephant in the room: If Winston struggles or is gimpy, Dalton will be a good guy to bring out of the bullpen, to keep the Saints winning. One key question is how much the offense will miss Sean Payton’s imagination. He was a bit of a nutty professor in quarterback and offensive meetings. I wrote about this in 2018—Payton once practiced a quarterback-less formation, with Drew Brees and Taysom Hill both split wide, until the last few seconds on the play clock when Hill hustled behind center to take a direct snap and run with it. Will that be missed, or will offensive coordinator Pete Carmichael continue the mind-bending offensive stuff? We’ll see.”
Sporting News
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- Record prediction: 7-10
- Playoffs seed: N/A
Sports News’ Vinnie Iyer isn’t a believer in the Saints with so many questions about the top of their organization — he likes Dennis Allen’s defense, sure, but he isn’t optimistic about Allen and Jameis Winston filling in for Sean Payton and Drew Brees. He’s another analyst predicting New Orleans’ playoff drought to extend to two seasons, finishing behind the wild-card Vikings, Eagles, and Rams. Here’s his take on the Saints in 2022:
“The Saints are marching forward with a more wide-open offense after losing Drew Brees and Sean Payton in consecutive offseasons. They hope Jameis Winston is up to the task, getting the support he needs from the running game and protection. Still, it seems like too much will remain on promoted Dennis Allens’ defense.”
