So we’ve got good news and bad news: USA TODAY Sports’ Nate Davis shared his predictions for every team in the upcoming 2023 NFL season, including an interesting take on the New Orleans Saints. Davis likes the Saints to win a tight race for the NFC South division title, but he sees their season ending with a home playoffs loss to a team they beat last year.
We’ll let him explain why he sees New Orleans rising above their division rivals with a 9-8 record:
They’ve gone 16-18 in two years post-Drew Brees, middling quarterback play the primary culprit for such mediocrity. Some will argue new QB1 Derek Carr exemplifies mediocrity at his position – yet he should offer an upgrade in a division that had no team with a winning record in 2022, all four clubs now undergoing changes behind center. Carr instantly becomes the most accomplished passer in the division and will be backed by the best defense he’s ever played with. And even if RB Alvin Kamara is suspended after pleading no contest to a misdemeanor charge of breach of peace for his role in a 2022 fight in Las Vegas, New Orleans’ run game should be in good hands with RBs Jamaal Williams and third-rounder Kendre Miller. Anything oft-injured WR Michael Thomas provides is gravy.
No arguments there. Carr has something to prove after he regressed last year. The Saints have an edge in the NFC South given how all four teams are in various stages of rebuilding. Nine or ten wins should be the expectation for this Dennis Allen-led team.
But that brings us to the playoff picture. Davis has the 10-win Seattle Seahawks walking into the Caesars Superdome next January and leaving with a win, ending the Saints’ season with a home playoff loss. That would be disappointing seeing as New Orleans just beat that team a year ago when they rushed for 151 yards on the ground with Geno Smith looking invincible from the pocket. But Seattle has made some smart additions this offseason and it’s very possible they could upset the Saints at home.
Would that be enough to buy another year of job security for Allen and his coaching staff? Probably so. It’s playoffs or bust for him, or at least it should be, and so long as the Saints are in the thick of it with a chance at making a run the team’s decision-makers will probably be looking at this as a big win. After missing the postseason in back-to-back years, they have to set standards somewhere realistic. But wouldn’t it be nice to dream bigger?
