At last, the 2020 holiday season has arrived! In a year of unprecedented situations, the holidays will bring joy and happiness to all. As the song says, “tis the season to be jolly”. The NFL is no different. The league will continue to play through the festive season. Teams will be celebrating while others may be unhappy with their Christmas presents. Yes, it is a time for happiness, but the NFL players will carry on knocking the jingle bells out of one another. However, amid all the enjoyment, there is one team ready to wreck Christmas: the New Orleans Saints.
Since the pass interference drama, Sean Payton has embraced the role of scrooge. The head coach of the New Orleans Saints has exhibited a grumpy, cold demeanour while playing up to the part of pantomime villain. He’s decided to go full-on Scott Farkas, with a level of arrogance and sadism that is incredibly high even for Coach Payton. His dad dancing after the demolition job of Tampa Bay summed it all up. Payton is happy to rub everyone’s faces in it, and he will carry on flipping people off this holiday season. Why? His New Orleans Saints team is playing dominant football.
Dominant Defense
Having suffered three years worth of heartbreak in the playoffs, the Saints are playing with a ferocious edge. Following that Tampa Bay game, the New Orleans Saints defense is playing at an absurd level. It is a top-five unit in points per game allowed. It is also the number one scoring defense in the last three games. Since Week 9 the New Orleans Saints have the best pass defense in the NFL. This unit is playing with a wave of anger only seen in four-year-olds when they don’t like their presents. Trey Hendrickson is enjoying a DPOY year; the third-year defensive end already has 10.5 sacks for the season. Hendrickson and Cam Jordan are making life miserable for offensive linemen right now. Quarterbacks have no time when these two players are coming at them.
Linebackers Demario Davis, Alex Anzalone and Kwon Alexander, are chopping trees in the middle of the field. This triumvirate is tackling anything that moves, meanwhile the Sticky Bandits are locking up everything in the secondary. The duo of Marshon Lattimore and Chauncey Gardner-Johnson is shutting down wide receivers. At every level, this defense plays incredibly tough. It is giving nothing to opposing offenses. Forget about new presents; they’re not even giving a lump of coal in a sorry stocking. In the last five weeks, the New Orleans Saints defense has surrendered only two touchdowns. And they’re not going to stop until they have their hands on the Lombardi trophy. Merry Christmas Jalen Hurts, Patrick Mahomes and Kirk Cousins. The NFL has gifted those three with the worst Christmas present.
Offense Is a Shovel Hitting Teams Over the Head
With Drew Brees’ ribs breaking like Christmas crackers three weeks ago, we are finally on the Taysom Hill rollercoaster. Hill has displayed ample ability to play quarterback. Sean Payton‘s little helper is now the main man in the Big Easy. Hill does not bring the precision of Brees, as we had seen when he played as a utility man. Hill is a bruising runner who can rumble through opposition tacklers. However, he has shown that he can play as a conventional quarterback.
He lit up the Falcons secondary like a Christmas tree last week. The stat line read, 27-37 for 232 yards plus two touchdowns. He looked assured in the pocket as well as displaying good arm talent. With Hill now under center, the offense has slightly changed to a run-heavy offense. Alvin Kamara, Latavius Murray and Hill present a variety of problems in the backfield. Add this to two physical tight ends in Jared Cook and Adam Trautman, as well as superstar Michael Thomas, and this Saints offense has everything. The New Orleans Saints have become a gritty, tough physical team on offense and it is working exceptionally well.
No Goodwill to All Men
After experiencing three consecutive years of devastation, the New Orleans Saints are in no mood to be generous this Christmas. The crucial playoff bye belongs to only the one-seed this year; The Saints will be desperate to earn that week off while their playoff rivals face one another. Also, it gives them home-field advantage throughout the postseason. New Orleans will not want to leave the Superdome. The Saints cannot win the Super Bowl without the one-seed. All these factors make the next three-game stretch the biggest in New Orleans since the Super Bowl.
It is a boom or bust year. Similar to Hans Gruber in Die Hard, there is only one way out of this for the New Orleans Saints. And they know it, I expect the Saints to be even more ruthless, antagonistic and aggressive towards their opponents. The teams that will play New Orleans are fighting for their playoff presents, but these New Orleans Saints have their eyes on the ultimate gift. It might not be fun heading to the Bayou this Christmas. For the Saints to attain their goals, they must ruin Christmas for everybody else.
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