Schedule preview: Don't sleep on the Saints

Yes, their year ended badly and their season never quite got fired up, but don't sleep on the 2011 Saints. They finished 11-5 and threw away a few games (the home opener to the Atlanta Falcons springs immediately to mind) but this team is clearly a contender for the superbowl next year. Any team with Drew Brees manning the attack, and Greg Williams running the defense should be.
This was the first year in a while that the Saints did not finish 1st in the NFL in offense. A good place to start with is the injury to Pierre Thomas. Chris Ivory did a very good job filling in but as he shared carries with Julius Jones the pairing was less effective. Thomas will be back and the Saints will be stronger. Jimmy Graham may well have put Jeremy Shockey out of his job and into Carolina and looks to be an exciting prospect. Basically the Saints should recover quickly here. They have a strong claim to still being the class of the division and will look to wrest their crown back from Atlanta.

When it comes to defense though, there is one play that sums up the year that was. Marshawn Lynch going into 'beast mode'. Somehow breaking 11 tackles on the way to a playoff exiting touchdown does not inspire confidence in the defense of next year. This surely will be what they address in the draft. They have a few studs on the defense: Sedrick Ellis, Jonathan Vilma, Tracy Porter and Mike Jenkins. But Roman Harper was no tackling machine last year and the linebacking corps of Scott Shanle and Danny Clark needs upgrading. Will Smith is getting on a bit, as is Alex Brown and a pass rushing lineman would be ideal. Despite finishing 4th against the pass, the Saints were 16th against the run and it is Lynch's devastating run that will be imprinted in the minds of Saints fans.
Don't be surprised at all to see the Saints take a run stuffing lineman or linebacker in round 1 of the draft. Then again don't be surprised if Mark Ingram ends up with the Saints either.

What can the Lions expect when they meet the Saints? I think they have every reason to be confident they can win, but they will be fighting a wounded and angry Saints team looking for some retribution on a disappointing 2010.