Saints Will Make The Playoffs

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Frankly Football: Three non-playoff teams that will make the leap in '08 Story Highlights
By Mike Lombardi Of Sports Illustrated

Way back in 1985, in my first season as a glorified errand boy for the San Francisco 49ers, I could barely contain my excitement in the draft room, reacting to each pick like it was life or death. Sensing my misplaced enthusiasm, Bill Walsh calmly walked over to me and said, "Michael, relax, it's no big deal. We are only competing against eight teams."

What the 49ers legendary coach was referring to was the popular theory that there are only a handful of teams each season completely committed to making a run at the Super Bowl. Some teams may make an appearance in the playoffs at times, but in Walsh's mind, there were only eight constant teams striving for excellence. Every since that day, I have only judged teams as being one of the eight, or not. At times I worked for teams that were, and at times I worked for teams that were not. Trust me, it's easy to tell.

So, here in 2008, we know the Patriots, Colts, Chargers, Cowboys, Giants, Packers and Seahawks are all ready for another visit to the playoffs. The tricky part is finding the teams that might be ready to make the leap. Last year, of the 12 teams that made the playoffs, six were not in the postseason the year prior. Will we see a 50 percent turnover again? That remains to be seen. But with that in mind, here are three teams that missed the playoffs in 2007 that are ready to make the leap in 2008.

(It's very important for me when judging teams to take into account two factors, their quarterback and their schedule. Those are the most important reasons we see a flux in playoff teams. The schedule changes from year to year, all based on how you finished the prior season, so it gets a little tougher and the marginal playoff teams cannot duplicate their prior success. And any injury to a starting quarterback forces a team to struggle.)

New Orleans Saints

The Saints are another team that has improved this offseason. With a Pro Bowl player at quarterback in Drew Brees, and a schedule that has them playing the AFC West and the NFC North, I really like the Saints chances to take over the NFC South from the Buccaneers.

The Saints know how to score points on offense, ranking 12th in the NFL last year. When they can play with a lead like they did in '06, they can become very dangerous. In 2006, the Saints had a plus-66 point differential in first-half points scored and allowed. In 2007, that margin was only 10.

This year, they don't have to deal with the rugged opening schedule that was the result of their remarkable 2006 run. Brees will not be able to start the year as he did in '07, throwing nine interceptions and only one touchdown in the first four games. My only concern is that the Saints need to find a big back between now and the end of the preseason. Once they add this player to their offense, they will be tough to slow down.

Add the Saints to the 2008 playoff roster.

(The Other Teams were The Buffalo Bills and the Philadelphia Eagles)
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