New Orleans Saints season Review: Record breaking season marred by revelation of Dark side –NFL Special Part I
New Orleans Saints have developed into an elite team since the acquisition in 2006 of quarterback Drew Brees.
With Brees at the helm of a dominant passing offence, the Saints had reached new heights in the past few years culminating with their only Super Bowl victory in 2009, beginning a new era for both the city and franchise rising from the ashes of the devastation
of Hurricane Katrina.
This season, too, the Saints put in some of their best performances as they dominated the National Football Conference (NFC) South division.
The Saints became the number one team in passing offence averaging an impressive 334.2 yards per game while their running game statistics were also nothing to scoff at with a sixth overall ranking averaging a gain of 132.9 yards.
Brees broke multiple records, including the three decade old passing yards record made by Miami Dolphins legendary quarterback, Dan Marino.
The 33-year-old quarterback was the only one in the entire league to challenge Green Bay Packers’ quarterback, Aaron Rodgers, for the 2011-12 Most Valuable Player (MVP) award.
The Saints retook the division crown from fierce rivals Atlanta Falcons as they ended the regular season with a 13-3 record and qualified as the third seed in the NFC wildcard playoff rounds.
They crushed Detroit Lions with a brilliant performance in the wild card round to qualify to the divisional rounds where they faced San Francisco 49ers.
They lost the game in the final minute of the fourth quarter as the 49ers scored a touchdown to knock them out with a 36-32 win.
The end of the season gave rise to multiple problems for the franchise as a NFL investigative report revealed that the Saints paid bounties for injuring opposition players which involved half the players on the roster and was run by defensive coordinator
Gregg Williams.
That was not the end of the problems though as the franchise failed to negotiate a long-term contract with Brees while also losing Pro-Bowl guard Carl Nicks to free agency.
However, their regular season in 2011-12 saw some of the best performances by a Saints team.
Let us take a look at how their season played out.
At Green Bay
The Saints first port of call in the new season was a visit to Lambeau Field in Green Bay, Wisconsin to face the defending Super Bowl Champions Green Bay Packers.
The game put together two of the best quarterbacks in the league against each other in a mouth-watering opening day clash.
Brees passed for more than 400 yards in the first game as he passed for three touchdowns but the Packers managed to outscore them.
Aaron Rodgers passed for three touchdowns and 312 yards.
Rookie Randall Cobb had a brilliant game as he scored a touchdown from a 32-yard Aaron Rodgers pass while capping his day with a record-breaking 108-yard kick-off return in the third quarter.
The Saints never gained the lead in the game and could not keep pace against a Packers’ offence that was in the form of its life and continuing an unbeaten run since December 2010.
In the end, Green Bay comprehensively outscored the Saints and won the game 42-34.
To be continued
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