New Orleans Saints set to host Washington Redskins – NFL Preview
After a busy offseason in which both New Orleans Saints and Washington Redskins were involved in a lot of major developments, both positive and negative, they are set to kick off their respective 2012 National Football League (NFL) season campaign on Sunday
September 09, at Mercedes-Benz Superdome.
The Saints finished the 2011 regular season on a spectacular note, winning 13 games and losing only three to top the National Football Conference (NFC) South. They easily cleared their first hurdle in the playoffs by defeating Detroit Lions, but could not
get past the San Francisco 49ers in the next game.
Just when it was assumed that the Saints would once again repeat the heroics in the next season as the teams took break after the 2011 season, an NFL investigation unearthed some bitter realities that damaged the Saints to their core.
It was found that the Saints had been running an illegal bounty programme, encouraging their players to knock the opponents out and gain monetary rewards in return. The entire NFL machinery was brought into action and the legal proceedings subsequently resulted
in dismissal of the Saints head coach, general manager, some players and other officials.
The franchise gained negative publicity as the evidence against Saints continued to come out. The only positive development for the Saints that was reported this offseason was related to their star quarterback Drew Brees, who was among the best quarterbacks
last season.
Brees finally got a long-term contract from the team and he now seems ready to lead the offence once again, hoping that the team would be able to forget the offseason stories. In a recent interview to SiriusXM, Brees said of starting the season:
“I am excited about our team. I am excited about our opportunity. It's really the focus of one week at a time just trying to get a little bit better each time you step on the field. I feel like we have been able to do that throughout the preseason and now
we start the regular season at home against the Washington Redskins. I couldn't be more excited about where we are at and where we are headed.”
Meanwhile, the Redskins are looking positive after all the hard work they did throughout the offseason. After ending the 2011 season 5-11, it was never easy for the Redskins to think of something that could change fortunes for them in the 2012 season.
After making some efforts, the Redskins finally managed to trade up their draft pick and acquired services of quarterback Robert Griffin III (RG3), who was selected as the second overall draft pick this year. RG3 is set to lead the Redskins offence and his
performance during offseason training camps and preseason games has pleased nearly everyone including head coach Mike Shanahan and his fellow players.
Saints offensive line/rushing game coach Aaron Kromer said of handling Griffin:
“Obviously, with a lot of potential on this quarterback who can run the football, it is going to be big to stop him. But if everybody is doing their job defensively things don’t change.”
The Redskins had a pretty strong offseason and Saints were a bit dejected during that time, but Saints still carry an edge over the Redskins.
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