Derick E. Hingle – USA Today Sports Images
Sean Payton‘s return as acting head coach of the New Orleans Saints makes them a very difficult team to project heading into the 2013 NFL season.
This return to normalcy might seem like it has the opposite effect when it comes to analyzing football futures and other odds heading into the next campaign, as no one had good reason to expect any type of certainty last season following the Bountygate scandal and the forced coaching platoon than ensued. I’ll admit that I feel more confident with arguably the league’s top offensive mastermind back in the saddle along with an assumed-to-be-healthy Jimmy Graham back in the mix.
However, determining where this team will fall between their 2012 and 2011 marks — if not on the outside — is proving about as tough a challenge. Vegas in some ways reflects this, as a Saints team that used to have the Atlanta Falcons‘ number is now receiving a season win total line of nine, according to RJ Bell of Pregame.com.
The Saints were a regular in the double-digit win club until the Bountygate year dropped them to 7-9, so it seems Vegas is negotiating the middle ground. However, Atlanta is getting a win total decrease from their No. 1-seed 2012 campaign down to just 10, and I’ve seen the Saints get +160 division title odds that rival the Falcons’ +110. The Super Bowl odds stack up similarly, with New Orleans at 20-to-1 and Atlanta at 18-to-1.
So it seems New Orleans is getting a fair amount of respect in their attempted return to the postseason, if not quite being reappointed as division favorites.
Disclaimer: The information provided here is merely for the purpose of generating analytical discussion of the NFL.
Thomas Emerick is a Senior Writer for www.RantSports.com. Follow him on Twitter @ThomasEmerick, “Like” him on Facebook or add him to your network on Google
