COVID-19 could be biggest obstacle facing the New Orleans Saints’ run to glory in 2020
Forget about the NBA and MLB, those sports league have their own start-up problems. In terms of the NFL and specifically the New Orleans Saints, the time to panic is not now. I strongly recommend Who Dat Nation should put its angst on hold, enjoy the 4th of July weekend (mask up and keep your distance, please!) and live to fret another day.
Yes, the loss of two pre-season games for each team should be disconcerting to fans but the only NFL date that truly matters at this juncture is Thursday, Sept. 10, the night the Houston Texans and the defending Super Bowl champion Kansas City Chiefs open the 2020 season on national TV at Arrowhead Stadium.
Don’t trouble yourself with other upcoming dates on the league calendar, such as the start of training camps later this month (all teams are scheduled to report no later than July 28) and each team’s two remaining pre-season games in mid-to-late August.
Those dates remain relatively fluid. If push came to shove, I suspect NFL officials would be giddy if teams could get a minimum of three weeks of field work and one exhibition game at the very least and safely navigate through the COVID-19 sea.
Keep your eye on the prize -- Sept. 10. For fans of the Black and Gold, focus solely on the afternoon of Sept. 13 when their beloved team kicks off the season against the Tom Brady-led Tampa Bay Buccaneers at the Mercedes-Benz Superdome.
If the start of the NFL season is uprooted, if the steady flow of serious TV money gets disrupted in Week 1, then that means the deadly pandemic is continuing to wreak havoc in our country and the NFL is in big trouble.
With a capital T.
Look, we can debate the merits of trying to safely conduct a NFL season amid a pandemic till we all are blue in the gills. I suspect political party lines might dictate which side of the argument one falls.
Selfishly, I want to see the Saints and pending retiree Drew Brees get a chance to pursue their second Lombardi Trophy. General Manager Mickey Loomis, director of college scouting Jeff Ireland and Coach Sean Payton appear to have done their due diligence, deftly shaping a roster that most league talent evaluators say is among the league’s top five with a legitimate opportunity to win Super Bowl LV.
According to CBSsports.com, the Saints are loaded at every level. Consider:
-- No fewer than 10 players are listed among its top 10 at the various positions, including Brees (No. 4 quarterback), offensive linemen Ryan Ramczyk (No. 4) and Terron Armstead (No. 7), tight end Jared Cook (No. 7), wide receiver Michael Thomas (No. 1), edge rusher Cam Jordan (No. 4), cornerback Marshon Lattimore (No. 10), linebacker Demario Davis (No. 4), kicker Wil Lutz (No. 5) and punter Thomas Morstead (No. 1).
Among coaches, Saints coach Sean Payton placed No. 4, behind New England’s Bill Belichick, Kansas City’s Andy Reid and Baltimore’s John Harbaugh.
Surprisingly, multi-faceted running back Alvin Kamara did not crack its top 10, a serious oversight in my opinion.
Thus, it seems the Black and Gold is poised to win its fourth consecutive NFC South championship and end a three-year playoff curse that has seen them suffer inexplicable, controversial and excruciatingly disappointing walk-off losses both at home (San Francisco, Minnesota) and on the road (Minnesota).
I only hope the Saints get the opportunity to prove themselves.
Unfortunately, COVID-19 may stand in their way.
This story was originally published July 5, 2020 at 12:00 AM with the headline "COVID-19 could be biggest obstacle facing the New Orleans Saints’ run to glory in 2020."