December is a very polarizing month for many people. While many view the month as an opportunity to spend time with friends and family during the holidays, others see commercialization. Children welcome the snow and cold weather as parents often dread the forecast. Also, while some NFL fans are rejoicing their team’s record and counting the weeks until the playoffs, others are paying closer attention to college football since their professional team is jockeying for an early draft pick. There is a middle ground for that last example, and the New Orleans Saints live in that purgatory.
As we hit the end of the third quarter of the NFL season, teams and fans alike pay much more attention to the scoreboard, injury reports and anything else NFL because each game becomes even more magnified and important. Below is look at the Saints season thus far, along with who is their MVP in 2016, with some help from the “Voice of the Saints” himself, Mr. Jim Henderson.
Breakdown of New Orleans Saints 2016 Season With Jim Henderson
As the Saints sit at 5-7 and are staring up at both the 7-5 Atlanta Falcons and the 7-5 Tampa Bay Buccaneers, things certainly look bleak with only four games remaining. In the words of Henderson, “Well, it’s going to be a long road to the playoffs when you start 0-3 as the Saints did for the second straight year. This is a pattern. In three of the last four years, the Saints have been 7-9, plagued by slow starts, fighting their way back to .500, being at .500 for one week and then going on another losing streak and never getting back.”
The 2016 season certainly seems to be following the same script at this point. After their loss this past Sunday to the Detroit Lions, which was appropriately described by many as a “sluggish” performance by the Saints, it’s hard to argue with the similarities of this season to recent years past.
New Orleans Saints Team MVP?
Regardless of the setbacks toward the New Orleans Saints goal of reaching the playoffs for the first time since their 2013 campaign, there have been some highlights. When asked who Mr. Henderson felt was the team MVP at this point of the season, there was no hesitation in his answer. It is Drew Brees.
“It’s got to be Drew Brees. He’s leading the NFL in all sorts of categories. He’s got the number one passing attack in the number one offense in the NFL. He’s just a remarkable quarterback. The way things change around him and he’s able to elevate the play of pretty much a new receiving corps. Brandin Cooks has been there three years and they’ve (Saints) got a great young talent in Michael Thomas. They lose people like Jimmy Graham and Ben Watson and they plug new people into the position who’ve not exactly flourished to that degree but have become very competent additions to the offense and it’s all because of Drew. He’s a remarkable guy, a remarkable leader, a remarkable person, a remarkable talent and he’s going to be judged certainly at this point and probably for a long, long time as the number one pickup in the history of the NFL. Before him it was probably going to be Reggie White and you can’t really equate a defensive end’s performance with a quarterback’s.”
Henderson added, “Look what Drew has done. It’s one of the most remarkable stories I think in all of sports and he’s so worthy of all the accolades he gets because he’s such a quality.”
The majority of Saints fans would certainly agree with Jim’s selection for MVP and most football fans would agree with the assessment on where Drew Brees ranks on the all-time greatest free-agent pickup list. While other standouts this season such as Michael Thomas, Max Unger, Mark Ingram and Cam Jordan have played very well, it’s tough to pick against Drew Brees when you consider those mind-numbing numbers he puts up week in and week out.
This week the Saints head into Tampa Bay to take on their division rival the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Obviously, every game from here on out is a must-win for Sean Payton‘s team. The Saints hope to break the pattern of missing the playoffs in recent years and to do that, they will need to start with a win this week.
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