Paper Pigskin Point Potential 2014 - New Orleans Saints

This is a series on my 2014 outlook of players you would want to have on your Paper Pigskin team (fantasy football).  What you'll find here are my views based on years of playing experience and countless hours of geeking out researching stats, trends, and articles.  I'll advise where to reach and whose hype not to believe.

NEW ORLEANS SAINTS - Passing 302 ypg     Rushing 92 ypg

No offense has been as prolific as the Saints during the Sean Payton/Drew Brees era. This has been done without having an All-Pro at the running back or wide receiver position. However, they do have the best tight end in real and Paper Pigskin. Many try to copy but they just can't sketch it. Whatever the formula, Payton provides nice flavor with minor adjustment to the measurements from year to year. What's added to the recipe this season?

NFL Week 17 Power Rankings

One week left in the season, let's see how they stack up.

1.  Seattle  No longer invincible at home but still belongs on top. They're going to need to figure out how to loosen up defenses for their run game.

2.  Denver  There shouldn't be a question about who the best regular season quarterback of All-Time is. The defense is hurting for certain, with no signs of improvement.

NFL Week 16 Power Rankings

Just one new team sneaks in this week. We're heading for an exciting close to the NFL season as teams fight for playoff seeding but in these power rankings, Seattle is back at the top.

1.  Seattle  All we talk about is Seattle's defense but Russell Wilson is a special player. He has yet to lose while playing on his home field. I expect to see him at Met Life Stadium in February.

2.  Denver  No problem scoring points but this defense is just flat out horrible. The winterization of their offense will take away the biggest advantage they have over opponents.

NFL Week 15 Power Rankings

1.  Denver  400 yards and 4 touchdowns versus one of the better pass defenses in the league answered questions about Peyton's play in the cold.

2.  Seattle  Played a gritty game; this is what they do. Barely finished on the wrong side.

NFL Week 14 Power Rankings

Barring a meltdown, NFC championship contenders will have to deal with the 12th Man.

1.  Seattle  Dominant performance. With a 2 game gap, the NFC road to the Super Bowl officially runs through Seattle.

NFL Week 13 Power Rankings

1.  Seattle  The league’s most consistent team up until this point. We’ll see what they’re made of this upcoming week against a team that has an explosive offense as well as good D.

2.  New Orleans  Extremely shaky win at Atlanta, now Drew Brees faces the best secondary in the league.  They’ve had trouble stopping the run all season long. Seattle will give them a heavy dose.

3.  New England  The hard part of their schedule is now out of the way.  Look for them to run the rest of the regular season table. Road to the Super Bowl might have to pass through Foxboro.

NFL Week 12 Power Rankings

1.  Denver  Reclaimed top dog status in the AFC with huge win over division rivals. Peyton Manning is probably the best at salting games away with a lead.

2.  Seattle  They’ve just ran through competition without a real challenge since the Indy game. They get one after the bye.

3.  New Orleans  Came up big under pressure. They really need to find a run game or else defenses will just tee off on Brees. That balance is needed.

NFL Week 11 Power Rankings

1.  Kansas City With a week to prepare for the Broncos, they have a chance to silence the doubters.

2.  Denver They treated the Chargers like the practice squad and shut it down late in the game.

3.  Seattle They control their own destiny, now Harvin adds some explosiveness to the offense.

NFL Week 10 Power Rankings

A few teams caught some unexpected losses last week but much of the top 10 remains the same. The Colts continue to impress while Seattle and Kansas City are barely escaping.

1.  Kansas City- They get a well deserved week off before a showdown with Denver. They'd be wise to figure out O-line protection so that Alex Smith can exploit a shaky Bronco secondary.

2.  Denver- Let’s see if they’ve fixed the defensive woes during the bye week.  The Chargers will surely test them.

NFL Week 9 Power Rankings

Not much has changed from last week.  Although, the Chiefs, Broncos, Patriots, and Seahawks looked shaky in their wins, none of the previous top 10 lost.

1.  Kansas City   They continue to not lose to the teams on their schedule. It's crazy to see the lack of respect this team as a whole gets because nobody believes in their shoddy quarterback.

NFL Week 8 Power Rankings

My friends over at the The OpinioNation blog releases a weekly "The Strength Of Ten" article which is basically a top 10 version of NFL power rankings. I'm on the panel that comes up with the list, I figured I should share my personal choices that factor into it.  Check there rankings and see how it compares to mine.

NFL Week 7 Power Rankings

My friends over at the The OpinioNation blog releases a weekly "The Strength Of Ten" article which is basically a top 10 version of NFL power rankings. I'm on the panel that comes up with the list, I figured I should share my personal choices that factor into it.  Check there rankings and see how it compares to mine.

NFL Brain Dump: XOXO

I love watching football.  It isn't always about what plays are called, because sometimes passion is what ultimately decides the outcome.

The main thing that I took away from the epic Patriots versus Saints showdown is that Bill Belichick is still a better coach than you, me, Sean Payton, Rob Ryan or anyone else that loves football.  For the most part this season, the Saints have been taking what defenses give them, which have lead to Jimmy Graham taking a lot of yardage and dunking the football over crossbars.  In this game, Bill decided to play along and give Brees whatever he wants EXCEPT for passes to the elite tight end.  This was accomplished by having his best coverage defender shadow New Orleans’ best receiver, seems like a simple concept, it’s surprising that up until now no other coordinator employed this basic tactic which worked so well that Jimmy was held without a catch.  As well as “project shutdown Jimmy” worked, it still wasn’t enough to win the game; the game was decided by heart, mind control, and clutch plays.

NFL Brain dump: Week 5

It's been said that NFL teams that have opened the season with two losses over the past five years haven't made the playoffs.  This week, I'll track the eight teams that this applies to this season as well as some other musings.

Paper Pigskin Point Potential NFC South

This is a series on my 2013 outlook of players you would want to have on your Paper Pigskin team (fantasy football).  I'll be organizing them by division.  What you'll find here are my views based on years of playing experience and countless hours of geeking out researching stats, trends, and articles.  I'll advise where to reach and whose hype not to believe.

New Orleans Saints  312 passing ypg  99 rushing ypg  (updated September 1, 2013)

QB:  Drew Brees is capable of stat lines that will win many Paper Pigskin matchups by himself.  The Saints' defense gets shredded regularly, which forces the offense to try to win shootouts.  Brees doesn't take many bad hits and is a sure bet to finish in the top five overall.