How Excited Are You about the Upcoming Saints Season?

[Bill]

There are as many reasons to be excited as there are to guard against being too optimistic. This Saints team MUST maintain health on the offensive line. There is no depth at these critical positions and there is no sign that our starters can be a force even if they all manage to avoid injury.

But there are enough new pieces on the team to make the season interesting. Perhaps I’m more curious than excited. But that feeling could change if we somehow manage to catch lightning in a bottle and have all the players mesh in all phases of the game.

There’s a lot for the Saints to prove. This won’t be ‘the’ year, but it could be the building blocks for some real success in the years to come. It could be a fun season, but we just have a way to go to compete with the real contenders.

 

[OutlawSaint]

Lol Pelicans.. always start strong and then suck for two thirds of the season.

 

[dutar76]

Im excited at finally being able to go into a season where the team feels whole and most everything is settled. I think the covid year took a lot out of all fans. Losing Drew, losing SP, losing some key players and most of the abundance of quality depth we'd acquired made it hard for me to emotionally invest.

Now it feels like the dust has settled and our team is stable for now with some new talent to cheer for. We arent expected to be contenders like we were, but the fan in me has enough reasons to go into this season believing we can prove them all wrong. So I got a good bit of that old excitement back now. And I hope it lasts.

 

[Lendro Furioso]

I find myself looking forward to football season but not excited about the upcoming Saints season. I watched two of the three preseason games but, to a greater extent than any other year I can ever remember, did not follow closely the training-camp reports. The reasons do not really matter. For me, though I increasingly approve of the Carr signing and believe we are the favorites to win the NFL South, I question whether we have the right coaching staff; believe that our roster overall is one to two levels below what it was a few years ago; believe that were we playing in nearly any other division, we would finish with a losing record; and most discouraging find that we are not an ascending team but a franchise mired in mediocrity.

I have been a member of this forum for almost 25 years. I can be a contrarian and take positions that are not popular. But I do not troll and seriously ask the question of how excited about the Saints season you are, I am interested in seeing whether in a community of Saints fans others share my lack of excitement or are truly excited about the 2023 season. And again this thread raises less the question of whether you should be excited than the question of how excited are you. And regarding the general community, the prices in the secondary ticket markets will be a reflection during the season of how much excitement there is.

PS And for whatever it is worth, I am also not excited about the Pelicans. But I am excited about the LSU football team.

I pretty much share your opinion. I’ve been paying a bit more attention since preseason games started, and there are reasons to be optimistic.

Still, we lack depth on both lines, which can be a recipe for disaster. Everyone is counting on Carr to be a top flight QB, and while that can certainly happen, it’s hardly a guarantee.


The bottom line for me is the coaching staff. I am convinced DA is not, nor will ever be a winning coach, despite some improvement shown. Sadly our cupcake schedule and weak division likely means one or two more years of his leadership. I don’t think he can win a playoff game, let alone string playoff wins to get us a Conference Championship or Super Bowl.

As always, I sincerely hope I am dead wrong about these things. What do I know about football, anyway?

 

[saintmike23]

Where’s the pole?

 

[St4ever]

Seeing that fox 8 over the air (tv antennae) did not have the last game on, I find myself not really excited. I may go somewhere to watch it but I am not going back to cable and I don’t care for streaming.

 

[Outbackjack]

 

[big screen D]

I'm more optimistic about this season than I have been in years. IDK know exactly why, It's more of a gut feeling than anything else.

 

[ShortFuzed9]

Really Excited and anticipate a Competitive season, Bought some Tickets for the MNF Saints v Panthers game. I'm bringing my Son to his First Game and were behind Enemy Lines so hopefully he can keep up with the 🗑 talking we're gonna engage in

 

[msusaintsfan]

Since the NOLA no call my passion for football has waned. I have had zero expectations since Drew retired and this year is no different.

It is a wait and see attitude. We have top 3 level talent on this team, but Dennis Allen doesn't give me the warm fuzzy feeling of confidence. If we fail to win a lousy division and get to the playoffs there needs to be wholesale changes.

I love my Saints and will always hope we win.

 

[Optimistic Ozzy]

Where’s the pole?

North or South, depending on which direction you want to go.

 

[Poison]

I was seduced by the optimism surrounding the team last year.

The pre-injury form of Jameis at QB in 2021 and the belief he could take command of our offense.

The perception that Dennis Allen’s failure as a head coach was entirely born out of a dysfunctional organization in Oakland and not at all an indication of his own limitations.

The expectation that Michael Thomas would get back to full fitness and rediscover form as an elite receiver for an entire season.

The view that we were a strong team in a weak division that had the measure of our nearest rival (Tampa Bay) and more broadly that we did not need an elite quarterback to contend strongly in the NFC.

Commentary from media pundits, led by Nick Underhill - whose analysis I love and have subscribed to on a continuous basis for years - but who I sense is being slightly disingenuous in 2023 by saying he is looking for things to find fault with this season whereas he was looking for reasons to be optimistic in 2022. He had us as a 10-win team last year, after all.

Given all of that, I gladly forked out to travel to four games around the US last season.

This year my views are much more guarded (as is my corresponding expenditure on travel to Saints games).

Our good players are a year older. Our coach is the same guy with a 15-38 career record that just led us to our worst season since 2005. I’ve not seen enough evidence to suggest the unforced errors we made last year - the pre-snap penalties, the inexcusable turnovers - have been cleaned up, or that our playcalling on offense has improved.

Yes, we can reasonably expect improved performance from the QB position, but I’m not sure it takes us much further than being a nine win outfit. And that won’t cut the mustard.

Last year was a case of me thinking that the Saints were a good team until they proved me wrong.

This year is a case of me thinking they’ll be a middle of the road outfit that will be challenged for the NFC South by a young, hungry, increasingly capable Atlanta team. So I hope to be proven wrong again.

But of course I will still be watching every single week.

 

[saint_drago]

I haven't been this excited about the upcoming season since Drew's last year. With Winston I wasn't as much excited as I was curious. I knew we weren't going to be contenders but I was curious to see what the team would look like post Brees. Now that we have Carr I'm back in the "Let's Go!" mode. We probably aren't going to win the Super Bowl but I think this season is going to be a lot of fun if we stay healthy.

The offense should be much improved but the defense might regress a bit. I've been thinking that for the past few years though and they keep on trucking. Last year they replaced both Safeties, started off shaky, and then hit their stride finishing as a top defense. This year they'll be replacing almost the entire D line. My hope is that they improve against the run and find a way to generate a pass rush.

 

[RaginCajun83]

I’m cautiously optimistic due to Dennis Allen being the head coach. He’s been given the keys to a Ferrari just don’t crash it