Eli Apple
Does all this seem too good to be true? I mean, the first few games felt EXACTLY like last year where everything seemed such a struggle. Now it's like we have some control without everything being against us.
This is the team that many people thought we could be. There is a reason the Saints were picked as the NFC favorites by many pundits during this past preseason. Yes, the Bucs and Browns games (despite the latter resulting in a win) made people think they'd been sold a bill of goods on their Saints preseason predictions.......but time would reveal that we were alot closer to being that 2017 team that was teetering on SB aspirations.....as opposed to just another 7-9 blowhard team that we've tended to become immediately following a promising season.
But then something funny happened along the way. We had the two-headed RB duo which supposedly was in place to shoulder much of the load while Brees played great "when needed". Unfortunately half of that duo was gone for the first month......so...well.........ok, ok, Drew.....just get us through this month, and then we promise, we'll go back to not asking as much of you.
But........that Drew, you know how he is..........you ask him to straighten the decorative pillows on your couch, and he helps you rearrange your living room. He just had to go and start playing the best football of his career.
And that's the difference.
Ingram and Kamara are still Ingram and Kamara. Our defense is back to playing like they did last year when Crawley solidified the #2 CB spot, only this time with Apple. But Brees is playing MVP-level football in addition to that. May sound weird to hear someone say that Drew Brees was the "unexpected" X factor in all this.......but really, he kinda was.