The New Orleans Saints won the NFC South for the first time in six years. Here’s a look back at how I predicted their season would unfold.
My predicted record: 8-8
Saints' actual record: 11-5
How I fared: Obviously I blew it. I lowered my expectations from 9-7 in April to 8-8 in September in the wake of injuries to Nick Fairley, Terron Armstead and Delvin Breaux that I thought would hurt worse than they ultimately did. However, I did get two things right. I predicted a slow start (the Saints started 0-2 instead of my predicted 0-3). And I said the best-case scenario for New Orleans would be to follow the blueprint of the 2016 Atlanta Falcons by having one of the best offenses in the NFL and a defense that finally turned things around with an influx of young talent. If only I had known that the rookie class of cornerback Marshon Lattimore, running back Alvin Kamara, offensive tackle Ryan Ramczyk and safety Marcus Williams would be this good this fast.
