Saints Season Not Over After Brees Injury

Saints Season Not Over After Brees Injury

By Mario Jeréz

Click aqui para español- > La temporada de los Saints no termina con la lesión de Brees

Saints quarterback Drew Brees will miss significant time for the first time since he joined New Orleans in 2006.

Brees had successful thumb surgery on his throwing hand after hitting it on the Rams’ Aaron Donald and suffering ligament damage. The good news is that the injury isn’t season-ending, but he will have to miss approximately six weeks.

This will be a big challenge for a team who’s leaned heavily on the future hall of famer. The Who Dat Nation has been spoiled by elite quarterback play for the last 13 years, and Brees’ production will be hard, if not impossible, to replicate.

But not all hope is lost!

Unlike the Saints teams early in Brees’ tenure, this version of the black and gold is a more complete football team. They will be capable of winning games in different ways.

New Orleans is far from a one-man band on offense, and several players are capable of picking up the slack in Brees’ absence. Teddy Bridgewater is a former pro bowl quarterback and Taysom Hill has a lot of potential.

Both QBs figure to play, and they’ll be stepping into a potent offense.

The Saints made Michael Thomas the highest paid wide receiver in NFL history for a reason. With his massive price tag, New Orleans is counting on younger, more inexperienced receivers alongside him, and Thomas will also have to step up as a leader.

Alvin Kamara is an electrifying young talent, and he‘ll also have to step up as a leader while Brees is gone. It’s very important that he and Latavious Murray form an aggressive, consistent running game to take the pressure off of the Saints’ quarterbacks.

Also, the Saints defense has come a long way in the last four years under defensive coordinator Dennis Allen. As good as the Saints’ offense has been, I think they’ve overshadowed the solid play on the other side of the football. But this unit has enough talent to carry this team for a few weeks.

Defensive lineman Cam Jordan is the Drew Brees of New Orleans’ defense. Week in and week out, he dominates opposing offensive linemen, and the Saints are fortunate to have the defensive captain.

Again, Brees’ injury is not ideal, but all the Saints have to do is win enough games to hold their head above water until Brees gets back and keep up in the standings. It will be very interesting to see how Sean Payton’s boys respond to this adversity.