New Orleans Saints: 2011 Preseason Schedule Proving Ground For Defense

The New Orleans Saint 2011 pre-season schedule is set. All four games will have their own unique challenges for our beloved Saints.

In week 1 they will be facing one of their old division rivals in the San Francisco 49ers at the Superdome.

Last year against the 49ers Saints kicker Garrett Hartley kicked a field goal with no time remaining on the clock to pull off a 25-22 win in the second week of the 2010 season.

The Saints offense will face a very tough 49ers defense led by arguably one of the best linebackers in the NFL in Patrick Willis. There is a lot of history between these two teams and preseason or not it is guaranteed to be a competitive contest.

In week 2 the Saints travel to face the Houston Texans. The Texans have some real talent on both sides of the ball, but just can’t seem to pull it together in the regular season.

This will be a good test for the Saints defense facing very talented Texans quarterback Matt Schaub, the very hard running Arian Foster, and one of the premier receivers in the game in Andre Johnson.

This will need to be a day that everyone on the Saints defense contributes in order to be victorious.

In week 3 the Saints will travel all the way to the west coast to face the Oakland Raiders, a team searching for their identity.

This probably makes it the most interesting of all the preseason games, because nobody really knows what to expect from the Raiders on any given year.

I definitely think Oakland’s defense will help the Saints offense and Drew Brees get tuned up in preparation for the regular season.

Finally, in week 4, the Saints will host the Tennessee Titans. I think this will be the final tune up for the Saints defense.

They will be facing a very athletic and elusive quarterback in Vince Young, if he returns, and one of the top running backs in the NFL in Chris Johnson.

The Saints are going to be traveling to Tennessee to face the Titans at the end of the regular season also. So, why not set the stage for that game by dominating them in the preseason game.

The Saints are primed to make another run at the Lombardi trophy. A few key positions need to be strengthened or upgraded.

Then facing four quality teams in the preseason to make sure the Who Dat machine is a finely tuned and primed to advance to yet another championship.

GEAUX SAINTS! WHO DAT!