New Orleans Saints score another top-three finish in recent power rankings

The New Orleans Saints are among the NFL’s most complete teams, scoring a top-three finish in The Big Lead’s power rankings.

While they didn’t make too many moves in the offseason, the New Orleans Saints are yet again at the top of the league in recent power rankings. Being the No. 1 team in Bleacher Report’s rankings, the Saints slid in at No. 3 in The Big Lead’s recently released ranking.

Columnists Kyle Koster and Liam McKeone, the two authors responsible for the ranking, put the Chiefs and Patriots as the top-two teams in the league respectively.

The dynamic, Patrick Mahomes-led offense of the Chiefs helped Kansas City top the list. Then, how can you reasonable leave the Super Bowl champs out of the top two? That said, following those two were the Drew Brees-led Saints.

Here’s what the duo said about New Orleans.

"Going from Mark Ingram to Latavius Murray is a slight downgrade, but that’s the only position on the roster that suffered a loss this offseason. The Saints still have Drew Brees, an elite pair of tackles, and plenty of talent on the other side of the ball. Their defense was much better in the second half of 2018, and if they can put that performance together wire-to-wire, they’ll be as tough as any team to beat in 2019. Barring officiating errors, New Orleans should be favorited alongside the Rams to reach the NFC Championship game once more."

The departure of Ingram is somewhat worrisome for those goal-line opportunities, but with Alvin Kamara still as the lead back, there’s really no need to worry about the team’s backfield.

Add in a healthy receiving corps and a significantly better tight end in Jared Cook, and the offense should be even more dominant this upcoming season. However, at 40, it’ll be interesting how well Brees plays this season.

With an elite offensive line and an above-average defense with stars all over the field, the Saints should be the favorite to notch a top spot in the NFC. New Orleans and Los Angeles, like the duo noted, will be the favorite to reach the Championship game.

The Saints were 13-2 heading into Week 17 last season. Now, they’ll have the schedule and the division to make that happen again. At the same time, the NFC should be as deep as last season so expect at least a few close calls along the way.