New Orleans Saints 2020 first-half season predictions

Second Quarter

As the second four-game stretch begins, New Orleans will host the Los Angeles Chargers in Week Five for a Monday night game. This team struggled last season with Phillip Rivers possibly showing signs of wear or injury. They did not look like a team that made a solid run in 2018.

It is not likely they will be ready to roll out Justin Herbert quite at this point in the season, so the capable Tyrod Taylor would lead this team into New Orleans. While this team is better than last season, if the Saints are who they should be, this Chargers team won’t keep up with them.

The Saints get an early bye week in Week Six before hosting Carolina in Week Seven. This will be a new look Carolina team. They will see a familiar face in former Saints QB and folk hero Teddy Bridgewater.

And they will face potent RB Christian McCaffrey. But the guys calling the plays will be different and there is no more Luke Kuechly to terrorize the Saints offense. It’s always tough to rebuild a team; even more so when there is no true offseason program.

I think Carolina’s future is decent, but I can’t see them hanging with the Saints yet.

The Saints hit the road for the following two weeks.

First stop is Chicago to face the Bears. Last season, after being down 10-9 early in the second quarter, the Saints turned on the juice and scored 27 unanswered points before the Bears scored a couple of garbage-time touchdowns.

The Bears have said they are going with Mitch Trubisky again to start the season, even after investing in Nick Foles. The Bears are still only the third-best team in their division, and Trubisky isn’t going to help that. Unless weather becomes a factor, the Saints will win this one.

Next on the schedule is a trip to Tampa Bay to again face the Bucs. I have to admit I don’t like this game for the Saints. By this time Brady will have a little continuity with his new team. Playing in Tampa, I’m not so confident in this game. Division games are always tough. I have to think about this one.

Second Quarter Record: 3-1

I’m antsy about this one, to be honest. There could be two losses in this stretch. The Saints are a targeted team this season. For all the weapons, they will be tested every week. For this quarter, I’d say one loss, potentially in Tampa.

I just get concerned about playing too many mid-level teams. New Orleans too often plays down to their competition. Let’s hope this is a different year in that sense.

So we’re at the halfway mark of the season and we see the Black and Gold at 6-2. I cannot see any worse than 5-3 at this point. We’ll roll out the second half of the season and the final tally tomorrow.