New Orleans Saints Forums - blackandgold.com - Don Banks power rankings- Saints #1

Is parity still alive in the NFL? Well, only 10 of the league's 32 teams have failed to make the playoffs at least once in the past three seasons, so, yes.

But then consider that we had three division champions last season who won by gaudy four- (New Orleans) or five-game margins (San Diego and Indianapolis). So, parity, not so much.

Still, the league does feel more wide open these days, with nothing resembling a true dynasty in sight. At least not when you include the postseason (sorry, Colts). To wit: Can you tell me the only two NFL teams to win at least one playoff game in each of the past two seasons?

That would be the Cardinals and Ravens, and if you got that right, you can go ahead and pass go and collect your $200. Notice who's not on that list: No Colts, no Patriots, no Giants, no Eagles, no Chargers and no Steelers. The bottom line? Every year pretty much is a new year in today's NFL.

With the 65-game preseason schedule finally behind us, it's time to reset our power rankings board and watch the 2010 season unfold. The previous rankings refer to where each team stood as NFL training camps opened in late July. As always, send comments to siwriters@simail.com.
NFL Power Rankings, Pre-Regular Season
1
Pre-camp: 2
New Orleans Saints
For a defending champion, there's not been a lot of noise coming out of New Orleans so far, and that strikes me as a very good sign in regards to the Saints' chances of repeating. No holdouts, no trade requests, no players bemoaning that they deserve a larger role or more of the spotlight (Pierre Thomas's contract issue being the lone exception). Saints head coach Sean Payton has a pretty good handle on his guys, and he knows how to keep their eyes on the prize. Now let's see how they deal with the weekly occurrence of being every opponent's biggest game of the year.

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