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I remember back in 2007 when the NFL came down on the New England Patriots for the spygate issue. Yes, whether or not Patriot fans want to admit it, it was cheating. At the same time, whether or not fans of every other team wants to admit it, everyone else was doing it too.

The Patriots were made an example of by the entire NFL community. They used it as motivation to lay waste to the rest of the league on their way to the Super Bowl (which they did indeed lose).

Last year, the same was done to the New Orleans Saints.

Countless NFL veterans have come forward and talked about how there was some sort of “bounty” program everywhere they played throughout their career. It was a game within the game — a competition amongst teammates in the spirit of extra motivation. Quite simply, bounties are as old as football.

People don’t like to hear it and often forget it, but this game is about hitting people. Sure, you gotta score points to win games, but to do so, you have to knock a few people down, around and out of the way. Anyone who has ever actually played the game knows that the last thing you are concerned with while hitting people is the well-being of the person you are hitting.

Enter the 2013 New Orleans Saints. Fresh off a disappointing season where they started 0-4 and finished 7-9 without the architect of their recent success, head coach Sean Payton, the Saints head into 2013 as almost a forgotten team.

In all fairness, they are buried in one of the NFL’s most exciting divisions, the NFC South. You have the Falcons, who many have as a Super Bowl sleeper pick based off how they finished last season. You got the up and coming Buccaneers who are led by a young coach with an old-school mentality and the Panthers, who are quarterbacked by the guy many thought was on the brink of becoming the face of the league a year ago.

In 2012, the Saints had the No. 2 offense in the NFL. Unfortunately, they also had the worst defense in the league. Their defensives deficiencies, aided by the absence of Jonathan Vilma for a good chunk of the year due to the bounty scandal, proved to be too much for the New Orleans offense to overcome.

Now Sean Payton and Jonathan Vilma are back, and I got a feeling they have something to prove. To help their efforts, the Saints went out and got Rob Ryan, arguably the most aggressive defensive coordinator in the NFL, to the run the D. You combine that with the frustration and anger displayed by Drew Brees toward the NFL last season, it all spells bad news for anyone on New Orleans’ schedule.

The Saints remain one of the most dangerous offensive units in the NFL. Led by Brees, they return a respectable platoon of running backs led by the shifty and versatile Darren Sproles. They also suit up Marques Colston, one of the more dominant receivers in the league over the past few seasons and Jimmy Graham, who with the injuries to Rob Gronkowski and the absence of Aaron Herndandez should pull away from the pack as the consensus top tight end in the game.

On defense, Rob Ryan’s unit is going to be coming at the quarterback from all angles. He’ll be working with a young and talented front seven who all specialize at wreaking havoc in the backfield. They’ll be backed up by a veteran secondary who’ll get an added charge of youth and energy with the addition of hard-hitting rookie safety Kenny Vaccaro.

Quite simply, the Saints more than ever will be out for blood in 2013. They want nothing more than to have Roger Goodell hand them the Lombardi in February and I think they will pull out everything in their arsenal to make that happen. They won’t care what you think about running up the score or delivering cheap shots. It’s them against the world and if your team is on their schedule this season, I wouldn’t feel good about it.
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He had me until the line saying the Saints don't care about delivering cheap shots!

New Orleans Saints: The Team You Don’t Want to Play in 2013 | Know It All Football

Supertek

Yea cheap shots could have been left out after going through what the team and fans went through compliments of RG. But you know the players left from last year are going to be feeling like he describes.

saintsfan1976

The Team You Don't Want To Play In 2013

Title for our season

saintfan

Optimistic to be sure. I'm down.

MaggieMayTB

Finally, someone gets it!!

The D improved the minute Spags was outside NO city limits and that is me being kind.

At the end of the season, Ryan will call Wade Phillips for his invite to the "Go to Hell Jerry Club". Sticking it to JJ is what happens when good coaches are walked out of Dallas. Rob will have the same attitude all my Saints will take the field with against the birds.

We know the next brother v. brother SB will never star Rob and Rex but when JJ Watt's little Badger brother is NFC drafted, the NFL could see another set of parents watching from Wisconsin like Jim and John's did this year.

The intangible unspoken truth is this first game could rival the re-opening of the Dome.

We still have that QB with a bad shoulder that threw a block; we have SP & Vilma back and Steve is still with us.

I am sorry to mention this and it is hard writing between salty tears stinging my face. Sclerosis is a dirty word when combined with Amyotrophic Lateral. ALS has an end game and it kills with impunity.

We will win this opener because losing is not an option.
I know this monster and this could be Steve's last game.
That proud statue has a purpose and it will always remind us of things we never will forget.

It is these intangibles which can not be measured with X's & O's.

I pray for a cure. Steve helped heal a city and all the stars are aligned, again, to repeat September 25, 2006's beat down of Atlanta and make a difference in Steve's life.

foreverfan

We are the team I don't want to play. I'm sure everybody in the division would double that emotion.

Rugby Saint II

"We gotta' play the Saints?" Oh crap!

darksoul35

I hope we run the score up on everybody we play. As far as cheap shots, there is nothing cheaper than what the radio cats out of ATL was saying about Steve so I don't care if we destroy every knee on their team along with a few broken backs from low and late hits. Revenge is the sweetest joy like Pac said.

xan

Another "I need a paycheck so I'll submit drivel" article.

Nobody wants to play anybody, everyone gets a Lombardi. Party.

I'll bet this same guy wrote 31 other articles and just substituted the names.