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New Orleans Saints

Predicted record: 11-5

Quote:

The Saints are a made-for-TV team again, with five prime-time games scheduled for the first time in four years. Expectations are high for 39-year-old QB Drew Brees and New Orleans' breakout 2017 rookie class. They'll have to buck their trend of slow starts over the past four years and take advantage of their early schedule, because the final 10 weeks are loaded with likely playoff contenders. -- Mike Triplett

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The New Orleans Saints are bona fide Super Bowl contenders again after they finally ended a three-year playoff drought last season. But if they're going to make a serious run in 2018, they'd better start fast.

After being plagued by slow starts over the past four years (1-3, 0-3, 0-3 and 0-2), the Saints can't afford a repeat with the schedule looking much more favorable in the first five weeks than the final 11.

The Saints open with back-to-back home games for the first time since 2004, and four of their first five opponents had losing records last year. On the flip side, nine of their final 11 opponents had winning records last year.

Here's how I see things playing out:

Week 1: Sunday, Sept. 9, vs. Tampa Bay Buccaneers, 1 p.m. ET

Tampa Bay's disappointing 2017 season reached its boiling point in New Orleans last year when a fight broke out on the sidelines after quarterback Jameis Winston and receiver Mike Evans got overly frustrated by cornerback Marshon Lattimore's shut-down performance. The Buccaneers failed to live up to lofty expectations, finishing last in the NFC South at 5-11 -- and the Saints can’t afford to let them start off on the right foot this season. Record: 1-0

Week 2: Sunday, Sept. 16, vs. Cleveland Browns, 1 p.m. ET

Likewise, the long-suffering Browns are bound to start turning things around soon after amassing so many premium draft picks in recent years (including the No. 1 and No. 4 overall picks next week). But the Saints can't let that turnaround begin just yet. Record: 2-0

Week 3: Sunday, Sept. 23, at Atlanta Falcons, 1 p.m. ET
The Saints can absolutely go into Atlanta and win -- like they’ve done in five of their past eight trips there and should have done again last season. But this rivalry is always close to a pick 'em. So if the Saints aren't going to start 5-0 heading into their bye week, this is the game that's mostly likely to trip them up. Record: 2-1

Week 4: Sunday, Sept. 30, at New York Giants, 4:25 p.m. ET

I don’t expect this to be an easy road trip, either, despite the Giants' stunning 3-13 flop last season. Remember, New York is just one year removed from a playoff season -- and native New Orleanians Eli Manning and Odell Beckham Jr. are bound to bounce back. (Get your popcorn ready for that Beckham-Lattimore matchup, by the way.) Record: 3-1

Week 5: Monday, Oct. 8, vs. Washington Redskins, 8:15 p.m. ET

Surely, the NFL and ESPN must have planned this, right? If Saints quarterback Drew Brees starts hot, he could be on pace to break Peyton Manning’s career passing yardage record inside the Superdome on Monday Night Football. Brees will need to average just a shade under 300 yards per game in the first five games to surpass Manning's mark of 71,940. Record: 4-1

Week 6: Bye

read more from Triplett

Predictions for the rest of the teams here