NFL Power Rankings: New Orleans Saints Sit High In Most Media Rankings After Bye Week
Last week, the New Orleans Saints went out in style, defeating the Washington Redskins while Drew Brees put his name into the record books. After chalking up a 4-1 record through the first five weeks of the season, the Saints had their bye week — which came at a great time to heal up some injuries in order to prepare to face the Baltimore Ravens. Now, the major sports media outlets have released their NFL Power Rankings, and the Saints are getting plenty of respect.
After an opening game loss to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and having struggled a bit in their first win, the “Who Dat Nation” thought a long season was ahead of them. Then things started to fall into place, and the Saints just kept on getting better with each victory.
Now, they have a big challenge ahead of them with a trip to Baltimore to face the Ravens — though they’ll be well rested after a bye and riding a lot of momentum. The Saints have won four games in a row and are sitting in an apex position atop the NFC South — but there is still a lot of the season left to play.
Usually, the Saints love being perceived to be the underdog, but the NFL Power Rankings aren’t allowing that to happen right now.
ESPN — Fourth
ESPN kept the Saints in the fourth spot after their bye week, but the Ravens — New Orleans’ next opponent — are in at five. The Saints now have a great shot at making the playoffs, with a chance of 79.5 percent, but there are plenty more games to play.
NFL.com — Fourth
Down one spot from last week, NFL.com had the Patriots jump up to number two while the Chiefs and the Saints dropped one position each. The Saints didn’t drop due to anything that they had done, the switch coming as a result of the Pats getting the big win on Sunday night.
USA Today — Third
The Saints are about to have a huge game against the Ravens, but USA Today pointed out that Drew Brees can hit two more big marks this week too. Brees could cross the 500 touchdown pass club, and also defeat the one team that he has never beaten throughout his entire career.
The Sporting News — Third
For their upcoming game against the Ravens, The Sporting News believes that Brees will get his 500th touchdown pass out of the way early. From there, it will be time for Mark Ingram and Alvin Kamara to take over, having the defense step in to stop Joe Flacco.
CBS Sports — Second
CBS Sports has the Saints ranked the highest — at the number two spot — after jumping ahead of the Patriots and Chiefs. Only the L.A. Rams are ahead of them. The defense has really come about in the last two games, and it’s just in time as the Ravens are no slouch on offense.
Currently, a lot of major sports media outlets are high on the New Orleans Saints and that is why they’re in the top five of so many NFL Power Rankings. The worst is yet to come, though, as the Saints play three of the next four on the road — and have a home game against the undefeated Rams thrown in for good measure. Drew Brees and the Saints have big tests ahead of them, but it finally looks like they’re ready.
