The New Orleans Saints started off the season with a win in the return of Sean Payton to the sidelines after his bounty suspension last year and for the most part the team picked up where it left off, as quarterback drew Brees threw for over 350 yards and the team snagged a 23-17 win over the Atlanta Falcons at home.
The Saints got off to a much better start than last season when they were 0-4 and Brees ended up with 357 yards passing and two touchdowns, including one to Marques Colston. The running game was a disappointment with Mark Ingram, Pierre Thomas and Darren Sproles, but Brees was back doing what he usually does and Payton expects that to continue as the season goes on. The running game will get more consistent as time goes on, but fantasy owners were not pleased with the way things went for Mark Ingram, who was being looked at as a sleeper pick by many.
The Saints finished with just 78 yards rushing and averaged under 3.0 yards per carry in the game. The defense was better than last year and Matt Ryan passed for 304 yards and two scores to Julio Jones and Tony Gonzalez, but that wasn't enough to defeat the Saints. In no surprise, Darren Sproles was more of a factor in the passing games, making six catches for 88 yards, while he had just 22 yards rushing with a long of five.
Thomas was not much better, gaining 43 yards on 11 carries and Ingram was the biggest disappointment, gaining just 11 yards on nine carries, making him add up to nothing for fantasy owners. Some players see Ingram as a good sleeper, but now he will have to crawl back up the ladder just to meet expectations and he won't have it much better in Week 2, as the team plays the Bucs and they are coming in with a defense that ranked number one against the run last season.
The team added Darrelle Revis, but they were last in the league in passing defense last season and naturally the Saints were first in passing yards with Brees. It should be an interesting battle next week as the two go at it.
