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Wednesday 21 November 2018 19:54, UK
The NFL's all-time leading passer, arguably the best dual-threat running back in the league, and the NFL's undisputed No 1 receiver; with such an array of weapons, is it time to consider the New Orleans Saints Super Bowl favourites?
Drew Brees, Alvin Kamara, Michael Thomas and co have helped inspire the Saints (9-1) to a nine-game win streak - the latest of which was a 48-7 shellacking of the defending Super Bowl-champion Philadelphia Eagles - leaving them second only to the Los Angeles Rams (10-1) atop the NFC.
Sure, Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes has lit up the league this year (3,628 passing yards and 37 TDs, leading the NFL) and Todd Gurley has been a beast for the Rams at running back (1,484 scrimmage yards and 17 TDs, again league highs). Plus there is Adam Thielen's record-run of 100-yard games to start the season, Julio Jones' league-leading 1,158 yards and Tyreek Hill and Antonio Brown's 11 TDs apiece to top the receiving charts.
Brown had formed part of the league's most devastating trio, the 'Killers Bs', when teamed up with Ben Roethlisberger and Le'Veon Bell in Pittsburgh, but with Bell absent for this season - as much as James Conner has admirably stepped in - there is a new dominant three-headed monster in the NFL, and it comes out of New Orleans…
With Tom Brady still trucking at 41 years of age, it's easy to forget that Brees is operating at an extraordinary level for a 39-year-old.
Brees' 2,964 passing yards is good enough for sixth in the NFL and his 25 passing TDs fourth. Plus, Brees holds an NFL-best 25:1 touchdown-interception ratio this year, as well as his career-high completion percentage - a staggering 76.9 per cent, another career high. His passer rating of 126.9 through 10 games is also a career best. Not only that, but all would be NFL-record marks if the season ended today.
Despite the impressive numbers, this is no longer a Saints team Brees needs to carry on his shoulders alone like he did when putting up his record five 5,000-yard passing campaigns in 2008, '11, '12, '13 and '16. He now has the talent around him to operate (somewhat) more conservatively.
Yet, even with his multiple 5,000-yard seasons, and his solitary Super Bowl triumph in the 2009 season, Brees has yet to be awarded the honour of the league's leading player. How fitting it would be that changes in the season he became the NFL's all-time leading passer.
Lessening the burden on Brees has certainly been the arrival of Kamara - 67th overall pick in the 2017 draft - and the dual threat he offers out of the backfield, complementing the more ground-and-pound game of Mark Ingram.
It is widely considered that Gurley has been operating on a different planet to everyone else over the past two years but, since the start of the 2017 season and Kamara's NFL arrival, he is second only to the Rams running back in scrimmage TDs, notching 28.
He is also a different kind of threat to Gurley, who does the majority of his work between the numbers. Kamara, meanwhile, provides Brees with another option on the outside - he leads all running backs over the last two seasons with receptions and receiving yards working on the sidelines.
Also, the second-year player is only improving, on pace to eclipse his rookie numbers in 2018 - 10 games into the season he already has 617 rushing yards (728 in 2017), 510 receiving yards (826, 2017) and 15 scrimmage TDs (13, 2017).
Part of the reason for that is Kamara was required to step up as the Saints' lead back over the first four games of the season, while Ingram was suspended. Step up is exactly what he did.
Kamara tallied 275 yards on 56 carries over that span, an average of 4.9 a tote, while his 134-yard and three-TD effort in Week Four against the Giants were career highs, and he added two further 100-yard receiving outings to that in Week One against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and Week Three against the Atlanta Falcons.
The numbers have tailed off slightly since Ingram's return, though Kamara has been back to his destructive best in the recent wins over the Rams and Cincinnati Bengals, scoring a combined five touchdowns and topping 100 scrimmage yards in both, before bringing up a ton again against the Eagles last week as well a returning one TD reception.
Crowning Thomas as the NFL's undisputed No 1 receiver in the opening paragraph of this piece is bold claim, but not one without substance.
In 2018 alone, Thomas has the second-most catches (82), third-most yards (1,042), and fifth-most touchdown receptions (8). Plus, he has the highest reception percentage of any 1,000-yard receiver over the last 10 seasons in the NFL, registering at 90.1 per cent - well clear of Golden Tate's next best effort of 76.7 last year and with his rookie mark of 76.0 in third.
Not only that, but Thomas needs only 11 more receptions over the Saints' final six games of the season to see him register the highest number of catches through a player's first three seasons in NFL, beating both Odell Beckham Jr and Jarvis Landry's 288.
And, much like Kamara, Thomas appears to only be getting better. The 47th overall pick in the 2016 draft is on course to obliterate his rookie (1,137 yards, nine TDs) and sophomore (1,245, five) numbers. Plus he has a receiving TD in his last three games straight, tying his career-longest streak, also notching his first-ever 200-yard game over that span, in the stunning win over NFC rivals the Rams.
Sterner tests lie ahead for the Saints. A potential Rams rematch in the playoffs being one of them. But, most encouraging for the Who Dat Nation down in New Orleans is that such clutch performances from their biggest stars are being reserved for the games that matter most.
And the Rams win wasn't just a flash in the pan either. Of the Saints' nine-match win streak, their last six have come against the might of the Washington Redskins, Baltimore Ravens, Minnesota Vikings, Rams, Bengals and Eagles - the defending Super Bowl champions are the only team over that currently have a losing winning record.
Another tricky assignment awaits on Thanksgiving Day this Thursday, with a visit of their NFC South rivals the Atlanta Falcons. It's a sign of things to come, as the Saints' season rounds off with three divisional games in four weeks, including two against their biggest threat for the crown, the Carolina Panthers.
It won't be easy, but with the offensive weapons at their disposal, you would have to be brave to back against the Saints.
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