VIVA NOLA September 2018

DEPORTE REPORTE
It?s Fi n al l y Footbal l
Season Agai n !
by M ar io Jer éz
@MjerezIII
Last January, Minnesota Vikings
wide receiver Stefon Diggs broke
the city of New Orleans?collective
heart.
Diggs took advantage of a
defensive blunder and scored a
last-second touchdown to
eliminate the Saints from the
NFL playoffs. The
?Minnesota Miracle?, as the
play has been dubbed, will
live on in NFL infamy and
has tortured Saints fans
with constant replays
throughout the off season.
However, the new season is
finally upon us. And the Saints
are about to get their shot at
redemption.
The core of last year?s team,
which went 11-5 and won its
division, is back to take another
crack at a title.
Sean Payton and Drew Brees are
one of six active head
coach-quarterback combinations
to have won a super bowl. Twelve
years into their tenure, they
remain the orchestrators of one of
the league's best offenses.
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For the first time in a long
time, the Saints also had a
solid defense in 2017. This year,
the unit hopes for continued
improvement under third-year
defensive coordinator Dennis
Allen.
These factors, combined with
several others, have created high
expectations for the upcoming
campaign.
Around water coolers and on
sports talk shows, the Saints are
as good a pick as anyone to win it
all. The team even hung a large
banner that reads ?prove them
right? at their practice facility, a
reference to the praise the Saints
have garnered from local and
national media.
They will have to take it one
game at a time, and nothing is
guaranteed. But, in New Orleans,
the anticipation is the highest it?s
been in years!
This team has the talent to win a
championship. But the NFL
season is long and unpredictable,
and preseason expectations can
become irrelevant quickly.
Still, the city of New Orleans
is right to be excited. This
team has a chance to do
something special and
hopefully, they?re able to rise
to the challenge.
The Saints open the regular
season on September 9th in the
Mercedes-Benz Superdome
against the Tampa Bay
Buccaneers.
Did you knowthere is a
saints' games broadcast in
spanish?
You can listen during
saints' games on
WGSO990 AM