NFL: Preseason Games and their Effect...

[Drathdon]

Ok, go ahead and kill me for starting what will quickly become another Aints thread, because I'm asking a question that is directly about their team.

The Aints have to play the Hall-of-Fame game this year, which gives them 5 preseason games.

Does this hurt or help them? I would think hurt, because the extra week of media scrutiny (especially all alone at the HOF game), as well as extra wear and tear on their bodies (cant rest all the starters every week), but could see the argument for helping them (extra practice and more time under the "temp" coach).

Of course there is the extra travel, logistics, planning, and other things to consider. I think this is an interesting thing to discuss, being that not many topics right now really affect our season, and was wondering what others thought.

(edited to add "NFL" Prefix... forgot we used prefixes here)

[phocis850]

I don't see how it hurts them. More practice time for the backups really. Also, when you say that it helps the coaches, I think that is the biggest advantage. An extra game will provide more time for the players and the coaches to click.

[Drathdon]

Yeah, but when hearing every player argue against an 18 game season, they say that in every game, both the emotional and physical toll are so hard on the athlete. Even with it being preseason, this has to take an extra toll on the Aints that only one other team will have to face. I cannot see how that could not be a detriment, and that is even before you add in the media circus that will surround the team that week without any other games to distract them. The spotlight will be even worse than we felt during Vick... remember that Monday night game before Quitrino left? And that was long into the season. This will be so much worse, the first NFL news cycle of the season... lawsuits and suspensions, coaches missing... and what if Brees isn't there?

I'm counting this to be a negative for the Aints, which always is good for us.

[AsylumGuido]

(05-21-2012 04:12 AM)Drathdon Wrote:  Yeah, but when hearing every player argue against an 18 game season, they say that in every game, both the emotional and physical toll are so hard on the athlete. Even with it being preseason, this has to take an extra toll on the Aints that only one other team will have to face. I cannot see how that could not be a detriment, and that is even before you add in the media circus that will surround the team that week without any other games to distract them. The spotlight will be even worse than we felt during Vick... remember that Monday night game before Quitrino left? And that was long into the season. This will be so much worse, the first NFL news cycle of the season... lawsuits and suspensions, coaches missing... and what if Brees isn't there?

I'm counting this to be a negative for the Aints, which always is good for us.

I disagree. In fact, you do know that the Saints "volunteered" to play in this game, right? Don't forget that the teams that agree to play in the HOF game get an extra week of training camp. With the greatly reduced number of practice time that came with the latest CBA, that can't help be be a positive.

[juraitwaluzka]

I don't think the extra preseason game will make much of a difference. The way I see it, the saints are still very talented, especially offensively, their biggest threat comes from within. They will face adversity this season without a doubt as most every team does even in the best circumstances. How will they handle that, that is the defining question.

No one here truly knows what the atmosphere will be like internally, sorry Guido I know you think you know but you don't either. That will be the test, that is what will be the difference between double digit wins and and 8 or less. It would be hard to imagine less than 7 wins without a total meltdown or catastrophic injuries.

I would say that the first month of the season is crucial for the saints, in fact their first goal should be to strive to get to a normal season as best and as fast as they can. May not be possible. So I think all this stuff will have an effect but depending on the character of the team and what realty goes on internally will be the deciding factor. Predicting playoff berths or complete collapses at this point is nothing but premature speculation. There are simply too many unknowns.

[AsylumGuido]

(05-21-2012 11:53 AM)juraitwaluzka Wrote:  I don't think the extra preseason game will make much of a difference. The way I see it, the saints are still very talented, especially offensively, their biggest threat comes from within. They will face adversity this season without a doubt as most every team does even in the best circumstances. How will they handle that, that is the defining question.

No one here truly knows what the atmosphere will be like internally, sorry Guido I know you think you know but you don't either. That will be the test, that is what will be the difference between double digit wins and and 8 or less. It would be hard to imagine less than 7 wins without a total meltdown or catastrophic injuries.

I would say that the first month of the season is crucial for the saints, in fact their first goal should be to strive to get to a normal season as best and as fast as they can. May not be possible. So I think all this stuff will have an effect but depending on the character of the team and what realty goes on internally will be the deciding factor. Predicting playoff berths or complete collapses at this point is nothing but premature speculation. There are simply too many unknowns.

One thing they do have going in their favor is an extremely easy early schedule.