New Orleans Saints: Why Drew Brees’ injury will end up being a good thing

It felt like the sky was falling when Drew Brees suffered a torn ligament in his throwing thumb but now it can be spun as a good thing for the New Orleans Saints.

The New Orleans Saints are now two games into not having Drew Brees under center and thus far, things have gone much smoother than many people expected for the team.

The Saints had to go on the road to play the Seattle Seahawks and then were at home against the Dallas Cowboys, both playoff teams from a year ago. Teddy Bridgewater did his job as a game manager and the Saints collectively put together two wins.

Now the Saints stand at 3-1 and even if they cool off, should not be in that bad of a situation without Brees. Plus, the schedule is a lot easier over the next four games than it was the last two. It is not crazy to think that at the very least, the Saints will get two more wins without Brees.

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a 5-3 record when Brees returns is not bad at all and would keep a 12-4 record in the cards for the team. If the Saints can go 3-1 in the next four then home-field advantage in the NFC is not out of the question.

The New Orleans Saints are not only primed to survive the Drew Brees injury but they might actually be better off because of it. Sounds crazy, I know, but you can definitely make the case.

My buddy actually brought this point up to me on our podcast (if you want to check it out you can here) and I thought he was just doing a funny bit. But in reality, he might have a point.

The first point is obvious: this keeps Brees rested. And while some may say that it keeps him from getting into a rhythm for the postseason, the amount of time he missed is perfect.

This will give Brees eight games at the end of the year before the postseason with three more possible playoff games, assuming they get a first-round bye.

It is no secret that Brees is getting older and he did cool down substantially at the end of last season. It was right around Week 11 where Brees started to cool down and he went on a four-game stretch where he averaged 175 yards per game while throwing six total touchdowns and four interceptions.

He is in the perfect range where he is going to get enough games in to get in a rhythm but doesn’t face the threat of burning out, especially if the Saints get that first-round bye.

There are two other components that make this a win for the Saints. First, the Saints are figuring out how to win games without Drew Brees, which is extremely important.

If they can figure out how to win games without Brees then it is going to get much easier when Brees returns. Then, even if Brees does have a slow game, the Saints are better equipped to rally around him.

Lastly, this does give the Saints a peek into the future at the quarterback position. We really do not know how much longer Brees has left in him and where the Saints want to go once he does hang it up.

A possibility that was discussed prior is that Teddy Bridgewater would take over as Drew Brees’ successor with the alternative being the NFL Draft.

This injury gives the team the chance to evaluate Bridgewater and make a decision of whether or not they want to trust him with the future of the franchise. That would have been a much harder decision without seeing Bridgewater in the game under center.

This is not just a recency bias argument either, although the two wins without Brees helps. Even if they lose a game, or two, or three over the next four, you could still make the case that Brees getting hurt will end up helping the New Orleans Saints more than it hurts them.