The New Orleans Saints are bona fide Super Bowl contenders again after they finally ended a three-year playoff drought last season. But if they're going to make a serious run in 2018, they'd better start fast.
After being plagued by slow starts over the past four years (1-3, 0-3, 0-3 and 0-2), the Saints can't afford a repeat with the schedule looking much more favorable in the first five weeks than the final 11.
The Saints open with back-to-back home games for the first time since 2004, and four of their first five opponents had losing records last year.