Five keys to season

• By SHELDON MICKLES
• Advocate sportswriter
• Published: Sep 5, 2008 - Page: 1C - UPDATED: 12:05 a.m.

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Finally.

After more than seven months of preparation in the front office and approximately five months spent on the field and in the weight room, the New Orleans Saints are two days away from their 2008 season opener.

The long, long wait since the Saints closed out an unfulfilling season with a 33-25 loss to the Chicago Bears on Dec. 30 comes to an end when Sean Payton’s team hosts the Tampa Bay Buccaneers on Sunday.

So what will the Saints be in 2008?

Will they be the 10-6 Saints of 2006, the team that surprised everyone but themselves in winning the NFC South title and reaching the NFC title game? Or the team that sagged to a 7-9 finish a year ago — keeping them out of the playoffs.

The answer will come in 17 weeks, when a challenging 16-game schedule that includes a “home” game in London a midseason stretch of 43 days without a game in the Superdome, and seven of their final 10 games away from home is completed.

But the Saints have no choice but to play the schedule assigned to them, that they cannot control.

What they can control is how they play, so here are five key things (it’s no coincidence three of them are on defense) they must improve on in order to have a chance at returning to the postseason:

1. Run the ball more effectively.

Largely because of the torn left ACL that sidelined Deuce McAllister in Week 3, the Saints ranked 28th in the NFL in rushing with just 91.6 yards per game.

They missed his presence as their power back, not to mention his role as the perfect complement to Reggie Bush’s speed. They proved to be a good 1-2 punch in 2006, which may resurface if McAllister is healthy again.

Bush led the team with 581 rushing yards despite missing the final four games with a knee injury and Aaron Stecker and Pierre Thomas provide plenty of depth.

2. Have the secondary limit big pass plays.