I just watched the Saints win their 7th game of the year by defeating the hapless 2 win Tampa Bay Bucs. This victory was so "who cares" I am surprised I watched. Let's recap what was once thought to be a special year that turned out to be anything but special.
Almost everyone in the NFL talking heads club could not mention the New Orleans Saints without saying probable NFC champ and Super Bowl contender. Most of us here in the land of the Who-Dat nation gleefully accepted that premise as fact. Collectively, we all forgot that you have to play the game.
The Saints chose to conduct training camp at some posh resort in West Virginia known as the Greenbriar. Everyone from the local media who enjoyed their summer vacation with the Saints reported that they look every bit the Super Bowl contender. National media continued to gush over the Saints. Nothing that happened in the preseason changed minds and hearts, this was the year the Saints get back to the big dance.
Something funny happened along the way to another Saints Super Bowl; they collided with something called the regular season schedule. And that was the end of Super Bowl dreams. The season opener produced a depressing give it away loss to Atlanta in OT followed by an equally depressing OT loss to Cleveland. Then and there, at 0-2, the season was doomed because the Saints would never possess a winning record all year long. Stunning victories over Green Bay and Carolina, on the road, had the Saints at 4-4 and facing a 3 game home stand. While the rest of the NFC South was sucking badly, dreams of a win streak and domination of the South was dancing in the heads of Saints fans. Not to be; not to be at all. Consecutive losses at home to SF, Cincinnati and Baltimore sent the Saints and their fans reeling. Only road victories against Pittsburgh and Chicago kept the Saints in the hunt but devastating home losses to Atlanta and Carolina sealed the fate of the losing Saints. Incredibly, not since forever did the Saints lose 5 consecutive home games, including two that could have helped the Saints still earn a playoff berth. Today's hapless win against the Tampa Bay Bucs gave the Saints their second 7-9 season in the last 3 years. But this one was ugly and wholly unexpected. So what is wrong?
Short answer is almost everything. From a head coach that seemed out of sync all year, a defensive coordinator that went from prince to pauper and a special teams coach who has been a dud for some time. What about the defense that went from top 5 to second to last. Nothing impressive at all from Jordan, Hicks and gang up front, pedestrian play at best from mediocre linebackers and most disappointing of all; a defensive backfield that was all promise and turned out to be all bust. Forget about the premier free agent signing of Jarius Byrd, he was gone after week 5. Champ Bailey, he could not even make the cut. By year's end, the DB's were a bunch of late year signees from various practice squads. Then the offense, the bread and butter of a Coach Peyton led Saints team; until this year. The O-line stunk, the receivers perfected the art of the drop, the big contract Jimmy Graham was a mess, thanks in part to an injury and Drew Brees was as bad as he has ever been in a Saints uniform. One of his favorite plays in 2014 was the interception, particularly the pick 6. Mark Ingram had a good year, but that is way too little too late.
What has fallen apart? The collective loss of a lot of ex-Saint talent all at once seemed too much to overcome. Where is Darrin Sproles and Lance Moore when you need them? The #1 draft choice, Brandon Cooks, overall he was a non-factor. The rest of the draft for 2014 was a bust, after a pretty poor 2013 draft too. Good grief, what has happened to Mickey Loomis?
Money issues like the salary cap for 2015 does not bode well for the Saints. Brees, Byrd and Graham count for like 40% of the cap; three players! Brees counts for $ 26 million next year and he is getting older quickly with diminishing skills. Things do not look good.
For the first time since Payton and Brees arrived in New Orleans and won us a Super Bowl, and we will always remember that, there is little hope at the end of a season for what was and for the start of a new one for what might be.
Who Dat? Not we dat anymore; and that is sad.
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