This is not a day to cry, nay it is a day to celebrate. Why you ask? Because finally, FINALLY, the ‘same ol Saints’ crowd gets their day in the sun. They have been telling you all for years that its all a mirage, that the Saints are secretly an awful organization and the Super Bowl win was nothing more than a mass delusion. The Saints are awful at FA, awful at drafting, and reports of Drew Brees having a torn rotator cuff should always be believed from bad sources. Those people now get their day in the sun because the 2015 New Orleans Saints SUCK. No excuses, no explanations on why they are really ok, just a simple statement of fact. This years team SUCKS. That doesn’t mean they will suck next year, or that they will suck for the next decade. But for this year, this team is awful. They are paying the price for 5 years of bad drafts, no vision for the defense, and poor FA decisions that bled the cap dry. Was it worth it? We will always have 09,11,13 so I say yes.
There are still 5 games left in the season and believe it or not there are still things to play for. The young players can still develop, good habits can be built, and they can try to establish an identity to take into next year (other than having a defense that impersonates a sieve). Today’s game against a talented Texans team that has found itself clearly shows that the Saints (whether they admit it or not) are rebuilding. Players like Kevin Williams, Brandon Browner, Kyle Wilson, Michael Mauti, Ramon Humber, and Brandon Coleman shouldn’t be receiving any kind of significant playing time anymore (or ever for Coleman). They are all playing significant minutes due to injuries which was the one thing this team had ZERO margin for error with coming into the season. The loss of Lewis, Swann, and Ellerbe, and to a lesser degree Bunkley have hurt this team tremendously.
Today’s game was a microcosm of that, but in particular the Saints got wrecked in 2 areas. The Front seven was dominated expect for 2 players (Anthony who made some plays, and Jordan), and the Saints offensive line was awful. The Andrus Peat experiment at guard can end right now thank you very much. Zack Strief was left on an island against all-world DE/DT JJ Watt and got wrecked constantly, and due to the line getting dominated Brees never had time to establish a rhythm. The run game was also non-existent due to there being no running lanes, although Ingram made the best of it he could.
The incredible thing is that the Saints held arguably the best WR in football in Deandre Hopkins to 5 catches for 36 yards. If you told me that going into the game I would say they had a chance. Unfortunately the fact that they are playing high school level players at WLB and have a negative pass rush allowed Hoyer to just patiently pick apart the middle of the field. The Saints once again lost tight ends in coverage and had double-digit penalties. Those are two issues that if they don’t get better by seasons end…some heads need to roll. (metaphorically here people)
The Sad thing is that this team does have some talent. There are some really nice pieces on this team, but there is no identity, and massive holes at key spots. The reason the Saints got dominated in this game is that they are pathetic up front, lacking key pieces for their offense (Colston or Jimmy type players), and are simply a sub-par team top to bottom. Sean Payton is still a great offensive mind, Drew Brees is still a VERY good (but only sometimes great) QB, and there is talent sprinkled around. But the lack of depth, the lack of NFL quality players at multiple positions (Peat at G…really?), and an inability to build a quality team with a vision and an identity have created the mess you see before you. Do I think they can fix this? Yes, but the pathetic showing of this team over the last 4 weeks makes me doubt that they will. To lose to Brian Hoyer in back to back weeks is sad. To have Drew fearing for his life every week is sadder still. But the saddest thing of all is that its gotten so bad that some Saints ‘faithful’ have stooped so low as to openly root for the Panthers. I am sorry, but if you EVER root for your division opponents to do well just because your team is playing poorly….that’s just sorry. I get where it comes from, I do, some fans love the winning and can’t take the pain, and that is fine I guess. But a division rival? With an idiot for a QB? (and for the record I don’t care about the dancing in the end zone…its the other stuff, the dud’es a punk) That right there, that tells you how far the Saints have truly fallen. No matter what i will route for this team to win each of its remaining games, but I won’t expect it. They are simply a bad team, let’s just hope they can fix it.
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