Were Our Expectations Too High? (1 Viewer)

St. Anger

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Right now, the Saints are second in the NFC South on the outside looking in. Yes, the outside. The Panthers are coming on, the Giants are in control of the East with the Cowboys on their heels. The West is, honestly, up for grabs between the Seahawks, Rams and (gasp) 49ers. The North is the Bears to lose. If the Saints don't turn it around, they will be out of the playoff hunt.

This season was supposed to be a "pass" for the Saints but they made us believe by winning. Did they raise our expectations? The Saints still have a monster schedule ahead of them and quite honestly, 9-7 is not going to get in the playoffs. I thought that the Saints had a shot in the South but the two teams in the East are slowly evaporating our hopes for a shot in the playoffs.

Now, it's possible for the Saints to turn it around and get the South title or a wild card shot but I see it as follows:

SOUTH
Panthers

NORTH
Bears

WEST
Seahawks

EAST
Giants
Cowboys

Saints just miss it. Again, did the Saints raise our expectations only to met with complete disappointment? I thought that the Saints would run the table but turnovers are doing them in.
 
Who do you have as the #6 playoff team???

I honestly don't know. It's wide open in the East so the catalyst is the South. The Falcons are done. Mora is in jeopardy of losing his job, the Saints are turnover prone and it the West the Rams are falling and the 49ers are surging. I honestly don't know. The North will send one team so it's wide open.

It's etablished that the Saints can't beat the AFC although the Browns win does count but it was the first game. Trust me, I have faith but this is getting too close to call.
 
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Sure, the Panthers hold a half game lead, but that's largely meaningless as the Saints currently need no help to erase that deficit. Other than that, the Saints are experiencing a slump -- for how long remains to be seen -- that many teams experience. The Panthers got off to a rough start, and are now on a two game losing streak. At this point, the only real difference is where each team finds itself on the winning/losing curve. Remember what people were saying about Carolina a few weeks ago? Remember when people were ready to put the Eagles in the NFC championship? Or writing the Cowboys off?

Next week is pivotal. At this point, the Saints have to win to control their destiny without help. But there's still a lot of season left and I won't be surprised if it's neck and neck to the finish.

The Saints are shooting themselves in the foot right now which, IMO, offers more reason for optimism than if they were just getting out-played, which I don't think is the case. Mistakes can be addressed whereas a midseason realization that your team can't match up most often can't be fixed. Of course if they keep playing sloppy ball, it won't matter. But I haven't seen anything yet that tells me the Saints aren't good enough to hang with any team when they play good football.

Disappointed but not discouraged.
 
I'd say yes. This defense is very average at best. It will take at least one more FA period and another good draft to fix the defensive holes we have.

At this time last time, the Saints were in San Antonio soaking in ice-filled trash cans. Let's not expect too much too soon. If we can eke out a winning season this year, that will be an incredible accomplisment.
 
i think we will be one of the 6 teams in bears,g-men,seahawks, saints,panthers, and dallas....
 
i think we will be one of the 6 teams in bears,g-men,seahawks, saints,panthers, and dallas....

It's definitely getting interesting. The Niners are quietly making a strong push. The Eagles season may be over. The Vikings and Rams are fading and falling behind the pack. The Falcons have dropped three in a row.
 
it's amazing how essentially some ill timed turnovers can create bobbly knees in SOME fans. The last two weeks we played some pretty good offensive teams & should have won albiet some turnovers. If we fix this problem...or minimize it we win at least 3-4 of the remaining games...if not, we don't deserve to be in the playoffs.

As far as the Panthers surging....I still don't see it even though they have won 2 in a row.
 
I have confidence that this team will come through and capture a playoff spot, but it has to start this week and then we have to beat San Fran and squash any playoff hopes they have. Wins over the Falcons and Niners basically eliminates them from the playoffs barring a total Saints tankjob in the last 4 games plus it would be nice having a 2 game winning streak going into Dallas.
 
Actually the division title is far from over. The Falcons and Panthers are both teams we can run with. Have some faith cause it a looonnggg way from over!
 
I don't think the expectations have really changed, I just think we are experiencing normal troubles that most teams fgace. We just need to turn it around. That said, I don't think out defense is going to get better this year...
 

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