But the Saints were 13-3 and the Vikings were 10-6. Are we to just ignore the Saints success in the regular season (large sample size) for a single post-season game (small sample size). The Saints offense went belly up against the Vikings. Without Taysom Hill in that game, the Saints offense was just bad...Brees put up one of the worst games in his career. Payton was outcoached and the interior OL (which will look much the same) wasn't talented enough to overcome the Saints poor preparation. I still believe that the single biggest reason why the Saints didn't make it further in the playoffs was because they had to play the wildcard game. Emmanuel Sanders was the difference. If Sanders is on the Saints and not the 49ers, I'd be shocked if the 49ers beat the Saints...and the Saints don't even play in the wildcard game. The Saints have improved that #2 WR spot and took away Sanders from one of our chief competitors...that's a start.