Did anyone else know the 2024 Season was over the moment McCoy got injured?

I've come to the same conclusion despite trying to change my perspective after the Saints won some games down the stretch last year when Carmichael went to more play action and then Allen installed a run-first, play action scheme in the offseason. Allen's wins tend to come against mediocre or inferior teams at points in the season when the playoffs are pretty much decided, not in high-pressure, must-win situations against good teams. (Just think of the Rams game last year, which was a must win if we were going to get to the playoffs, and how that went.) We can try to deduce all kinds of reasons--including injuries--that this year's team is losing, but the overall pattern of Allen as a HC is now several years old (including his Raiders daze) and is pretty consistent.

This is all true. But let's not forget last year was quite possibly the easiest schedule in NFL history. We played against a large number of teams who were .500 or worse. Couple that with how many backup QB's we faced (Wasn't it like 7?), and its not hard to imagine how we ended up winning 9 games. The one true game where the team played great, against a good team with their starting QB was the last game of the season vs Tampa Bay. Other then that, we fought, clawed and often narrowly beat teams with a backup QB or a losing record.

Which really makes me wonder, if we still had Payton how many wins that schedule combined with facing so many backup QB's would've translated too.