How are you thinking about the rest of the Saints season? (4 Viewers)

[Zardnok]

Somewhere between the top-2. I am an optimist by nature, but realize how difficult it is to win out in the NFL. I am definitely going to enjoy the wins and worry about the draft after the season. Draft is a crap shoot; the top-rated players can flame out while the mid-late rounders can become the heart of your team and the basis for a healthy salary cap. Give me some mid-round lineman like Jahri Evans, Carl Nicks, and Terron Armstead or a 7th round WR Marcus Colston or UDFA RB Pierre Thomas. Those are the players I get excited for.

 

[jaglosso]

I've been in full on Saints mode and haven't been looking at anything else but this is just too many injuries and players not on the field. Either something is horribly wrong with the medical/training staff or we need to shift our draft/free agency focus on getting tough players instead of these marshmallows. It's so maddening I might start clubbing baby seals if another injury happens.

Anyways, I'm done with this Saints season. I've been blocking anything Pelicans related so now I'm going to go back and start focusing on them from preseason on. They're going to be a much more exciting team to watch. We have CJ, Zion, Jose.....and Herb and TMIII never get injured so that's a plus. AND we traded for Murray! He's probably averaging a triple double and I've been missing it to watch the Saints. Excited about that Matkovic guys, too. This should be a fun month of catching up.

You’re in for a rude awakening when you finally unblock the Pelicans! All of those guys you said not injured are. Actually everyone you named are currently injured. TMIII just came back. There’s something wrong with the medical staff in the city lol

 

[meily]

Not thinking about it at all. I’ll be much more engaged in the off season when we are searching for a HC, heading into the draft and hopefully looking for a new GM.

I agree, I want us to perform well, compete and hopefully win, but my mind to is on the draft and a new head coaching search and hopefully getting a leader of men at the position and not another substitute teacher.

 

[MarylandWHODAT]

In my heart, I want them to win every game. In my head, they have about two, maybe three more wins in them. The remaining schedule and what I think they will do:

Rams = L
Giants = W
Commanders = L
Packers = L
Raiders = W
Buccaneers = L

The Bucs game is 50/50 depending on playoff spots. I had said in August that this team has a ceiling of winning seven games and a floor of winning five games. I honestly think that they will go 6-11 for the year.

So, I will just sit back and enjoy the games regardless of the outcome.

 

[St. Widge]

I dont think 9-8 makes a wild card, and I dont think we win the division at 9-8.

We need to win out to make the playoffs.

Probably so. We lose all the tie breakers so we need to be a game ahead of Atlanta and Tampa to win the Division. That likely requires being 10-7.

 

[Rexman100]

What does this season mean to you now?

it depends if we can beat quality playoff teams. If we can beat the Rams,Wash,Pack, Bucs, then this will show we belong. If not, then we have to rebuild. IOW, just let the season play out.

 

[Whodat GT]

it depends if we can beat quality playoff teams. If we can beat the Rams,Wash,Pack, Bucs, then this will show we belong. If not, then we have to rebuild. IOW, just let the season play out.

I am definitely more hungry for meaningful wins than just doing enough to get to the playoffs. The team could be as good as advertised when the season began. That is the "storyline" I'm interested in. You have all offseason to worry about what comes next.

 

[HouseCall]

I dont think 9-8 makes a wild card, and I dont think we win the division at 9-8.

We need to win out to make the playoffs.

I agree with this. The Falcons and Bucs would have to finish with worse records than us. We still have a game vs the Bucs but they apparently have a pretty easy overall schedule remaining.

Atlanta already has 6 wins to our 4 with only 6 games remaining. It’s not impossible - but very improbable - in my opinion.

Also as for the WC, I don’t think 10-7 guarantees a spot this season.

The Vikings and Packers are already at 9 and 8 wins, respectively.

The Commanders are at the 7 spot now with 7 wins and the NFC West is a logjam of 6-5 to 5-6 teams, all of which are ahead of the 4-7 Saints.

The Saints could conceivably run the table, winning their last 9 games and still not control their own destiny for a playoff birth.

Wild.

 

[Lazarus]

In my heart, I want the Saints to win out, make the playoffs, and win at least one game in the post-season. That is how I feel.

In my mind, the 7 game losing streak looks like too large of a hole to climb out of, especially with so many NFC teams ahead of us record-wise:

Tampa
Atlanta
Washington
Philly
Detroit
Green Bay
Minnesota
San Francisco
Seattle
Arizona
LA Rams

These are my very simplistic views. The team has to go out there and play and we’ll just wait to see how everything shakes out.

I feel exactly the same and I don't want to get my hopes up for playoffs because its just not likely to happen. If it does I'll enjoy it. The last two weeks were fun again to watch and not miserable. Thanks Coach Rizz

 

[RaginSaint93]

Win out and get the 7th seed

 

[Hedon James]

What does this season mean to you now?

I'm happy not to be watching the same ole same and hearing the same tired cliches. I'm appreciate of the "jolt" this team has received. Probably too little too late (way to have your fingers on the pulse of the team, like all good GMs do, Loomis!), but at least they're enjoyable to watch now, and I have hope for the future.

I'm honestly excited about the last 8 games of the season. No delusions of playoffs (a possibility, but not likely) or SB, but truly excited about 2025 prospects now. The Saints will have a new coach starting the season, and we've got 8 "freebies" to see if we've already got the right guy or we need to go outside the organization. That's 8 more games than we usually have to "try before we buy", so I kinda like that.

Rizz is either gonna seize the opportunity and make his hire a no-brainer; or he's not. It's going to sort itself out over the next 6 weeks, and the direction we need to go will be clear, IMO. There are NO OTHER viable HC candidates on the current staff, IMO, so there will be no second-guessing of "i wonder what kind of job Rizz would've done, if given the chance." And I'll be excited for that too!

We've got a solid roster, IMO; it's just paper-thin. What remains of THIS season is all about determining next coach, IMO. Bring it!

 

[Kegger]

I want us to fight for wins every week. Realistically, we've dug too big of a hole to make the playoffs, though not impossible. I think at this point we're just fighting to maintain our dignity and position ourselves to be division contenders next season. Use the rest of the season to see what we have and what we need going into next year.

 

[Hedon James]

Probably so. We lose all the tie breakers so we need to be a game ahead of Atlanta and Tampa to win the Division. That likely requires being 10-7.

If this team goes 10-7, they deserve to NFCS champs and Rizz will have EARNED the right to remove the "interim" label as HC. If that's what they show me, I'm 1,000% on board with that outcome!

 

[WilliamBrees]

We might be able to afford one more loss and still make the post season. And there are a couple legitimate tests to see if Rizzi has really turned this team on or just caught a wave of momentum. This Rams game is going to answer a lot of questions. With them losing to the Eagles, and their division race being so close, this would be a serious victory if the Saints can pull it off. Especially coming off the bye. The Saints haven't beat a legitimate, playoff caliber team since Payton left.

Its a long shot for playoffs but still fun to dream and have some care in the other game's results. The main thing I'm watching for is how Rizzi finishes out the season and whether or not he's the guy that should be a serious candidate for the HC job. Otherwise, with Washington, GB and TB on the schedule, Saints have the chance to play spoiler. I'm not worried about the draft. Going from pick 12 to pick 8 in one draft isn't going to turn the franchise around.

The Rams after that game face the Bills and 49ers, two likely losses and they're going to be 8 or 9 losses. They may not even beat the Jets or Cardinals.

 

[WilliamBrees]

You’re in for a rude awakening when you finally unblock the Pelicans! All of those guys you said not injured are. Actually everyone you named are currently injured. TMIII just came back. There’s something wrong with the medical staff in the city lol

And why didn't he mention Ingram?