It amazes me how some here act like we're the Browns or 49ers (1 Viewer)

[srcampbell]

Yeah 7-9 should be celebrated.




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Exactly! And who the heck are we to look down on any team! When's the last time we made it to the playoffs? What's worse? No talent teams who are perennial losers or perennial losers who shatter records along the way?

 

[Buickman]

I look at it this way. If not for bad officiating or dumb penalties that give the opponents first downs, we could easily be 10-6 at the least.

 

[Mr. Sparkle]

We are closer to the 49ers and Browns than we are to the Patriots, Seahawks or even the Cowboys.

This version of the Saints has run its course, though I expect we will have at least 1 more season with the same template in place.

 

[Super44]

Good lord guys. Take a breath. You can criticize a lot of things but the Saints offense was on fire this year. It wasn't just garbage time yard either.

I beg to differ. Prove it where the Saints offense "was on fire" outside of "garbage time".

Provide the stats and the wins.

 

[blackadder]

The Saints are the only team in the NFL to never have been at .500 or better in 3 full years. Think on that for a minute, they've lost the opener and then some for the last 3 years and have not spent one day at the .500 mark.

That is not coincidence, that is a trend and it speaks to exactly what you said.

And as another poster noted, even 7-9 was achieved on the back of your best player and having him throw the ball 40-50 times a game. Each of theses 7-9 seasons seemed EXACTLY the same. Spinning wheels.

You can say the defense made some progress but it remained a liability beyond just the CB injuries. Against the Lions they were beat just as much st the LOS and still didn't get consistent pressure on the QB and that's a problem no matter who your CBs are.

I can see the argument for another year and some patience for Allen but it's tough for a fan to be patient when we've been as bad on defense as we have been for as long as we have been. It leaves us feeling like we are watching the same game over and over again on infinite loop.

 

[Saint Kamara]

You are over hyping the bountygate impact.

Bountygate didn't cause the 5 year tailspin.

It was bad signings and personnel moves, too much dead money and bad dc hirings and inability to settle on a plan and philosophy for the defense. All that mattered a lot more than the bountygate penalties as far as why we are still 7-9. Even as late as last year we whiffed on a #1 draft pick.

And somewhere in there the coaches lost the locker room, which had nothing to do with Bountygate. This far along the troubles were with dynamics in house.

Well to his point Payton has never been the same since his banning from the NFL, so he it correct that is has caused the slide with Payton becoming a very mediocre head coach.

 

[FalcnDave]

For all those crying about being 7-9...ok yeah it stinks we're not going to the playoffs, yes I don't like being 7-9 for the third straight year no more than anyone. But some of you are acting like this team didn't have to rebuild after the atrocity that was "Bountygate."

That is not what has caused the Saints to have 7-9 records that last three years. From an outsider, here are the 2 biggest factors I see.

First, lack of talent on defense. Cap mismanagement is the single biggest factor in my opinion. You can't substitute for talent. Draft more of it and manage the salary better to retain them.

Second, poor coaching decisions. Regardless of the level of talent, you need to coach it well. Rob Ryan? Really? The one place where bountygate did hurt you is it overshadowed that Steve Spagnulolo was actually a good DC. What if?

From my perspective, the Saints are on the upward trend. You need to stay the course and not go for the quick fix. I like the young defenders. You need more of them.

PS--OL. Fix it. Brees was pretty much in the box until Quinn called off the dogs and went soft zone. I don't know what made him think you can ever take that approach with Brees. Hopefully that was a lesson learned. It is fairly easy to get Brees leaning backwards these days. Go fix that as well.

 

[CTSaint]

Well as a fan since '89, this is what i was used to; mediocrity. 7 or less wins a year. Sean changed the culture to a higher standard. So when this org is placed on the same level as the 9ers & Browns because of lack of playoff appearances, then that's who we are. Playoff appearances, po wins gets this org back on elite status.

Up here Pat fans expect 10+ wins a year 'cause that's the culture now up here. That wasn't the case back in the 80s & 90s, even though they expected better. Why not us?

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[Swimmer]

For all those crying about being 7-9...ok yeah it stinks we're not going to the playoffs, yes I don't like being 7-9 for the third straight year no more than anyone. But some of you are acting like this team didn't have to rebuild after the atrocity that was "Bountygate." Some of you are acting as if we're as bad as the Browns or 49ers. These are teams that have had draft pick after draft pick and look where they are. Cleveland can't find a QB to save their life and the 49ers looked a gift horse right in the mouth and fired Harbaugh 2 years ago and look where they are!!!!! The Saints have made mistakes...and yes Sean Payton has made some mistakes. But this team has always been competitive despite trying to reload for the past few seasons. They are as close now as they have ever been and now you want to rock the boat and take a risk and bring another coach in??????? Let's go get Rex Ryan and bring his circus act to New Orleans...then we'll be labeled clowns not the Falcons. Or let's get Tom Coughlin....it's a lock that his act will appeal to the players. Or hey maybe Jim Schwartz wants to come to the N.O....pretty good defensive coordinator and I'm sure he will make us all forget about Sean Payton...My point is this to you fans whining about Sean Payton needs to go....be careful what you wish for because not only may you get it but this team could go backwards to the levels of the Browns, Jets, and 49ers. Then again when Mr. Brees is gone that's just about a lock to happen anyway.

Only 2 teams in the entire league have never been above .500 at any time over the past three seasons. The Jags are one. And painfully so, the Saints are the other. That's our closest company

 

[blackadder]

Well to his point Payton has never been the same since his banning from the NFL, so he it correct that is has caused the slide with Payton becoming a very mediocre head coach.

Did you think that maybe Payton has never been the same since his divorce and middle Age and all the personal drama associated with all that?

That was concurrent with bountygate and in motion before it. And for me the stuff he got himself mixed up in that led to upheaval in his personal life speaks to how he handled success. If the consequences of all that are that he's lost some fire/focus/passion then to me that's more on the personal flaws than bountygate, though it certainly didn't help.

 

[blackadder]

That is not what has caused the Saints to have 7-9 records that last three years. From an outsider, here are the 2 biggest factors I see.

First, lack of talent on defense. Cap mismanagement is the single biggest factor in my opinion. You can't substitute for talent. Draft more of it and manage the salary better to retain them.

Second, poor coaching decisions. Regardless of the level of talent, you need to coach it well. Rob Ryan? Really? The one place where bountygate did hurt you is it overshadowed that Steve Spagnulolo was actually a good DC. What if?

From my perspective, the Saints are on the upward trend. You need to stay the course and not go for the quick fix. I like the young defenders. You need more of them.

PS--OL. Fix it. Brees was pretty much in the box until Quinn called off the dogs and went soft zone. I don't know what made him think you can ever take that approach with Brees. Hopefully that was a lesson learned. It is fairly easy to get Brees leaning backwards these days. Go fix that as well.

As an outsider your observations are pretty solid.

Taking it a step further, who's made the decisions on managing the defense? from releasing Gregg Williams to discounting Spagnoulo in favor of feedback received likely from Vitt and company to selecting Rob Ryan and then directing him to change what started as a successful scheme to try to copycat Seattle?

Then who has been the prime mover on talent selection?

Most of that is at the feet of Sean Payton, which is why we are having these discussions about his fate because it all led to theee years of losing, and losing in pretty much the same exact ways.

A defensive mind and solid OVERALL head coach is something he has not been and he has been too stubborn on some level to bring in another proven marquee name ans simply turn over the defensive keys. He was successful when he did that with Williams but from there became more of a micromanager, out of his depth.

 

[Ti Rider]

At no point in the last three seasons have the Saints been above .500 (and very Browns/9ers like). That is completely unacceptable. I do believe now that the salary cap and dead money are under control this team is on the verge of taking the next step. But they have to tread carefully - more expensive misfires (Byrd, Fleener) could quickly derail it. Next season is a make or break year for the team. I expect there will be MAJOR changes if they produce yet another 7-9 snoozer season.

 

[blackadder]

yep. first quarter is more than one drive. again, fans pointing to meaningless stats to justify homerism. there's 16 games in a season. scoring on the opening drive in 5 of them does not somehow give us a winning record. one would have to be very obtuse to lean on a stat like that to defend their argument regarding how slow this team has gotten out of the gate.

i don't know of another fanbase in the league that leans on such pointless stats. "a record 4 or 5 opening drives with TDs". lol who cares.

Comes from the fist 20 years or so of the franchise when meaningless stats gave hope and hope was all you had to cling to.

 

[bouxdag]

The glass half full approach would be at least we're not the 49ers or Browns.

The glass half empty approach would be we're basically the only team in the history of the modern pass happy NFL that has a sure fire first ballot HOF qb on the roster and consistently can't even make the playoffs. Look at Favre, Rodgers, Peyton Manning, Roethlisberger, Brady etc. Hell, even if you go back to the previous era, if you had a truly elite qb you're supposed to make the playoffs every year. How many seasons did Montana, Marino, Young, Elway etc miss the playoffs? Shrug. It's depressing to me.

I can't think of a quarterback that was considered great (Archie? I guess) that missed the playoffs 4 out of 5 years. And I'm sure someone will point out somebody, but naming another anomaly doesn't give me a lot of solace.

 

[Mojomajik9]

I think fans are upset because we see another stellar season by Brees (yes he had 2 stinkers but overall it was a great year), 2 WRs over a 1,000 yards, and Ingram getting 1K on the ground and we're 7-9. The only team to have that kind of offensive production was the 2013 Broncos.

I believe fans are tired of hoping the defense turns the corner. There are games where you feel it's close, but then there are games like yesterday where the Falcons scored 35 points in the first half. It's frustrating to see season after season after season.

Hall of Fame QBs don't grow on trees. We know Brees' time is winding down and that adds to the feeling of disappointment and frustration. It could be a decade or more before we find a decent QB after Brees hangs it up. We should have been perennial contenders, but instead we're stuck in mediocrity. So, I can't blame fans for feeling upset after another disappointing season