Just re-watched Saints @ Tampa.. (1 Viewer)

[DisplacedSaint]

Notes..

- How on earth did this Tampa Bay team win it all? Seriously..? Yes, this game was a Blowout, but we took them to the cleaners twice!

- Brees was surgical at 15-20 yards, even in the rain and wind. He had passes to 11 or 12 different receivers. Few mistakes, and just Brees doing what he's done for 15 years. No 40-50 yard bombs, but 20+ a few times, and that should be enough with a team this talented. This version of pre-injury Brees, I'd take any day.

- Cook needs to go. Dude just cannot hang on to the ball. I had forgotten about his fumble in this game, but it brings back the sting of the playoff loss for sure.

- Davenport, Hendrickson, Cam.. I think I counted 5 sacks?! The entire defense played with fire, and successfully shut down Brady, Evans, Brate, Gronk, Fournette, and Brown... Unreal how we slipped so far from this level.

Look, Brees will probably retire, but this dude still has it, if he can stay healthy. His football IQ is just extraordinary. No one can play this game as banged up as he was going into the post-season.
I'm glad I have these games saved to go back and watch. I will always cherish what Brees has done.

What an amazing team, and it's a shame that it ended this way.

 

[OutlawSaint]

It's rigged, that's how..

 

[BelowZero]

It's simple. Brees, as of the last four seasons, has not shown the ability to win the playoffs. He comes out flat and puts the rest of the team in an awful position until he decides to wake up at some point in the second half. He can beat the good teams in the regular season, but the good and great teams are going to dare him to throw deep when they realize it's all or nothing for a ring. They just aren't threatened by his arm. The turnovers (the same ones that people love to give Winston a hard time for despite playing under a much worse HC) are another prominent issue. The injuries are just another excuse to yet another bad playoff showing. This isn't a new trend, either. The offense, specifically Brees, has let the defense down repeatedly, regardless of how hard they played. Blame other players, blame the coaching, or whoever you want. Brees is a legend to the NFL and NO, but looking away and saying he still has it is delusional.

Brees is done, and he should be before those injuries get any worse. It's only downhill from there.

 

[SaintStephen1]

11 broken ribs.

 

[Saint Droopy]

Re-watch the Tampa @ Saints playoff game and fast-forward to the Cook fumble. That's where it all started/ended.

 

[fdl16]

Look, Brees will probably retire, but this dude still has it, if he can stay healthy. His football IQ is just extraordinary. No one can play this game as banged up as he was going into the post-season.

He's had lengthy injuries two years in a row now, after only missing one game in a saints uniform prior to that. His durability won't be any better next year. It's nice to imagine "what if he's healthy?" but I don't think he's capable of that anymore at his age.

 

[SaintsMan209]

Brees injuries are related to garbage o-line letting unknown sf lineman run right through. brees isn't getting hurt because he's old, he'd be just as hurt if he was 25 and big lineman just crushed him. age has nothing to do with his current injuries. prove me wrong.

 

[LiterOCola]

Brees injuries are related to garbage o-line letting unknown sf lineman run right through. brees isn't getting hurt because he's old, he'd be just as hurt if he was 25 and big lineman just crushed him. age has nothing to do with his current injuries. prove me wrong.

Every QB in the league gets hit by those same NFL defensive linemen. Brees historically, and it was true last season also, gets hit less than most of the other QBs in the league. The difference now is he can't handle the hits anymore because of his age.

Farve was one of the most durable QBs in his career, but the last two years or so was mostly him limping and forcing throws through multiple reoccurring injuries. It happens to everyone eventually, it just happens at different times. Some QBs won't make it past 35. Brees was lucky and made it into his 40's.

 

[KingBarkus]

Going back to the OP's original premise. The NFL season is filled with peaks and valleys. Teams look great, the same team looks like they have not practiced. Young teams, old teams, injuries, it affects every team. That's why you see coaches trying to position their teams to be peaking at the end of the year. (Tampa) In our last4 year run, there have been games where no one could beat us. We looked like a machine just crushing other NFL teams making them look completely inept. We have not been able to peak at the end of the year. Throw out the Rams screw job, but even in that game we didn't look sharp as we had destroyed the Rams earlier in the year. Teams like Tampa with veteran coaches and players were not going to allow what happened on that Sunday night in Tampa to occur in the playoffs.

 

[nolaswede]

Every QB in the league gets hit by those same NFL defensive linemen. Brees historically, and it was true last season also, gets hit less than most of the other QBs in the league. The difference now is he can't handle the hits anymore because of his age.

Farve was one of the most durable QBs in his career, but the last two years or so was mostly him limping and forcing throws through multiple reoccurring injuries. It happens to everyone eventually, it just happens at different times. Some QBs won't make it past 35. Brees was lucky and made it into his 40's.

That was one hit(pretty massive). The thumb the year before was just unlucky. Brees is not really injury prone, but still doubt he comes back for another season!

 

[HoustonSaint68]

...He comes out flat and puts the rest of the team in an awful position until he decides to wake up at some point in the second half.

Horrible take above although the rest of your post isn’t far wrong.

To say that Brees has “come out flat” “until he decides to wake up” in the last 4 playoff losses is insulting to such an all time great and indicates that you’ve either forgotten what actually happened in those games or that you don’t understand football.

That said, I don’t see any way, anymore, that this version of Brees can win three or four playoff games in a row to win a championship. Inevitably, you will face at least two very good defenses paired with powerful enough offenses that can sufficiently contain this very efficient but very limited version of Brees.

If he comes back, we’ll again win at least 10 games and then fall short in the playoffs again. And, Drew will get booed in the Dome. I really, really hope he hangs them up,

 

[Saintcd]

11 broken ribs.

Shouldn’t have played then, no excuses.

 

[Saintcd]

Brees injuries are related to garbage o-line letting unknown sf lineman run right through. brees isn't getting hurt because he's old, he'd be just as hurt if he was 25 and big lineman just crushed him. age has nothing to do with his current injuries. prove me wrong.

No, prove yourself right. Garbage oline comment is the 1st indication you’re wrong. Though.

 

[dvdman]

I know this is a tough pill for many of you to swallow but Brees is not our problem he’s just an easy scapegoat right now. Poor coaching, horrible o-line okay, fumbles and honestly numerous missed TO opportunities killed us.

 

[gregh]

11 broken ribs.

he didnt have that the last few playoff losses