Looking Back on 2006 Saints (1 Viewer)

[Saintsfan8989]

It was a critcal season. We returned to the dome. Started our sellout streak. It took people's minds off real life. Huge boost to the city & state. It gave this team credibility.

My real question is about the on field product. Making the NFCCG is impressive. Yet, they were 10-6 that year. Were we the beneficiaries of a weak NFC? Or was that truly a great team that had a legit shot at the SB?

 

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My real question is about the on field product. Making the NFCCG is impressive. Yet, they were 10-6 that year. Were we the beneficiaries of a weak NFC? Or was that truly a great team that had a legit shot at the SB?

It was absolutely the weak NFC. The best non-Saints NFC teams that year were the Rex Grossman-led Bears......the Cowboys with Romo getting his first major shot......the McNabb-less Eagles........the "loser of the previous SB" Seahawks (teams in that situation usually don't do better the following season).........and the 8-8 Giants.

And I loved the 2006 Saints. They provided some wonderful memories for me as a fan.

But reality is reality.........Peyton Manning would have chewed them up and spit them out in that SB......rain or no rain. The team needed those next 3 years of growth, maturity and development......along with a few key extra pieces.

 

[SaintsThinker]

Losing to Chicago was for the best. My 11 year old self might not have realized it at the time but watching the Saints get blown out in the Super Bowl would have sucked haha. That was a fun team but it was nowhere near ready to win the Super Bowl. That was such a weak year in the NFC. Rex Grossman made the Super Bowl lol. That should tell you all you need to know about the 2006 NFC.

 

[Saint Kamara]

Just remember Seattle coming oh so close to win that game vs Chicago in the divisional round, which would have given us a home game for the NFC CG. I'm convinced we would have won and gone on to win the Super Bowl vs Peyton Manning.

 

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I'm convinced we would have won and gone on to win the Super Bowl vs Peyton Manning.

You're wrong, but ok.

I chuckle at how some people were probably cursing every aspect of Fred Thomas's existence after getting lit up in the NFCCG............but then think he was gonna somehow have it all together prior to covering Marvin Harrison and/or Reggie Wayne for 4 quarters in a hypothetical SB matchup.

Not to mention our linebackers trying to deal with Dallas Clark and Joseph Addai

 

[Saint Kamara]

You're wrong, but ok.

I chuckle at how some people were probably cursing every aspect of Fred Thomas's existence after getting lit up in the NFCCG............but then think he was gonna somehow have it all together prior to covering Marvin Harrison and/or Reggie Wayne for 4 quarters in a hypothetical SB matchup.

Not to mention our linebackers trying to deal with Dallas Clark and Joseph Addai

Peyton Manning had a QB rating of 70.5 during that Super Bowl run in 06.

So don't tell me we couldn't beat that choke artist.

 

[ChaChingBaby]

The 2006 team was a great feel good story for casual fans and it helped re-energize our faith in this team.

The Haslett coached teams were never terrible. They were always a team that went 8-8 or 9-7, struggling to get over that hump and into the playoffs. The Haslett Saints would often beat good teams and look surprising at times, but struggle to bad teams. 2006 was the year everything worked for us with a new coach, new QB and an amazing draft to add the missing pieces needed.

That was not a great team though. The NFC was so bad in 2006, we got a first round bye with a 10-6 record. The powerhouses were all in the AFC that year and the 2006 Bears are one of the worst teams to ever reach a SB. They didn't have a chance against Indy and wouldn't have had a chance against San Diego or New England.

Peyton Manning had a QB rating of 70.5 during that Super Bowl run in 06.

So don't tell me we couldn't beat that choke artist.

The Colts would've obliterated us in that SB. Anyone arguing we would've beat them in 2006 is wearing rose tinted glasses. It wouldn't have been much different from how they demolished us in the 2007 opener. We are all forgetting how easily Chicago wiped the floor with us. That 2007 game against Indy was a reality check that we were a long ways away from being a contender at the time.

Manning's stats aside, they had the 32nd ranked rushing defense going into the playoffs and they shut every team down on the ground that they played.

Baltimore was one of the best teams in the league that year with the #1 ranked defense and looked even better than the Bears through the year. Indy went into Baltimore, Manning had a bad game but they overcame it and won convincingly on the road in a game where they didn't allow a touchdown.

Stats do not tell the entire story when it comes to Manning's big comeback win over the Patriots. Granted, NE helped him out by not being able to catch any passes late in the game (karma for not wanting to pay Deion Branch), but Manning overcame what was an ugly game and come back and won. That final drive to take the lead was smartly played, as they ran the ball and chewed the clock.

If someone were to say that the Chargers would've beat that Colts team, I'd 100% agree. That was meant to be San Diego's year and the team would still be there today had they won it all. New England had no business even being in the AFC title game that year and they have Marlon McCree to thank for it, and yet they arguably should've beat the Colts. I have no doubt that Pats team would've also moped the floor with Chicago or us.

The NFC was pretty bad in 2006. We got a first round bye at a 10-6 record. It was the opposite of what it's like now. During that time frame, the AFC had legit contenders with the Pats, Colts, Chargers and Ravens. All 4 of those teams could've won the SB that year. For Chargers fans, 2006 is the one that hurts them the most cause that was most definitely their year and it was all flushed down the drain thanks to Marlon McCree and his dumb decision to try and run that INT back.

2006 was a great year, but we were a long ways away from being the contender we would become a few years later.

 

[ChaChingBaby]

Losing to Chicago was for the best. My 11 year old self might not have realized it at the time but watching the Saints get blown out in the Super Bowl would have sucked haha. That was a fun team but it was nowhere near ready to win the Super Bowl. That was such a weak year in the NFC. Rex Grossman made the Super Bowl lol. That should tell you all you need to know about the 2006 NFC.

Agree with this and the same for 2011.

The pain against Chicago and later the 49ers, saved us from the pain of losing a Super Bowl.

I'd much rather lose in the playoffs, than face an entire summer and years to come of humiliation with a SB loss. It's the main reason I don't look back at 2011 with regrets. That defense was terrible in 2011 and the writing was on the wall during the season. Thank god we didn't go on to get humiliated by the Patriots in the Sb that year.

You're wrong, but ok.

I chuckle at how some people were probably cursing every aspect of Fred Thomas's existence after getting lit up in the NFCCG............but then think he was gonna somehow have it all together prior to covering Marvin Harrison and/or Reggie Wayne for 4 quarters in a hypothetical SB matchup.

Not to mention our linebackers trying to deal with Dallas Clark and Joseph Addai

I don't think many on here have even went through Peyton Manning's playoff losses when he's easily called a "choke artist".

The ONLY two games where he can responsibly be blamed for his team's loss is against us in 2009 with Tracy Porter (and yet still, he had a good game! Pull his numbers, even counting his pick six, he shredded us like Favre did.) and one of his earlier playoff losses where he went INT crazy. I guess you could blame him for the red zone INTs vs San Diego in 2008, but Harrison and Wayne both got injured in that game, and yet they still almost won.

I've seen people blame Manning for Denver's 2013 playoff loss to Baltimore. "He threw the pick in OT!" but that game don't even go to OT if Rahim Moore knocks down Flacco's hail mary. He gets blamed for the 2005 playoff loss to Pittsburgh, cause I guess it's his fault that Vanderjat missed the field goal that would've sent it to OT. Same story with San Diego in 2007.

Manning has just as many, if not more playoff losses than Brees where he had great numbers, put his team in a position to win and then had his defense or special teams just crap the bed in crunch time.

People look at the win column, count it and then work their way backwards. Manning gets the "choker" label, but Brady is apparently the GOAT putting up average numbers in most of his playoff wins. His defenses never crap the bed in crunch time and Brady has their Hall of Fame kicker to thank for his first 2 rings. But that makes him the GOAT.

 

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Peyton Manning had a QB rating of 70.5 during that Super Bowl run in 06.

So don't tell me we couldn't beat that choke artist.

Again, you're simply wrong.

This isn't even one of those interesting "what ifs?" to discuss, where 2 sides could present fairly convincing arguments for and against. There is simply "we wouldn't have beaten Indy in that Super Bowl". Period.

In fact......dare I say, we may not have gotten beyond Seattle in your alternative universe where they come to the Dome for the NFCCG. The 2010 version of Matt Hasselbeck would go on to light up a much better Saints defense in the playoffs than the one he would have faced in 2006...which was the season immediately following their SB appearance. Not to mention there is a solid chance Holmgren would have out-coached Sean Payton at that point. I've seen you (and others over the years) just automatically chalk up a potential game against Seattle in those playoffs as a win for the simple reason that it would have been played indoors. And yet, it would be 2008 before the Saints had a better home record than away.

I can't tell if you're just being a homer, or just severely over-valuing the 2006 Saints. They were lovable overachievers that had some pretty amazing moments (Rebirth game, beatdown in Dallas....Deuce's last great game in the playoffs vs. Philly). But the 2006 version was not ready to win a championship.........in that season, and likely not in any other.

 

[blackadder]

It was a critcal season. We returned to the dome. Started our sellout streak. It took people's minds off real life. Huge boost to the city & state. It gave this team credibility.

My real question is about the on field product. Making the NFCCG is impressive. Yet, they were 10-6 that year. Were we the beneficiaries of a weak NFC? Or was that truly a great team that had a legit shot at the SB?

The defense wasn't great. It wasn't as bad as what we saw in that 2012 to 2016 stretch but about like what we had in 2009 minus all the turnovers.

But as I recall one of the key things was the availability of Deuce. He was in his final season and his knee was an issue. Some weeks he was full go, others he was slowed and they couldn't use him as much.

When Deuce was rolling we usually won, like in that playoff game against Philly in the dome. But then I think by the time we got to Chicago, Deuce wasn't used much if at all, and that hurt us. It was cold wet weather playing against one of those nasty defenses that vexed Payton in those years. We threw a lot and called a lot of slow developing pass plays with 5 -7 step drops and that played into the hands of the Chicago defense.

I think if Deuce had been fully healthy and we could have used him to play some physical football to keep the defense honest we could have had a shot to actually beat the Bears and move on the Super Bowl. But was not to be.

After Deuce retired in 2007 and 2008 we tread water a bit with soft defenses and pedestrian running game with Drew carrying the team to 7-9/8-8-8 seasons doing what he does. Jason David happened in there too, which was painful to watch...

 

[fishing4food]

What's relevant about the 2006 season is that it turned the page of the franchise from my dad's old Saints. It ushered in a new era and we've been enjoying it ever since.