Saints Preseason (…let’s discuss before it happens) (1 Viewer)

ndcc

Saints' fan 4ever
Gold VIP Contributor
Joined
Jun 4, 2005
Messages
20,477
Reaction score
32,683
Location
Sad to leave NOLA to AZ; going into ministry
Online
I’ll start with the following facts:

1. The Saints and Colts faced each other in SB XLIV with each having the BEST record in their respective conference.

a. The Colts were 1-3 in the preseason, and were outscored 84-50 in 4 games.

b. The Saints were 3-1 in the preseason, and outscored their opponents 107-38 in 4 games.

2. The 2008 Detroit Lions were 4-0 in the preseason, yet went 0-16 in the regular season… YIKES! That season’s failure was so epic that some entrepreneurs cashed in on it by (sarcastically) making “Preseason CHAMPS: 4-0” gear. :covri:

Of course we want our team to win, but let’s not have a cow if we lose a game in the preseason. If you think folks don’t get emotional over our games, just follow a game day thread when the Saints are trailing in a game. 🤔

Preseason is for seeing:

* how players respond to game time situations

* how disciplined they are in executing their assignments

* actual game speed and reaction time for players

* how well players adjust to game time variables

…and much more.

The final 53 for the 2022/23 Saints should be a good group. Let’s hope and pray they stay healthy and well-conditioned throughout the coming season.

And may we all take preseason results (good, bad & ugly) with a grain of salt. 🧂

WhoDat!!!!!

:gosaints:

6A36F060-D387-487B-9E01-4E0555E8B533.jpeg
 
Last edited:
I could have done without that 2008 preseason Lions thing happening, because....EVERY...SINGLE...YEAR......someone feels the need to bring that up as a reminder that preseason doesn't mean **** . It's like, yeah, we get it....preseason is meaningless. There are hundreds of examples of that without always having to bring up the '08 Lions. And the funniest part is, it always feels like they type it with such profound vigor, as if they are truly educating us on something.......not terribly different from the 58 times per week people would say "father time is undefeated" in 2020 when Brees would get mentioned.

As far as the topic at hand.....I don't really care beyond the 2nd quarter in most of these games, outside of seeing if maybe we are potentially about to unexpectedly hit on a UDFA, as we've done a handful of times in the past. I'm definitely looking forward to next Saturday.
 
I could have done without that 2008 preseason Lions thing happening, because....EVERY...SINGLE...YEAR......someone feels the need to bring that up as a reminder that preseason doesn't mean **** . It's like, yeah, we get it....preseason is meaningless. There are hundreds of examples of that without always having to bring up the '08 Lions. And the funniest part is, it always feels like they type it with such profound vigor, as if they are truly educating us on something.......not terribly different from the 58 times per week people would say "father time is undefeated" in 2020 when Brees would get mentioned.

As far as the topic at hand.....I don't really care beyond the 2nd quarter in most of these games, outside of seeing if maybe we are potentially about to unexpectedly hit on a UDFA, as we've done a handful of times in the past. I'm definitely looking forward to next Saturday.
I remember Jimmy Johnson celebrating with his players on the field after the Cowboys went 4-0 in his first preseason as coach.

They went 1-15 in the regular season.

Have you heard that one too much?
 
I remember Jimmy Johnson celebrating with his players on the field after the Cowboys went 4-0 in his first preseason as coach.

They went 1-15 in the regular season.

Have you heard that one too much?

Can't say I've ever heard that one.......probably the whole Dynasty thing 3 years later is why that one rarely gets mentioned.

The Lions one gets beaten into the ground every preseason though.
 
If I recall correctly, the early Saints teams that generally sucked did well in preseason. I always attributed it to opponents having stronger rosters and not having to play/evaluate their bona fide starters for long.
 
Preseason is very tricky to evaluate. Teams are at different developmental stages. The first one is a good example. The Saints are a winning team looking to get Winston in synch with his receivers, to get the two new safeties accustomed to playing together, to sort out the LT situation, and not much else. It's primarily tweaking and refining.

On the other hand, Houston is a losing team with a lot of issues. It strikes me that the final score isn't a very significant consideration.

Most obviously, how long the projected starters play has a lot to do with the resulting score. Even there, I recall a Preseason game where Onyemata played most of the game because the coaches wanted to evaluate him at DE. So, there are all kinds of factors involved including experiments.
 
Last edited:
I heard one of the guys on a Saints podcast make a very solid point, that I will looking for during preseason games…

He said to watch and take note of the players you see lined up early in games on the Kickoff team and the Kick Return teams during preseason…
Those players can be the UDFAs or “bubble” players that make the final roster because they are special teams worthy.

The example he used was a few years ago when JT Gray was on all of the special teams units during the preseason, and then surprisingly made the final roster when nobody really knew who he was.
 
I see preseason games as an opportunity for teams to evaluate individual players, nothing more.
 
I heard one of the guys on a Saints podcast make a very solid point, that I will looking for during preseason games…

He said to watch and take note of the players you see lined up early in games on the Kickoff team and the Kick Return teams during preseason…
Those players can be the UDFAs or “bubble” players that make the final roster because they are special teams worthy.

The example he used was a few years ago when JT Gray was on all of the special teams units during the preseason, and then surprisingly made the final roster when nobody really knew who he was.
I believe this board had fits when we lost RB Boston Scott, I believe, to waivers and kept Gray. Would have been great to keep both, but it’s much more understandable in hindsight why they kept Gray.
 
Preseason outcomes depend a lot on coaching philosophies.

Sean Payton would play a lot of base with practicing something more complex maybe on the second series. Calls are not made to take advantage of anything but to put players into situations. Many other coaches think the calls should be as you play. It's just the personnel you change up.

It is very difficult to know what you're watching in preseason (well any game really but even more so in preseason) without knowing the calls and playbooks.

That being said, you can't have a perfect season without a perfect preseason. #GeauxSaints!
 
Of course the preseason is meaningless. It's meaningless by definition since the games don't count. However, I don't subscribe to the idea that you can't gather information about the team from preseason. We're in a new era of leadership so who knows how Coach Allen will handle the games, but under Payton, preseason was a good indicator of where the offense and defense were.

In 2009, the Saints offense looked incredible in the preaseason and it was good indicator of how the season would go. Conversely, the Saints defense looked horrible in the 2012 season under Spagnuolo. That too ended up being a good indicator as well. There's information to be gained from the preseason so it's not meaningless. And teams can and will continue to improve from preseason games so it shouldn't be overanalyzed either.
 
I really enjoy watching Saints preseason games. I don't care if they win or lose really. I like to watch the games to see if we have any emerging young stars. A lot of the time you see guys look great in the preseason but it's fool's gold as the player promptly disappears once the regular season starts. But every once in awhile a guy will come along and there's no doubt about it, the guy can play. A hidden treasure has been unearthed. To me that's what it's all about. I want to see the next PT or Chris Ivory.
 
Thanks ndcc but your point has been emphasized every year on SR and unfortunately, it never stops the panic.

Quite frankly, I've come to enjoy a good meltdown. It hurts sooo good. SR has converted me into sadism lol
 
Last edited:

Create an account or login to comment

You must be a member in order to leave a comment

Create account

Create an account on our community. It's easy!

Log in

Already have an account? Log in here.

Users who are viewing this thread

    Back
    Top Bottom