The Best Team... (1 Viewer)

dutar76

7th year itch
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I've got this buddy who is extremely distraught. This loss is kicking his &&&. I log in to SR and see the same thing from almost everyone.
I know there's a crap-ton of threads where the sky is falling and another ton where it's all sunshine and roses. But I'm going to type what I told him.

The best team in the NFL does not win the superbowl very often.
In the NFL, the better team does not always win.
There are things the Saints can do, players they can draft and sign that will make them better.
But a team that is unbeatable cannot exist in the NFL.
If your OL is strong, then your WR group is weak. If not, then maybe your secondary is thin... There's no such thing as a perfect team in this league.
No team is one player away from being superbowl champs.
Teams build a roster that can compete and they go play games.
If your team is enough of a contender to make the playoffs, that's a win.
Most teams don't make the playoffs.
All you can ask of your team is to build a roster that makes your team a contender.
Once the playoffs start, all bets go out the window. Win or go home.

2 years ago, the last play in our season was the flukiest play in franchise history.
Last year the refs sodomized us.
This year we lost in overtime to a good team that got healthy at exactly the right time.
Next year we're not likely to lose any important pieces... that 3 year window I keep hearing about is total BS.
The Saints will be contenders next year, just like this year. Hopefully our guys will win the games they play next January.

It's not SP's, Drew's, Lutz's, DL's, OL's, #2 WRs ect... fault. We simply lost a game that could've gone either way.
It wasn't injuries that did it, it wasn't the refs, and it wasn't a fluke play. We just lost a football game.

Our team is good, and there's no reason to think that it won't be good next year.
Who Dat.
 
I've got this buddy who is extremely distraught. This loss is kicking his &&&. I log in to SR and see the same thing from almost everyone.
I know there's a crap-ton of threads where the sky is fallen and another ton where it's all sunshine and roses. But I'm going to type what I told him.

The best team in the NFL does not win the superbowl very often.
In the NFL, the better team does not always win.
There are things the Saints can do, players they can draft and sign that will make them better.
But a team that is unbeatable cannot exist in the NFL.
If your OL is strong, then your WR group is weak. If not, then maybe your secondary is thin... There's no such thing as a perfect team in this league.
No team is one player away from being superbowl champs.
Teams build a roster that can compete and they go play games.
If your team is enough of a contender to make the playoffs, that's a win.
Most teams don't make the playoffs.
All you can ask of your team is to build a roster that makes your team a contender.
Once the playoffs start, all bets go out the window. Win or go home.

2 years ago, the last play in our season was the flukiest play in franchise history.
Last year the refs sodomized us.
This year we lost in overtime to a good team that got healthy at exactly the right time.
Next year we're not likely to lose any important pieces... that 3 year window I keep hearing about is total BS.
The Saints will be contenders next year, just like this year. Hopefully our guys will wing the games next January.

It's not SP's, Drew's, Lutz's, DL's, OL's, #2 WRs ect... fault. We simply lost a game that could've gone either way.
It wasn't injuries that did it, it wasn't the refs, and it wasn't a fluke play. We just lost a football game.

Our team is good, and there's no reason to think that it won't be good next year.
Who Dat.

This is exactly it. That 3 year window BS is for teams that build through FA. This roster is built through the draft, replenished through the draft and supplemented with strategic FA signings and trades. This is now a winning organization.
 
Your right the best team does not always win it, it wasn't just Saints fans, the majority of the media thought so as well that the Saints were not only the better team than Min, but the fav to go to the bowl...It just takes one time getting hit in the mouth in the post season and your out... alot of these younger players are now grasping that. Somehow I am not as mad as I was after the Min game than I was after the no call....that took a whiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiile man lol

But yeah man encourage your friend...taking on that sky is falling mentality is a terrible thing and a horrible outlook on life. Yeah hurts like hell, but how can you quit on a 13-3 team? Who else would we cheer for? It's just not a possibility. I have been through the all the bag years, these are great times.....if you set urself up with expectations of a Lombardi or nothing you are very seldom going to be happy
 
I don’t know if we were the best team in the league this year anyway. I think we had a great shot to win the Super Bowl. I think us and SF were the cream of the crop in the NFC...but I could never emphatically state the 2019 Saints were better than the Ravens or Chiefs. I would have trusted our team in a winner take all game though. Which makes last Sunday so disappointing.

I also can’t say we had the best team in 2017. But in 2018, I unequivocally believe we had the best team and the refs robbed us of our most likely super bowl since 2009 (yes, more than 2011)
 
It’s been brutal on here since the game. Fans turning on each other and the team out of frustration. A sense of doom and relentless anger from many. It’s not that bad. It sucks that the year’s over for us, but come August, we’ll be right back to where we were. We are a playoff caliber team. We had an uncharacteristic game and got outplayed, and that’s really all there is to it. There’s no team dysfunction, too much celebration after wins, leadership problems yada yada. People are grasping at straws when the truth is so simple. You basically said it perfectly. We just lost a football game. I’m not jumping off the ship. Come next season, I’ll be as ready as ever to cheer in these Saints. Who Dat!
 
I know. I’ve been through bag years too and the years of needing a hundred things to happen just to get to playoffs. ?
But I really wanted it bad this year with the no call last year. Also with it being 10 years since our Super Bowl and it being in Miami. I just felt it was meant for us. ?
But I feel the same, we will have the goods for next year and I’ll be right back on my emotional roller coaster supporting our team all the way!!!!
 
Nah. To be the best team each season you have to prove it. Theres no consolation prizes. We werent the best team since 2009. We can fool ourselves into believing that or making excuses of why we should have been the best team but unless you win its just that-an excuse. We wer not the best team this year, 2018 or 2017. Maybe next year
 
I don’t know if we were the best team in the league this year anyway. I think we had a great shot to win the Super Bowl. I think us and SF were the cream of the crop in the NFC...but I could never emphatically state the 2019 Saints were better than the Ravens or Chiefs. I would have trusted our team in a winner take all game though. Which makes last Sunday so disappointing.

I also can’t say we had the best team in 2017. But in 2018, I unequivocally believe we had the best team and the refs robbed us of our most likely super bowl since 2009 (yes, more than 2011)

This.

We were not the best team in the league this year. We were last year.
 
This.

We were not the best team in the league this year. We were last year.

And yet we were in contention both years. And we were in contention in 2017 with a ton of rookies and a triple-ton of injuries.

There's only one champion of course, but I dont get the thought that the other 31 teams are disappointments and losers. Our team is one of the few consistent contenders. That's something.
 
I was talking to my neighbor before the playoffs. I said if there is one thing that bugs me about football at its core is that it always ends up being single elimination. There isn't really a way around it. Those guys need a week to rest and any kind of series could take months. Just sucks that they can't duke it out a few times to settle it like baseball and basketball.
 
I agree with everything you say here. Last year, I thought we were the best. This year, I thought we were one of several very good teams. The Ravens were my pick for the best team at the end of the regular season.

I don’t know if we were the best team in the league this year anyway. I think we had a great shot to win the Super Bowl. I think us and SF were the cream of the crop in the NFC...but I could never emphatically state the 2019 Saints were better than the Ravens or Chiefs. I would have trusted our team in a winner take all game though. Which makes last Sunday so disappointing.

I also can’t say we had the best team in 2017. But in 2018, I unequivocally believe we had the best team and the refs robbed us of our most likely super bowl since 2009 (yes, more than 2011)
 
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Most Saints fans I know (including myself) are not as mad over this year as last year. For me, I think part of it is because I saw a lot more red flags with this team during the regular season than last year. I think the sadness the OP's friend is feeling comes more from knowing you realistically only get a limited number of shots to win a Super Bowl and when one falls away, it can be hard to deal with.

I remember reading a story about the Eagles losing to the Raiders in the Super Bowl in the 1980-81 season. A long-time Eagles vet was crying inconsolably in the locker room. One of the rookies was trying to fire him up saying "We'll be back! This is a great team!" And the vet told him he had no idea how hard it was just to get to the Super Bowl. I think if the Payton/Brees era has taught us anything at all, it's how incredibly hard it is to get to a Super Bowl, much less win one.

We're going to look back on these 2017-2019 teams fondly just as we now look back fondly on the Mora era teams (who had some brutal playoff losses in their own right), but unfulfilled potential in any aspect of life leaves a bitter taste in the mouth.

Your right the best team does not always win it, it wasn't just Saints fans, the majority of the media thought so as well that the Saints were not only the better team than Min, but the fav to go to the bowl...It just takes one time getting hit in the mouth in the post season and your out... alot of these younger players are now grasping that. Somehow I am not as mad as I was after the Min game than I was after the no call....that took a whiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiile man lol

But yeah man encourage your friend...taking on that sky is falling mentality is a terrible thing and a horrible outlook on life. Yeah hurts like hell, but how can you quit on a 13-3 team? Who else would we cheer for? It's just not a possibility. I have been through the all the bag years, these are great times.....if you set urself up with expectations of a Lombardi or nothing you are very seldom going to be happy
 
Last edited:
Most Saints fans I know (including myself) are not as mad over this year as last year. For me, I think part of it is because I saw a lot more red flags with this team during the regular season than last year. I think the sadness the OP's friend is feeling comes more from knowing you realistically only get a limited number of shots to win a Super Bowl and when one falls away, it can be hard to deal with.

I remember reading a story about the Eagles losing to the Raiders in the Super Bowl in the 1980-81 season. A long-time Eagles vet was crying inconsolably in the locker room. One of the rookies was trying to fire him up saying "We'll be back! This is a great team!" And the vet told him he had no idea how hard it was just to get to the Super Bowl. I think if the Payton/Brees era has taught us anything at all, it's how incredibly hard it is to get to a Super Bowl, much less win one.

We're going to look back on these 2017-2019 teams fondly just as we now look back fondly on the Mora era teams (who had some brutal playoff losses in their own right), but unfulfilled potential in any aspect of life leaves a bitter taste in the mouth.

Exactly. The ultimate goal is to win the Superbowl, but that's as much a dream as it is a goal. A team has to put together a roster that is good enough to win most of it's games. Even then it's going to take some fortunate bounces during the season to win enough games to make the playoffs. Building a roster is the only part that a team has any sort of real control over.

Even when a team makes the playoffs, other issues come into play. Such as health and seeding. If a team builds a roster with solid depth, it can help, but multiple injuries to one position group can negate that. Then there's the health and rest of that team's opponent. Earning a first round bye is a huge bonus. Having the ability to rest players in the week 17 game can be big as well.

Regardless of all that, once the playoffs start, there's no forgiveness, there's no next week. If the ball bounces the wrong way even once, a blown play, a bad call, an in game injury to a key player, etc... Heck, or just playing against a team that just happened to get hot at the right time... Any of those things or a combination of them came mean the end of the season of a team that did everything right.

Even without any bad bounces, sometimes great team's just show up without their A-game.

I'm proud my team has done all that could be asked of them and provided me a contender to root for, three years in a row. I'm satisfied with that. In my mind, if I was expecting more than that,then maybe my expectations are the issue, not my team.
 
I agree with everything you say here. Last year, I thought we were the best. This year, I thought we were one of several very good teams. The Ravens were my pick for the best team at the end of the regular season.
Nah last year the Patriots were the best
 

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