ravenblade23x
Practice Squad
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The NFC South has been horrible over the last 2 1/2 seasons.
I was looking at the division leading Atlanta Falcons record and noticed that at 5-3, they have a 1-3 record against non-division opponents. This got me curious and so I looked at the NFC South's record when playing non-division opponents over the last 2 1/2 seasons.
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* Since 2022 the NFC South is 38-77 against non-division opponents.
* Since 2022 the Saints are 11-16 against non-division opponents
* No NFC South team in 2022/2023 seasons finished .500 or better against non-division opponents.
* The NFC South as a division is 56-80 over the last two seasons. Beating out the equally bad AFC South who was 57-81 over the same two year period.
The NFC South has been the worse division in football for the last 2 1/2 years. The Falcons could very well sweep the division this year and could likely when the South with a non-division record of 3-8. Which would put them at 9-8 for the season. I think when you look at how historically bad the South has been it at least makes some sense why Loomis and the FO have been in a more win now mindset. There is no powerhouse in the South and the division will be up for grabs every year.
What is the goal of the Saints FO?
So this lead me to ponder the question of what the goals are for the Saint's FO. The clear goal of every team is to make money, but lets just say for the sake of argument that winning means more money. So then the goal of every team should be to win a SB. Every team is not a SB contending teams and so I have come up with three rather simple groupings:
True SB contenders - These are the teams like the Chiefs and the Lions, just making it to the playoffs is not good enough.
Playoff Hopefuls - This is the largest group of teams, they know the chance of a SB is low, but there just hoping to make it to the dance and see if they get hot at the right time. I would argue that the Saints FO likely feels like they have been in this group for the last couple of years.
Need some time - These are teams in the midst of a rebuild and the goal is just to get better from season to season.
Now these grouping are fluid and some teams might have higher asperations then they achieve but its a good frame work to think about the Saints future moving forward.
Looking Beyond the Results.
The Saints made a choice that on paper made since in 2022. Still have some talent on the team and the hope was staying with a familiar coach they could still make a push for the playoffs. I think the FO also saw that the NFC South was clearly going to be a wide open division. I also feel like after winning streaks at the ends of both 22/23 they felt like the teams was on a upswing especially after the addition of Carr to start the 23 season.
The problem is that the FO did not look beyond the results:
* The Saints are 3-11 when facing eventual playoff teams in the 22/23 seasons.
* The Saints are 6-16 against opponents .500 are better at they time they faced them over the last 2 1/2 seasons.(This includes the first game of the season.)
I don't think the Saints are very good team. They have a horrible record against non-division opponents. They have horrible record against playoff caliber teams and they have horrible record against teams with winning records. Loomis and the front office did not follow there own advice. They saw the wins and ignored the caliber of opponent. The last two 1/2 seasons have actively made the Saint's worse with zero benefit. The FO made a calculus that we could win a bad division and we where not even good enough to pull that off.
Lets look at a hypothetical.
Let's say that the Saint's had made the playoffs the last two years. Ask yourself the question. What would it have changed? Sure there is the obvious answer, it's just more fun to watch your team when there winning and making the post season.
Those 22/23 teams even if they had snuck into the playoffs where not SB winning teams and everyone knows it. The numbers above proof it.
Even if we had made the playoffs we would still be in the same boat as we are this year and you could make the argument even worse off.
The playoffs would mean lower draft picks, the playoffs likely mean extending more bad contracts to keep pushing for an unattainable goal, and the playoffs likely mean signing more aging vets to feel gaps. At the end of the day even two hypothetical playoff appearances still end with us having:
1. Mid tier QB
2. Aging Roster
3. Cap Issues
4. Lack of depth
5. Injury filled 24 season
It's clear to me that all roads always ended with the band aid finally being ripped off, but the Saint's FO has been trying very hard to prolong the inevitable. The reality is very simple, some sort of rebuild/reboot is coming. The FO has tried to keep kicking things down the road but come 2026 most of if not all the aging talent will be gone. As painful as it maybe to say it, I really do hope the Saints under perform the rest of the year. We need to start the process. Not saying burn it all down but this not a Super bowl team and if where honest its not really even a playoff team, it only has playoff aspirations because of the horrible division we play in.
Not sure I know that the FO goal is, maybe winning a SB is not the goal. All I know is that the last 3 seasons have been a waste and I would have rather been in the spot where we had moved on from aging talent, cleaned up the cap, had higher draft picks and taken a shot a QB and started the process that we all know is coming.
I was looking at the division leading Atlanta Falcons record and noticed that at 5-3, they have a 1-3 record against non-division opponents. This got me curious and so I looked at the NFC South's record when playing non-division opponents over the last 2 1/2 seasons.
-
* Since 2022 the NFC South is 38-77 against non-division opponents.
* Since 2022 the Saints are 11-16 against non-division opponents
* No NFC South team in 2022/2023 seasons finished .500 or better against non-division opponents.
* The NFC South as a division is 56-80 over the last two seasons. Beating out the equally bad AFC South who was 57-81 over the same two year period.
The NFC South has been the worse division in football for the last 2 1/2 years. The Falcons could very well sweep the division this year and could likely when the South with a non-division record of 3-8. Which would put them at 9-8 for the season. I think when you look at how historically bad the South has been it at least makes some sense why Loomis and the FO have been in a more win now mindset. There is no powerhouse in the South and the division will be up for grabs every year.
What is the goal of the Saints FO?
So this lead me to ponder the question of what the goals are for the Saint's FO. The clear goal of every team is to make money, but lets just say for the sake of argument that winning means more money. So then the goal of every team should be to win a SB. Every team is not a SB contending teams and so I have come up with three rather simple groupings:
True SB contenders - These are the teams like the Chiefs and the Lions, just making it to the playoffs is not good enough.
Playoff Hopefuls - This is the largest group of teams, they know the chance of a SB is low, but there just hoping to make it to the dance and see if they get hot at the right time. I would argue that the Saints FO likely feels like they have been in this group for the last couple of years.
Need some time - These are teams in the midst of a rebuild and the goal is just to get better from season to season.
Now these grouping are fluid and some teams might have higher asperations then they achieve but its a good frame work to think about the Saints future moving forward.
Looking Beyond the Results.
The Saints made a choice that on paper made since in 2022. Still have some talent on the team and the hope was staying with a familiar coach they could still make a push for the playoffs. I think the FO also saw that the NFC South was clearly going to be a wide open division. I also feel like after winning streaks at the ends of both 22/23 they felt like the teams was on a upswing especially after the addition of Carr to start the 23 season.
The problem is that the FO did not look beyond the results:
* The Saints are 3-11 when facing eventual playoff teams in the 22/23 seasons.
* The Saints are 6-16 against opponents .500 are better at they time they faced them over the last 2 1/2 seasons.(This includes the first game of the season.)
I don't think the Saints are very good team. They have a horrible record against non-division opponents. They have horrible record against playoff caliber teams and they have horrible record against teams with winning records. Loomis and the front office did not follow there own advice. They saw the wins and ignored the caliber of opponent. The last two 1/2 seasons have actively made the Saint's worse with zero benefit. The FO made a calculus that we could win a bad division and we where not even good enough to pull that off.
Lets look at a hypothetical.
Let's say that the Saint's had made the playoffs the last two years. Ask yourself the question. What would it have changed? Sure there is the obvious answer, it's just more fun to watch your team when there winning and making the post season.
Those 22/23 teams even if they had snuck into the playoffs where not SB winning teams and everyone knows it. The numbers above proof it.
Even if we had made the playoffs we would still be in the same boat as we are this year and you could make the argument even worse off.
The playoffs would mean lower draft picks, the playoffs likely mean extending more bad contracts to keep pushing for an unattainable goal, and the playoffs likely mean signing more aging vets to feel gaps. At the end of the day even two hypothetical playoff appearances still end with us having:
1. Mid tier QB
2. Aging Roster
3. Cap Issues
4. Lack of depth
5. Injury filled 24 season
It's clear to me that all roads always ended with the band aid finally being ripped off, but the Saint's FO has been trying very hard to prolong the inevitable. The reality is very simple, some sort of rebuild/reboot is coming. The FO has tried to keep kicking things down the road but come 2026 most of if not all the aging talent will be gone. As painful as it maybe to say it, I really do hope the Saints under perform the rest of the year. We need to start the process. Not saying burn it all down but this not a Super bowl team and if where honest its not really even a playoff team, it only has playoff aspirations because of the horrible division we play in.
Not sure I know that the FO goal is, maybe winning a SB is not the goal. All I know is that the last 3 seasons have been a waste and I would have rather been in the spot where we had moved on from aging talent, cleaned up the cap, had higher draft picks and taken a shot a QB and started the process that we all know is coming.