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Because that's what choke artists do. Then win the games that aren't overly important. Because the pressure is now basically off, see?
2009 righted alot of historical wrongs with this franchise, and as such, provided for some future extra leeway as well. Which is fine.....and probably to be expected. But this team, in the Payton era, has rarely been "clutch".
For purposes of this post, any of Payton's seasons prior to 2009 will be disregarded. Yes, that means the surprisingly awesome 2006 season is disregarded, but it also means underacheiving 2007 and 2008 get disregaded as well. We're just gonna assume that all of those seasons were the seeds being planted for the 2009 harvest, and move on.
In 2010 there was definitely a Super Bowl hangover (along with Brees battling a knee ailment)....which, while disappointing, wasn't completely unheard of. It happens. What shouldn't just "happen" though is losing a game to a 7-9 team in the wild card round, when you started the game with a 10-0 lead. No, I dont care that they were down to their 27th RB. Julius Jones was not the issue. They choked.
2011......awesome season, in many ways....probably the closest team we've had that could get close to the "we're never out of it" mentality that the 2009 team showed. They start the Divisional round game with multiple turnovers on offense (choking hazard)........and gave up 2 final TD drives to Alex Smith to complete the choke-job. Maybe the most talented team the Saints have ever had, and they choked.
2012.......got to 5-5 after an 0-4 start.....then choked. Guess they realized the chances were too good for a possible wildcard berth if they kept winning..
2013......."give Breesus even just a middle of the pack defense, and we're GUARANTEED another title", says the occasional Saints fan. I guess they never watched any games in 2013. We had a top 5 defense to go along with a top 5 offense. Should have been enough for a 1 or 2 seed, yes? Nope....with the Saints controlling their own destiny in the NFC South division race...they choked against the Rams and Panthers.....I guess the pressure of a first round bye and a division title was too much? After showing some surprising mental toughness on the road (Brees did try his best to choke it away early on with some INTs, but the defense and running game stubbornly refused to let him off the hook that easily) and getting their first road playoff win...........off to Seattle they went....where again, the defense did everything they reasonably could to keep the game close. Naturally, the choking set in via repetitive play calling (ineffective screen passes), Ingram fumbling in Saints territory after the running game was showing some promise.....missed FGs in the wind (did Seattle's kicker ever miss?)....and multiple missed opportunities on 4th and short. It would later become apparent that the 2013 Saints defense was fool's gold.....but it's hard to argue against the fact that the defense did their job that season.
2014 - started off the season choking against the Falcons........ended the season by choking against the Falcons when a win would have put them 1 win away from a division title against a TB team that many swear actually tanked the final game. Another season in which they got to 0.500 and couldn't get over the hump. 8-8 would have won the division, so they gave us 7-9.
2015 - more of the same.....get to 0.500, choke against the Titans with a chance to go over 0.500........while also making sure to lose to the Lions on MNF to close out whatever slim playoff hopes they had. But at least they went in and beat ATL the next week when it didn't really matter.....
2016 - still can't get above 0.500, but with the division title very much within their grasp if they were to win their last 4 games, they answer the bell with multiple turnovers and no touchdowns in a game against TB where 17 points would have been enough to win.
And now if/when they win 2 or 3 of their last 3 games, some will praise them for not giving up. I'd even be happy with that myself......but I'd also be happy to see them stop choking away all these seasons...
2009 righted alot of historical wrongs with this franchise, and as such, provided for some future extra leeway as well. Which is fine.....and probably to be expected. But this team, in the Payton era, has rarely been "clutch".
For purposes of this post, any of Payton's seasons prior to 2009 will be disregarded. Yes, that means the surprisingly awesome 2006 season is disregarded, but it also means underacheiving 2007 and 2008 get disregaded as well. We're just gonna assume that all of those seasons were the seeds being planted for the 2009 harvest, and move on.
In 2010 there was definitely a Super Bowl hangover (along with Brees battling a knee ailment)....which, while disappointing, wasn't completely unheard of. It happens. What shouldn't just "happen" though is losing a game to a 7-9 team in the wild card round, when you started the game with a 10-0 lead. No, I dont care that they were down to their 27th RB. Julius Jones was not the issue. They choked.
2011......awesome season, in many ways....probably the closest team we've had that could get close to the "we're never out of it" mentality that the 2009 team showed. They start the Divisional round game with multiple turnovers on offense (choking hazard)........and gave up 2 final TD drives to Alex Smith to complete the choke-job. Maybe the most talented team the Saints have ever had, and they choked.
2012.......got to 5-5 after an 0-4 start.....then choked. Guess they realized the chances were too good for a possible wildcard berth if they kept winning..
2013......."give Breesus even just a middle of the pack defense, and we're GUARANTEED another title", says the occasional Saints fan. I guess they never watched any games in 2013. We had a top 5 defense to go along with a top 5 offense. Should have been enough for a 1 or 2 seed, yes? Nope....with the Saints controlling their own destiny in the NFC South division race...they choked against the Rams and Panthers.....I guess the pressure of a first round bye and a division title was too much? After showing some surprising mental toughness on the road (Brees did try his best to choke it away early on with some INTs, but the defense and running game stubbornly refused to let him off the hook that easily) and getting their first road playoff win...........off to Seattle they went....where again, the defense did everything they reasonably could to keep the game close. Naturally, the choking set in via repetitive play calling (ineffective screen passes), Ingram fumbling in Saints territory after the running game was showing some promise.....missed FGs in the wind (did Seattle's kicker ever miss?)....and multiple missed opportunities on 4th and short. It would later become apparent that the 2013 Saints defense was fool's gold.....but it's hard to argue against the fact that the defense did their job that season.
2014 - started off the season choking against the Falcons........ended the season by choking against the Falcons when a win would have put them 1 win away from a division title against a TB team that many swear actually tanked the final game. Another season in which they got to 0.500 and couldn't get over the hump. 8-8 would have won the division, so they gave us 7-9.
2015 - more of the same.....get to 0.500, choke against the Titans with a chance to go over 0.500........while also making sure to lose to the Lions on MNF to close out whatever slim playoff hopes they had. But at least they went in and beat ATL the next week when it didn't really matter.....
2016 - still can't get above 0.500, but with the division title very much within their grasp if they were to win their last 4 games, they answer the bell with multiple turnovers and no touchdowns in a game against TB where 17 points would have been enough to win.
And now if/when they win 2 or 3 of their last 3 games, some will praise them for not giving up. I'd even be happy with that myself......but I'd also be happy to see them stop choking away all these seasons...