A New Season Begins
Posted 08-09-2013 at 04:21 AM by BoudinSandwich
I'm new to this blog-thing, but I figured I'd start contributing to this site more. I'm sad that I've neglected it. Anyways, here goes...
I remember when we won the Superbowl. It was one of the most redeeming nights of my life. Like many die-hard Saints fans, I suffered through a lot of rough seasons. I remember getting laughed in an Acadiana area school because the Saints were my favorite football team. All of my classmates had their favorites, but very few would admit to liking the Saints. We stunk. I was undeterred. Before every season, I thought the Saints would win the Superbowl.
Now, I'm only 28 years old. I've been watching the Saints all of my life, but that means I've only really been able to understand football since the early 90's. I haven't suffered nearly as much as the older fans, who I tip my hat to, as I was absent for nearly the first 2-decades. However, I realized something that night we won the Lombardi. I realized what kind of team it took to hoist that trophy. Sure, I've watched many teams win the Superbowl, but none that I've watched every single game of for 20+ years. I finally understood what it took. One of the biggest factors was luck, something that this franchise was lacking for over 40-years.
Since our first championship, I only believe we had one other Superbowl-caliber team. That team had the talent, but they didn't have the luck. That team had their ticket punched to the Superbowl right before Gregg Williams had Malcolm Jenkins playing press coverage on Vernon Davis while Roman Harper played center field. (The exact opposite of what should have been done. I mean, what was he thinking?) That play got them in scoring position. Gregg Williams realized his mistake and put Harper back on Davis in the redzone. However, in this predicament, he would have been better served with his original idea of having Jenkins cover him.
A team that looked poised to win multiple championships is now seeing it's window closing with just one ring to claim. Blame it on the scandals, injuries, bad coaching, whatever; time is now running out. We all hope Sean Payton can be the 2nd coming of Bill Belichick and create a team that's always in contention nearly every year - even when they're not supposed to be. However, the NFC South doesn't seem to be nearly as forgiving as the AFC East.
So, where does that leave us for 2013? Are we strong enough to win another this year? Well, our talent is getting older, our youth are projects, and the new pieces that were set to be our new weapons on both sides of the ball are going to miss the entire season due to injuries. That said, this is a playoff team, no doubt. Whether or not this team actually makes the playoffs or not depends on a little bit of luck. A Superbowl championship? Well, that's going to take a lot of luck.
A new season begins and, like every other season I've watched before, I'm still picking the Saints to win it all. At this point, it's just a bit too early to know anything. What I have noticed under Sean Payton is that preseason games foreshadow our season - not in wins and losses, but play on the field. For most teams I've watched, preseason isn't much of an indicator about anything but young talent. However, with the Saints, you can bet that the struggles you see will remain year round. Early on in previous seasons, there were signs of us struggling to run the ball and play defense. With Sean Payton, what you see is what you get.
So, again, do we have a chance to win the Superbowl this year? At least a 'chance'? We'll know once the preseason is over with. And, that my friends, starts tonight.
This is my Saints blog. I plan to write more throughout the season, though I've never been known to be Mr. Consistency. We'll see how that works out.
Also, I'm not going to promote this heavily because some may consider it spam or something of the like, but I do a Saints-themed podcast with my family and friends. It's nothing fancy. We don't get any players or coaches calling in and we don't have any inside information. However, if you want to hear a few Cajuns get together, get drunk, and talk about the Saints in a very informal fashion, you can listen at: http://hgthproductionsradio.podomatic.com/
Finally, thanks to Halo for allowing me to change my username. I'm looking forward to this season. You can catch me roaming around the dome every home game with a beer and boudin sandwich in hand.
I remember when we won the Superbowl. It was one of the most redeeming nights of my life. Like many die-hard Saints fans, I suffered through a lot of rough seasons. I remember getting laughed in an Acadiana area school because the Saints were my favorite football team. All of my classmates had their favorites, but very few would admit to liking the Saints. We stunk. I was undeterred. Before every season, I thought the Saints would win the Superbowl.
Now, I'm only 28 years old. I've been watching the Saints all of my life, but that means I've only really been able to understand football since the early 90's. I haven't suffered nearly as much as the older fans, who I tip my hat to, as I was absent for nearly the first 2-decades. However, I realized something that night we won the Lombardi. I realized what kind of team it took to hoist that trophy. Sure, I've watched many teams win the Superbowl, but none that I've watched every single game of for 20+ years. I finally understood what it took. One of the biggest factors was luck, something that this franchise was lacking for over 40-years.
Since our first championship, I only believe we had one other Superbowl-caliber team. That team had the talent, but they didn't have the luck. That team had their ticket punched to the Superbowl right before Gregg Williams had Malcolm Jenkins playing press coverage on Vernon Davis while Roman Harper played center field. (The exact opposite of what should have been done. I mean, what was he thinking?) That play got them in scoring position. Gregg Williams realized his mistake and put Harper back on Davis in the redzone. However, in this predicament, he would have been better served with his original idea of having Jenkins cover him.
A team that looked poised to win multiple championships is now seeing it's window closing with just one ring to claim. Blame it on the scandals, injuries, bad coaching, whatever; time is now running out. We all hope Sean Payton can be the 2nd coming of Bill Belichick and create a team that's always in contention nearly every year - even when they're not supposed to be. However, the NFC South doesn't seem to be nearly as forgiving as the AFC East.
So, where does that leave us for 2013? Are we strong enough to win another this year? Well, our talent is getting older, our youth are projects, and the new pieces that were set to be our new weapons on both sides of the ball are going to miss the entire season due to injuries. That said, this is a playoff team, no doubt. Whether or not this team actually makes the playoffs or not depends on a little bit of luck. A Superbowl championship? Well, that's going to take a lot of luck.
A new season begins and, like every other season I've watched before, I'm still picking the Saints to win it all. At this point, it's just a bit too early to know anything. What I have noticed under Sean Payton is that preseason games foreshadow our season - not in wins and losses, but play on the field. For most teams I've watched, preseason isn't much of an indicator about anything but young talent. However, with the Saints, you can bet that the struggles you see will remain year round. Early on in previous seasons, there were signs of us struggling to run the ball and play defense. With Sean Payton, what you see is what you get.
So, again, do we have a chance to win the Superbowl this year? At least a 'chance'? We'll know once the preseason is over with. And, that my friends, starts tonight.
This is my Saints blog. I plan to write more throughout the season, though I've never been known to be Mr. Consistency. We'll see how that works out.
Also, I'm not going to promote this heavily because some may consider it spam or something of the like, but I do a Saints-themed podcast with my family and friends. It's nothing fancy. We don't get any players or coaches calling in and we don't have any inside information. However, if you want to hear a few Cajuns get together, get drunk, and talk about the Saints in a very informal fashion, you can listen at: http://hgthproductionsradio.podomatic.com/
Finally, thanks to Halo for allowing me to change my username. I'm looking forward to this season. You can catch me roaming around the dome every home game with a beer and boudin sandwich in hand.
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