New Orleans Saints Forums - blackandgold.com - Division may keep Saints in the hunt

Posted by John DeShazier
October 13, 2007

The minute a team and its fan base are relegated to thinking and talking about mathematical possibilities and doing things only one or two other teams in history have done, the season already is in the toilet and almost has been flushed.

The Saints are 0-4 entering Sunday's game against Seattle at Qwest Field. Only one team has rebounded from an 0-4 start to advance to the playoffs since the league expanded the playoff format in 1992.

And yet, as crazy as it sounds and as ridiculous as it actually is, the Saints and their stinky record aren't quite as rank as they could be, mainly because if ever there has been a time to stink, this is it.

No one, apparently, is going to run away and hide in the NFC South, currently led by a couple of 3-2 teams (Carolina and Tampa Bay) that are a lot less than super. An eight- or nine-win team very well could walk away with the crown it took the Saints 10 regular-season wins to get last season.

By those minimal standards, none of the four teams is out of the race, even if one of them -- the Saints -- has played as if it's out on its feet for almost all of its 240 minutes.

Obviously, that's getting a little ahead of the situation. Actually, a whole lot ahead.

The Saints haven't won a game, aren't expected to start winning Sunday night against the Seahawks and have looked like anything but winners this season. Their 16-13 loss to the Panthers six days ago at the Superdome particularly was galling, because the Saints gave away a game against an opponent it thoroughly had outplayed.

But as badly as things have gone -- and thank goodness we have reality to put perspective on the football team's collapse under expectations -- they still haven't gone bad enough for the Saints to be done, mathematically or otherwise.

Obviously, Saints players sound a little obtuse when they talk about turning it around and being "close" to putting it all together and getting on a run to counter their crawl. No words sound reasonable these days; they won't until the team actually manages to bank some goodwill this season.

But they're competing in a division that still can be won by anyone. It looks like the first team to eight or nine victories wins the NFC South, and although the Saints have to do more hustling than anyone else to get there, it helps that they're trailing three teams that are extremely beatable.

"Sean (Payton) is a good man and a good coach," said Seattle Coach Mike Holmgren, who has endured his share of trials with the Seahawks. Seattle went 13-3 and played in Super Bowl XL but barely reached the playoffs last season with a 9-7 record. He also has had 6-10 and 7-9 records with Seattle.

"We had a chance to visit this year in the offseason, and what he did with that team last year and what that team accomplished and meant to the city, all those things, it was remarkable," Holmgren said. "I am a Sean Payton fan.

"He is going to be fine, and the Saints will be fine. Do you go through bumps in the road? Absolutely, everyone does. He's not the Lone Ranger. . . . You just hang in and believe in what you are teaching, you believe in your philosophy and keep plugging away."

Definitely, the Saints have to keep plugging. There are holes to be filled -- some, obviously, gaping -- and until New Orleans figures how to patch them up, there's no way it can hope to stop an opponent or the losing.

But the numbers don't lie, even if there's a necessity to look at them this early, which always is a signal that the meaningful portion of a season is close to expiring.

They still could add up, thanks to a division filled with opponents who aren't lacking as much, but aren't that much more formidable, either.

Division may keep Saints in the hunt - New Orleans Saints Beat - Times-Picayune NFL - NOLA.com