our only real chance is
 

to have atlanta loose this week and for us to win the division. we cant get a playoff spot through wild card. we have to win the division. i dont think its possible but who knows

our only real chance is
 

Are you assuming Atlanta must pull a Saints-like collapse and lose 6 of their last 8 games for us to have any kind of chance? In that case, we could squeak in at 8-8 for the division title without having a chance at a wild card. But that\'s the only scenario I can think of that would give us a shot at the playoffs without a wild card possibility.

Without an Atlanta collapse, the only way we could win the division is if the team somehow starts playing to the potential we all think they have, winning 7 of the remaining 9 games to go 10-6. Then we\'d have a great shot at either a wild card or the division title. I don\'t see why a wild card is any more remote a possibility than winning the division, unless you are assuming the Atlanta collapse.

Anyway, if the defense doesn\'t figure out how to stop the run, going to the playoffs will just result in another humiliating blowout on national TV.

our only real chance is
 

Oh well, we can shut this thread down now... Atlanta looks pissed and they have us in there sights.....

our only real chance is
 

Haslett\'s fate is sealed.

our only real chance is
 

As much as i HATE atlanta,they won\'t collapse ... WE COLLAPSE- and the main two reasons are their players play with chips on their shoulders and limit their mistakes and learn from their losses(if we did just the latter,we\'d have scholars on our team) and secondly,they have MORA of a coach and staff than us as well!

our only real chance is
 

My question is, why the hell do we wanna make the playoffs anyway? Especially backing in? To get embarrassed again on national tv? to pick lower in the draft? Picking mid to late first round has not helped us previously. To keep Haslett and his crew? Anyone who wants this should be drawn and quartered. There is no way this team should make the playoffs and rightfully so. They don\'t deserve it. Give the spot to a team that has heart and plays with passion every week, now when their backs are against the wall. Now, if by some miracle the Saints right the ship and play like an inspired team the rest of the season, then they deserve it liek anyone else. But from what I have seen the first 7 weeks, it is same old same old.

our only real chance is
 

Amen Whodi!

Wait, the Saints are going to be 10-6, remember? Just ask Haslett. LOL ;)

our only real chance is
 

Because getting into the playoffs is the only opportunity to win a championship.

Also teams who generally finally win the championship have hung around in the playoffs at least for a season or two.
Agreed. But fans don\'t deal with logic. They want to see their team win games, get into the playoffs, and win championships.

Personally I\'d simply like to see the offense open up the playbook and just play wide open for the next 9 weeks. Gameplan to score 40-50 points every game. Won\'t help with the playoffs but would be quite entertaining.

SFIAH

our only real chance is
 

as a saints fan, i want my team to win and i support them in their highs and lows. i want them to get into the playoffs because i want the team to succeed. if they turn around the season and make it to the playoffs, i think they would have shown that they got heart and that they deserve to be there. playoff teams are the ones that are more deserving than the other teams that dont make it.

our only real chance is
 

I think that\'s the point though. If they stumble and bumble to an 8-8 finish and make the playoffs only b/c the other teams in the division all suck more, that\'s not good to me. That doesn\'t demonstrate heart. That doesn\'t mean they\'re winners. Just like the Presidential elections, nobody really wins - somebody doesn\'t lose, and the real losers are us, the American public, that has to deal with these yahoos for four years. Same applies for the Saints - if they make the playoffs, and they won\'t b/c Atlanta\'s just about got the division locked up, but hypothetically if they did make the playoffs it would not be because they are a good team, it would be b/c other teams suck more. And the real losers would be us, the fans, b/c we\'d have to deal with the same inconsistent crap week in and week out for at least another year.

our only real chance is
 

Until we do something to turn this ENTIRE organization around, 8-8 is going to look REALLY good. I suspect 5-11 is more like it. :casstet:

our only real chance is
 

Once again, agreed with WhoDat. If we win the next 9 games in a row and storm into the playoffs, more power to us. I would LOVE to see that. But the reality is the NFC is so bad right now, backing into the playoffs only guarantees negatives. The only thing you would be able to do is brag to a 7-9 team that your 8-8 team made the playoffs and got it handed to them by whichever team actually deserved to be there. Then, with the attitude of this team, they will rest on the fact they made the playoffs and not try to improve. Lord knows they have not tried to improve although they have not made the playoffs the last 3 years. I would rather be the guy bragging Hey, I drafted Antrel Rolle or Derrick Johnson than be the guy bragging I made the playoffs by default. 12-4 or 11-5 or even 10-6 and the playoffs is awesome. 8-8 and the playoffs and getting a first round bouncing as well as picking 20 something in the draft sucks. Not to mention the fact that the playoffs would prob give Haz another year. What guarantee do we have that a guy who has not been able to see for years that Venturi is a joke will fire him? Why wouldn\'t he say, hey we made the playoffs with this guy, let\'s give him another year. Unacceptable.

our only real chance is
 

Snippage...Definite cosign. Couldn\'t have expressed it better myself.

It\'s like Philly fans that say they\'re glad to be in the NFC championship game 3 straight years. But you\'d best believe that they\'d prefer to be the Bucs or the Pats the last 3 years.

The Saints under Haslett and Loomis are mediocre. Let\'s get a new GM, a new coaching staff, and a new philosophy in place. Give the players who have produced a one year tryout, and flush the rest into the system.

It took a 3-13 season with Ditka to get to the point where change was necessary. Unfortunately Benson will stick with Haslett and Venturi with 7-9 and 8-8 as long as they are under contract and there are enough butts in the seats of the Dome. And not even Haslett and Mueller didn\'t completely clean house because Rick \"let the opposing offense run all over us\" Venturi is not only still here, but is the primary defensive coach over the worst defense in the NFL. As someone else here pointed out, I\'d sure like to see what Venturi has over Benson, Loomis, and Haslett.

SFIAH

our only real chance is
 

well i think my point when i wrote the thread was that we really cant win a wild card. green bay is playing better detroits record is better then ours seattle owns a game on us. the giants look solid. there just isnt enough spots to go around. we would have to win the division. and i would never want to get to the playoffs just for the sake of making the playoffs. if we r going to back in its not worth it. but if we could get something rolling then it would be nice. do i expect it heck no. but i still hope it does. but the reality more then likely is the season is over and now its just a matter of where were picking. but hey we\'ll know this week i guess. anyone think were resigning howard. the guy has been hurt pretty much all year again.

our only real chance is
 

spk,

At this point, I don\'t see how signing Howard to a long term contract or franchising him are good options. He seems to be going the Joe Johnson route, great early years, then injuries killed his career. Although he could be like Jevon Kearse, who was pretty much banged up all the time after his first season with the Titans, and is awesome now for Philly. I would hate for Darren to go somewhere else and become a star again, but that is a chance I feel we have to take. Our more pressing need is linebacker and someone in the middle of the D beside Young, unless Howard gets healthy, puts on weight and fills this role, which I just don\'t see. Ferguson from the Jets is a DT we need to be taking a look at in free agency cause no way they can sign him, Abraham, and Ellis. And Will Smith has shown flashes, he gets good pressure, and his game will come along. In the long run he gives us better play than Darren, especially if Grant keeps up his stellar performances on the other side. So if signing Howard means dishing out franchise money again, especially with next year being the big money year for Joe Horn, we have to let Howard walk. Or place a transition tag on him or tender an offer and make him a restricted free agent. No way on the franchise tag again. Now, if he goes out in the 2nd half of the year and gets 12-14 sacks, I take all of this back.