Observations from yet another Saints early exit in the playoffs
 

Hello... HELLO SP... Where are you?

Sad this may be Brees' last game as a Saint!

Twas good whilst it lasted.

Happy New Year, Who Dats!

Shall we ask the Whole Foods Meat guy?

Re: Observations from yet another Saints early exit in the playoffs
 

The defense played beyond my expectations but watching the offense I never felt confident this was a Super Bowl team. I get being a fan but you have to look at things without the homer shades on.

The real question is what were the issues offensively?
Receivers? Qb Play? Oline?

Michael Thomas is not worth 19m a year especially without Brees.

Re: Observations from yet another Saints early exit in the playoffs
 

Same formula as the last few exits. Settling for FG's, Defense keeping us in it, Offense turning the ball over.

Sorry it ended this way, not a good way for Brees to go out but he won us a ton of games we had no business winning. Think its time for him to hang them up now.

Re: Observations from yet another Saints early exit in the playoffs
 

Jared Cook ...

Man he's really under performed.

Re: Observations from yet another Saints early exit in the playoffs
 

Dude...the guy sucked ass.

Re: Observations from yet another Saints early exit in the playoffs
 

Guy is awful, just dislike his absolute lethargy whilst playing the game. Never know if he's gonna care this time or not.

Re: Observations from yet another Saints early exit in the playoffs
 

He plays like he is on his period

Re: Observations from yet another Saints early exit in the playoffs
 

We were missing major talent and players started dropping like flies. No excuse but it’s a fact. They looked like they knew they were beat when they stepped on the field. Thomas looked like he wasn’t trying at all. Maybe purposely. They manhandled our offensive line and our defense couldn’t generate pressure against a shaky offensive line.

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Malcolm Jenkins and Lattimore might have been the only Saints that brought their A-game. Everyone else was pretty meh. We needed to play even a little better, at least push the game to OT :(

Re: Observations from yet another Saints early exit in the playoffs
 

End of an era. Wow. We probably won't ever see a QB like Drew again. People need to understand that.

I hate it so bad that his career ended like this. I'd almost rather him take another season. I know it's an unpopular opinion here. But damn....terrible game. If he had had a badass season or a great game to finish the season..even if lost...I could stomach it. This just blows.

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A lack of game changing speed kills the team. There's only Kamara and you don't see him often break 40+ yards.

I'm not counting Harris as you can't rely on a WR that small.

Re: Observations from yet another Saints early exit in the playoffs
 

16 and 4 :dunce:???? Bet Thomas is gone too...Brees...... Kamara????

Re: Observations from yet another Saints early exit in the playoffs
 

Bye Cook. Thor, Help him pack his bag after you pack yours. I don't understand why there was no passion. No one looked pumped up. EVER. Frigging Jameis was yawning on the sideline when we still had a chance.

I knew without Hill this was going to be a bad deal.

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Honestly, I think we have speed, just it's only utilised to "clear out" other routes because Brees can't get it that far.

Knowing Brees can't fire it down field has to be why the Offense continually falters in the playoffs. Defenses are able to focus so much more attention to blitzing or double covering.

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Anzaone was blown backwards 3 yards on a blitz. No space awareness.

This guy needs to walk in 2021. He's useless. Draft another LB.

I find it funny that people didn't see that Kwon was a huge upgrade over Alex but hey, he had a good PFF rating.

Re: Observations from yet another Saints early exit in the playoffs
 

Saints took a big ole L tonight.
I really hoped they could have made to next week even losing to GB.
Brady n TB won’t win against GB.
Saints loss , but gave TB big, critical turnovers. You never give Brady football game presents.
GB is not going to give any gifts.

If this is Brees last year, ok. He still went out a winner.
On and off the field, a winner.:bng:
He broke some records.
He is definitely a greatest player. An elite qb.
A future NFL Hall of Fame inductee.

What next?
Will he and wife continue to live in NewOrleans or move to, lets say, Indiana?Brees and wife, Britney, met in college at PurdueU.
Maybe they like Indianapolis, Indiana.

Will he want a coaching staff position or on air commentary position?

What?
We shall see.

Re: Observations from yet another Saints early exit in the playoffs
 

I wouldn't be shocked if its not just a new QB but a possible new HC next year. Not saying fire him but wouldn't be shocked to see Sean want a year out.

Re: Observations from yet another Saints early exit in the playoffs
 

Re: Observations from yet another Saints early exit in the playoffs
 

Re: Observations from yet another Saints early exit in the playoffs
 

Brees kneeling to BLM was a bigger loss than this game. Still glad he and the Saints lost and NFL ratings are horrible. We are winning folks. Stay strong.

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Jared Cook has lost the fire, intensity and hunger. Those INTS sure didn't help either.

At the elite level of football, you don't win turning over the ball that many times in a playoff game. Once some of you go back and review the film, you'll see how bad Alex Anzalone really is in coverage. If Kwon doesn't return, go find a replacement because Anzalone isn't good enough. Anyone see Devin White at LB ? We need to consider bringing back Mike Nolan and develop more talent at linebacker.

Drew Brees is pretty much done playing. Time to see what we have in Jameis Winston. He's had a complete season in this offense, so I'd like to see what he can do.

I thought Lattimore and Jenkins played well.

This team made it to the 2nd round of the playoffs, something a lot of squads weren't able to do. We can only have one winner but losing sucks.

The playoffs are a different animal, I'm not even mad.

Re: Observations from yet another Saints early exit in the playoffs
 

Kwon was a huge loss for us he was playing lights out football and Anzalone was nowhere near filling that gap. The Michael Thomas situation was a little more puzzling possibly still not recovered from the ankle injury. As for Drew expecting a 42 year old quarterback coming back from 11 bruised ribs and a collapsed lung was a stretch to say the least. Not having Taysom was probably the kiss of death for us, not having his versatility sadly weakened our attack. Now add Murray being out who consistently picked up those hard yards. If by some Saints VooDoo miracle
we limped into Green Bay the 22 degree snow predicted weather would have been a far reaching expectation. Key players are crucial, Mahomes
went down for KC in the Browns game and they barely held on to win.

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Whilst I'm sad that this might be Drew's last ever game and annoyed at how his prime was squandered with poor squads, I'm optimistic and excited about the future.

It might not be pretty for a while, a lot of players being cap casualties, I think a change at QB will allow this team to re-establish their own identity and make use of the players we have at WR, with routes above 10-15 yards.

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I agree with this. I’m gonna miss Brees- he’s truly a HOF quarterback who was surrounded by sh*t defenses for most of his career, and I feel like it deprived him of at least another Lombardi if not more, but I honestly feel good going forward with Jamie’s if that’s the plan. He threw that decently deep pass to Smith with accuracy and little effort. Our situation could be much worse honestly.

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What happens to the remainder of Drew’s money if he retires? Do we have to eat it?

Re: Observations from yet another Saints early exit in the playoffs
 

We went 12-4 this year with a very mediocre Brees.

This team will be just as good next season, if we can keep the rest of the team in tact.

Re: Observations from yet another Saints early exit in the playoffs
 

-Future is bright.
-Can't turn the ball over in the playoffs.
-Cook play was the back breaker. Could have been up by two scores. Game over.
-Harris is a game changer. Hopefully the neck issue can be fixed.
-T. Smith has the ability. Hopefully he stays healthy.
-Thomas got no separation yesterday. Could have been injury related. Very disappointing.
-Murray and Hill being out was huge. Again, the few plays they make are difference makers.
-Dline pressure was good. Not great. But, the defense absolutely played well enough to win.
-Definitely time for Brees to go. Amazing run.
-Sad to see Campbell go.
-QB, LB, TE, RB, CB, S in the draft. Love Hill. Would move up to get Jones. Reminds me of Brady. Harris at RB with Kamara would be no drop off. Pitts at TE. Moses or Parsons at LB.

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Biggest observation for me was that the Bucs coaching staff made the adjustments from the first two games and we didn’t have an answer. Our d-line was total no-show because TB neutralized the pass rush with the run game, shorter throws and more guys in protection. On the other side of the ball they got very aggressive with our receivers and played everyone up not having any fear of the deep ball. These adjustments combined with losing the turnover battle 4-0 was a recipe for another early playoff exit.

Also on a side note, when Cook fumbled up 7 and driving in the third I turned to my wife and said we’re losing. She seemed surprised since we were leading at the time but I knew, I’ve seen this team too many times in the playoffs. Once one thing goes wrong, everything seems to spiral with this team. We just never seem to be able to grab momentum back in these playoff games.

A lot of uncertainty going forward. It’s really hard to win a super bowl without an elite QB which we don’t have right now with Hill or Winston so my gut says we should probably blow things up, get out of salary cap hell and start building through the draft and hopefully find our next QB and rebuild.

Last, thank you Drew for everything you did for this franchise and city. We got so spoiled having him as our QB for 15 years. It’s a shame the FO couldn’t get the defense right until after his prime or else we’re probably looking at another super bowl or two. But, he did bring us one which if I’m being honest I never thought I’d see in my life so that’s something I’ll always remember about the Drew Brees era.

Who Dat B&G!

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The Browns were victims of a "Non Call" that fumble at the goal line that ended as a touch back for KC was clear " leading with the crown of the helmet" be willing to bet that was the reason the Saints got that called in their favor. I'm sure the NFL is drafting "The Oops There It Is" letter to Cleveland as I write this.

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Good luck with that. The difference is a different QB will not beat a Brady-led team even once in a season(next year at least). Unless we go after someone like Stafford or Foles but I won't be around for that.

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Good luck with whatever team you support next season.

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If Nielsen leaves to LSU, it would be a big blow to our defense.

I don't know how I feel about next season, but we've been stagnant for quite a while now. I'm ready for the change.

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Pretty much me too. Hate to see Drew go but I do believe it's time. He could still play...wouldn't hurt my feelings if he did, but it does feel like its time for us to make some changes. I truly believe we will remain competitive post Drew, and all the roster churn we're about to witness. I'm going to look forward to Sean crafting another winner.

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Not only the bad defenses but the "Bounty" clown show set the Saints back for a few years of Brees' prime.

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This. Don't get me wrong, all the turnovers hurt. But this was the killer.

Some are still speculating on Brees' future. I don't think he has one in a Saints uniform.

But, whether he does or he doesn't, he was everything the organization asked of him on and off the field for a long time. Godspeed Mr. Brees. And... well, thank you.

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I see it like this: Brady beats packers like a bad dog. Fournette will kill them on the ground. Brady wins SB and retires. Drew comes back breaks all of the records Brady set except SB wins, but wins another one to go out on top. SB parade #2.

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Payton threw his arm out. Nothing but respect for Brees here!!

Re: Observations from yet another Saints early exit in the playoffs
 

Well we went 8-1 with Bridgewater and Hill.

Re: Observations from yet another Saints early exit in the playoffs
 

Saints eat 22ml dead money next year or 11ml a year for 2 years depending on date paper are put in

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When year after year, we exit the playoffs in the exact same fashion, questions need to be asked.

Was it Brees' inability to push the ball downfield, or is Payton getting outcoached in the playoffs?

Considering in 2018 we almost lost to the Eagles, the only reason we won is because Jeffrey popped an easy pass in the air.

Last week vs Chicago, we were 1 dropped TD away from going into the half losing.

This team has no fire in the playoffs, they just all look lethargic, like they don't care.