If we could just have our Starting core...
 

I mean, my God. We literally cannot field all of our Starters for some reason. Ever. And today we lost Olave.

How can Michael Thomas be such a Pu$$y?
If you were that talented you would think you would want to be out there every chance you could get.

Taysom Hill is an athlete. He loves being out there and playing. He LOVES it.
You can call him a QB or TE or whatever position you want to assign him to. But to me he is just a great Athlete that loves to play. Put him on Defense and I bet won't suck there either.

So if Thomas could get his Pu$$y out of a sling and get his ass out there and we field Thomas, Olave, Landry, Hill, Kamara. All at the same time. My God. Defenses would be destroyed. But no, for some damn reason we can't get our starters out there together. And it is so frustrating.

My point in all of this is that I think if our guys were all out there together, we are 4-1 right now even with DA and Pu$$y Pete driving the bus.

Re: If we could just have our Starting core...
 

Thank Winston for Landry and Thomas injuries

Re: If we could just have our Starting core...
 

We collect older players with long injury histories and when they get more hurt we sign them to extensions and restructure their contracts to squeeze under the cap. We trade our draft picks or take chances on prospects with lots of injuries in college. We cant afford to splurge in free agency so we hunt the bargain bin for vets with injury and suspension baggage. The injuries arent a bug of the way loomis runs the team they are a feature. His early career as a top executive was shaped by the coups of McAllister and Brees both making unlikely recoveries. Ever since then we chase that luck and stack every risk and when some pay off they never all will and it just creates chaos on our roster.

Re: If we could just have our Starting core...
 

If the RBs don’t fumble we are 4-1.
If the refs don’t screw us we are 4-1.

You complain when we trade up to get two young players. Yet You complain that we hang onto old guys. We get it, you don’t like Loomis.

Re: If we could just have our Starting core...
 

That's bullcrap. Winston had nothing whatsoever to do with any injury to Landry or Thomas.

:rolleyes:

Re: If we could just have our Starting core...
 

Thomas isn't a pu$$y. He's a player with what can be a very serious toe injury. He'd be out there if he could. Injuries are injuries. No player wants them.

And, yes, Taysom is a great Athlete that loves to play, but he too has been forced to sit out due to injuries. Or do you deem him a pu$$y, too?

Unreal.

Re: If we could just have our Starting core...
 

I pay Taysom a complement and you spin it back around that I would call him that if he were injured. You are something else.
First of all Speedo, you don't know what I'm thinking and you damn sure don't know if Michael Thomas is a Pu$$ or not. So don't act like you know him and every person on the team or their motives. And you damn sure don't know me.

Re: If we could just have our Starting core...
 

Trading up makes us older not younger. It doesn’t get us young players, we would still have got young players if we kept our picks and held our ground. Trading up gets us one young player instead of 2-3 young players. It makes us older.

Any team could be 4-1 with the right luck and bounces and treatment. But if you think this is a team that is going to go far in the playoffs you are insane.

Re: If we could just have our Starting core...
 

I doubt the team will go far in the playoffs because the refs aren’t gonna quit screwing us. I know it sure as hell isn’t Loomis’s fault though.

Re: If we could just have our Starting core...
 

I see you had a little trouble understanding the irony of your statement. Yes, you complimented Taysom, as well you should. Then you turn around and call another great player a Pu$$y because he unfortunately suffers an injury. I simply pointed out the irony that you failed to call Taysom a Pu$$y when he likewise missed time due to injury. At no point did I say you WOULD call Taysom a Pu$$y. Quite the contrary. I was pointing out that you DIDN'T and mostly likely WOULDN'T call Taysom a Pu$$y under the exact same circumstances. And, no, I don't know what you are thinking. I only know what you are posting and addressed that alone.

Have a nice day!

Who Dat! 18-3 Baby!

:bng:

Re: If we could just have our Starting core...
 

You should see the Seahawks forum. They are going on and on about how the refs screwed them and how injuries and turnovers are killing them. LOL!

Re: If we could just have our Starting core...
 

It’s both. Flawed roster and biased refs. When the refs are against you, you need to dominate to win. And in the playoffs, you better be good enough to dominate many lesser teams if you expect to beat the best. But our team this year plays close games at best because we have too many weaknesses, are too old, too injured, and lack depth, largely due to cap and draft problems brought about by Loomis. So we are bragging about the wins we eked out against mediocre teams, complaining about the others we might have eked out if we didnt have ref and injury problems we knew we would have, and missing the point that to go the distance we need to be a team capable of dominating and we clearly are not. Its time for a rebuild.

Re: If we could just have our Starting core...
 

This is where fans get out of hand. Guido is right. Injuries are injuries and they happen to everyone. If he could play I'm pretty sure he'd be playing. He played injured for Drew Brees and lost a significant portion of his career. I know many on this board don't like Michael Thomas because he dared to challenge Brees on a statement he made, but dude ain't a "*****". Let's be honest, who would stand in front of his face alone in a room and call him that?

Re: If we could just have our Starting core...
 

Kinda off topic but didn't want to start a new thread but I see the Panthers have FIRED Matt Rhule.

He was terrible (11-27).

Turrible :rolleyes:

Re: If we could just have our Starting core...
 

Dennis Allen is 10-31 and lost to Matt Rhule this year.

Re: If we could just have our Starting core...
 

Maybe Michael Thomas is a humanitarian. Maybe he will spend the rest of his life building houses for people displaced by disasters. But maybe playing hurt or whatever didn't take one year off his career, maybe it took all the years remaining off his career.

He played hurt for Brees, but then he ghosted the team in the offseason and delayed surgery until the start of the year, then he had a setback, then he had a whole second offseason to recover, then he came to training came not yet recovered, then he got on the field and had more setbacks and missed most of camp, then he suited up for the opener, then he has had a series of injuries and setbacks since then. Sometimes the body breaks down before its expiration date. Sometimes a person loses the drive to give 100% after they already gave 200% and it wasn't enough and they got their money. Whatever it is, a reasonable person has to accept the considerable possibility that Michael Thomas is done for. That his future is playing golf with Terrelle Pryor, LeCharles Bentley, Jahvid Best, Andrew Luck, Dez Bryant, and company. He is young. This should be his prime. But some injuries don't go away. And if all the injuries did suddenly go away, you would still have the player who ghosted the head coach for an offseason fresh off a big contract, posted cryptic tweets, and got in fights with teammates. Younger players have been traded to the Eagles for a 5th over less.

Re: If we could just have our Starting core...
 

Loomis has put a talented team on the field this year that, even with injuries and bad calls, is one game out of first in the division and has been in every game. If the team was losing by two scores every week it would be a different matter. But they are not. Allen held them together to rebound from 17 down against atlanta. There’s (so far) no quit in this team and I promise you no team seeing the Saints on their schedule is looking forward to the game. I can remember times when that sure as hell wasn’t the case. Maybe you can’t.

Things like Kamara’s fumbles and Hurst ripping a guys helmet off are not under Loomis’s control. Hell, those plays are outside of Allen’s control. There’s an old adage that says a team is not as good as they look when they’re winning and they aren’t as bad as they look when they’re losing. After a shortened preseason played mostly without Kamara, Winston, Thomas it’s no surprise the Offense is struggling. But there’s articles about how half the league is struggling over the first quarter of the season. You think Tampa is where they want to be needing the refs to save their butts from another loss?

I guess Loomis must have stolen your high school sweetie or something for your attitude towards him. I know I’m not gonna change your mind. It’s just…interesting to see you throw out so much negativity without any reserve. Especially after a W.

Re: If we could just have our Starting core...
 

Drunken threads are entertaining threads.

I'm just glad we beat the Seahawks. I had a bet with a Seahawks friend. The loser has to rock a lip curtain for a month. Had the Saints lost I would've had to go with the mutton chops. Since the lowly Seahawks lost, he's going to go with the "imperial" 'stache. https://blackandgold.com/data:image/...6WMROLJfhP/9k=https://encrypted-tbn0.gstatic.com/i...O9-Kw&usqp=CAU

Re: If we could just have our Starting core...
 

Agreed. And I'm one that hated what he said about Brees.

Truth is, Thomas was breaking records before he got hurt. He comes across as a guy that would want to keep breaking records and cement his name as one of the best WR's that ever played in the NFL. Our bodies can only take so much wear and tear before we just can't go out and keep taking the punishment.

Re: If we could just have our Starting core...
 

I guess it comes down to what your definition of a pu$$y is… 🤔

Re: If we could just have our Starting core...
 

Less excuses this year with CMac mostly healthy.

Re: If we could just have our Starting core...
 

I agree with you that the players are out of Dennis Allen's control, which is the same thing as saying Dennis Allen has lost control of his players.

I get that we are not getting dominated but we are not dominating anyone either. A team that cannot dominate Atlanta, Carolina, Minnesota, or Seattle is not going to win a Super Bowl. So if we don't have what it takes to win it all, and we don't have the cap space or draft picks to get there next year, what we need to do is rebuild.

Loomis didn't steal my sweetie, he stole my Sundays, and is threatening to do so for the rest of the decade. We have journeyman QBs, one of the oldest rosters in the league, no first round pick to look forward to in April. Thats what that idiot stole. Terry Fontenot has made some bad moves in Atlanta like wasting the 4th overall pick on tight end, but at least he sees his team needs to rebuild and took the $ 40 million cap hit to clear dead space and make room for the future. Mickey Loomis is setting us up to get dominated by Atlanta for years because yeah we beat them by a hair now, but only after they kept their draft picks and cleared their dead cap that sets them up to beat us big in the future. When your rival is making hard choices and sacrificing the present to rebuild and your team is maxing out all cap space and draft assets to win now and damn the future and the two teams look to be on the same level, that is a bad sign for the future. I fear Fontenot may have been the only voice of reason in the room and ever since he left what good personnel moves have we made with the lunatics running the asylum? Trading our 1st? Max deal for Taysom Hill after concussion and foot injury so we can get the occasional highlight reel game against a gutter defense? Going into 2020 with no receivers? Trading CDG for nothing? Ignoring Marcus Mayes dual threat injury history and discipline issues?

Re: If we could just have our Starting core...
 

To be honest, it's on you if you let Loomis, or anyone for that matter, steal your Sundays. I for one enjoy my Sundays whether the Saints win or lose. How do I accomplish that? Mainly by not searching for any and every reason to be pissed off. When we win I am excited we won and happy that I have the opportunity to watch my Saints play, whether on TV or in person. When we lose I am disappointed, but still happy that I have the opportunity to watch my Saints play, whether on TV or in person. I don't let anyone "steal" my simple pleasure.

I'm sorry, but I only see one person stealing your Sundays, Bako.

Re: If we could just have our Starting core...
 

But Bako, hardly ANY team is dominating. Again, look at Tampa (preseason favorites) needing the refs to bail them out. Rams (last years Champs) looked ugly this weekend. Only teams with stable QBs like Bills and Chiefs are “dominating”. The game just doesn’t work that way. It’s a long season. Both of Giants SBs under Eli Manning were won as wildcard teams that struggled during regular season. I understand wanting to win but, outside of Billichik/Brady NO organization overcomes the bar you’ve set.

Re: If we could just have our Starting core...
 

Agreed! This can steal a man's Sundays.

Re: If we could just have our Starting core...
 

Although, I disagree with the overall theme of this thread I do agree with what you said about Taysom being an absolute Beast! He was the correct call for the coaches to make this week and it's about time. We needed some kind of a shake up on this offensive play calling. He was definitely the spark that we needed.

Re: If we could just have our Starting core...
 

Limited info and insight into real time drives certain individual to express their bias with reguard to personnel injuries, trades,draft and front office operations. We can all having differing opinions but there are those that bring every issue in large part down to front office having or keeping injury prone personnel.

We had an all star left take who never played a complete
season. We miss his play but made that decision based on dollars vs availability. We had a plan to replace him but that development was delayed by an injury, a foot injury.

Look around the league at the injuries that are affecting literally every team early in the season. Could this be to the lack of contact in the off-season and training camp mandated by the NFL? And some teams not playing any starters during preseason game not even a single series.

Reguardless of why or whose fault MT was away for the time he was away from the team, participated in no contact drills in the offseason and did not play in preseason was probably reasonable and nessesary cautious approach to bring him back into playing shape.

Now a foot injury, foot injury for MT, these and ankle injuries seem to be happening across the league.

The league while trying to control aggression surrounding the QB position and stricter enforcement of defense player calls and Head to Head contact. The rest of the game is faster with stronger athletes playing all out, the speed and strength of every position has increased especially on Special Teams.

If a player is injured calling him Pu$$ie because he’s not on the field is short sighted.

Re: If we could just have our Starting core...
 

I did not complain we are not dominating, I complained we are not dominating anyone. The word anyone adds a lot of meaning. Our biggest win is 7 points over a bad team in a shootout after their punter inexplicably decided he could be Adrian Peterson and was wrong. I am not saying we need to be the Bills or Chiefs. I am saying that if every game is a battle and we play multiple bad teams and cant dominate any of them, we are probably not contender. The Bucs dominated the Cowboys 19-3 and played us even the first half then clearly dominated us in the second half. We are not on a different level than the Falcons and Panthers we are on the same level and that is not a playoff level. Are the refs partly to blame? Absolutely. But those refs are not taking the playoffs off, in fact they are just getting warmed up for the playoffs. We need to be able to dominate at least some teams to contend against playoff teams and playoff refs. We are not there. To get there I believe we need to accept rebuilding.

Re: If we could just have our Starting core...
 

I believe we can get there by actually being able to play all of our key players.

Re: If we could just have our Starting core...
 

Fair enough. I notice you’ve not addressed the points I’ve brought up about the lack of playing time the “Starting Unit” has ever had playing together. You don’t think that impacts continuity? You honestly think a backup team playing with walk on RBs, and WRs due to injuries as well as third string DBs should be dominating any other NFL teams? Especially with the refs screwing them? I think that is unrealistic. That’s just me maybe.

Re: If we could just have our Starting core...
 

Exactly. We potentially have one of the most dominant offenses in the league, but a large percentage of them have spent considerable time on the sideline in street clothes.

Re: If we could just have our Starting core...
 

I don't think that there are any bad teams out there. They field professional athletes who, individually, are attempting to either justify or improve their contract situation. There are coaches under the gun. Every team has an opportunity to lose or win, and my observation is that the healthier team usually wins. The Saints are not healthy. This is the third consecutive season where a significant number of playmakers are sidelined for extended periods. Unless there is an underlying pathology that links these injuries, it is neither managements nor the coaching staff's fault. No team is going to be successful with an inconsistent lineup, and that's proven to be the case year in and year out.

As for "rebuilding", injuries aside, what's to rebuild? The defensive scheme is sound(ish), the offense is roughly the same playbook for the last 12 years. Properly executed, the overall scheme is superior to almost every NFL team. Teams can't figure out what we will do on either side of the ball when our playmakers are healthy.

So, I'm imputing that "rebuilding" is a euphemism for giving up on some players.

Re: If we could just have our Starting core...
 

We would still be losers until we become more disciplined.

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How do you become disciplined? Repetition. They haven’t had that.

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I just did some looking up of preseason stats. I know the team had Winston and Thomas coming back from injuries. I also didn’t look at snap counts for O line (I think Penning played a lot). But here are some numbers from preseason action:

Winston 4 total passes.
Dalton 10 total Passes
Book 65

Ingram had 9 Rushes
Kamara had 2
Smith had 29 Rushes
Ozigbo, Jones Jr were in the teens.

Receptions..
Thomas 0
Landry 2

T Jones had 6
Merrit 6
Callaway 5
Smith 5
Olave 4

A brief look at tackles among the D shows a
similar pattern of backups or cut players dominating.

Now if you want to argue that they should have practiced together more in preseason then you run risks of getting hurt like Trevor did (still pissed at that injury caused by the WR). Not to mention Thomas and Winston couldn’t practice because of rehab.

Just some things to think about for those talking about how sloppy the team looks.

edit : If I got a stat or 2 wrong forgive me. The point is still there.

Re: If we could just have our Starting core...
 

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If we could just have our starting core together then Dennis Allen might look like a real head coach.

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Yup. Backups are backups for a reason. No coach can make them look like starters if they don't have that level of talent.

Fortunately we aren't alone in this situation. Most of the teams in the league are dealing with tons of injuries. That's a big reason why offense is down across the league.

Re: If we could just have our Starting core...
 

The CBA has watered down the game. No tackling most of camp has led to sloppy tackles and injuries as well. These guys are not used to playing full speed and it shows in the game. No contact in practice has translated to the field.

Players aren't used to slugging it out and are getting injured because they are not conditioned for the actual hitting that takes place in every game after the kickoff. It's kind of like boxing in that they spar and box when they are training to get used to it when peoplestart hitting you hard.

Re: If we could just have our Starting core...