That's what Saints seasons are now. A whole lotta ifs. The days of Drew Brees coming in knowing that the offense has 24 points before the game starts and the team has 7 wins in the bank before the season starts are gone.

If everyone stays healthy. If the O-line can hold up enough not to get Carr killed. If the defensive line can get pressure. If the secondary doesn't fall apart for yet another year. If DD56 can be a warrior for yet another year. If Grupe can make the clutch kick when needed. If tthe new guys can grow fast enough to make a contribution.

Every season now is a lot of ifs. It makes every game like a Forrest Gump box of chocolates.

That's why treading water in the first 6 games is going to be crucial. The difference between 1-5 and 3-3 with at least 2 division wins will literally define the entire season.

Hopefully the ifs, especially the injury ones, will be cut down in the first 6 weeks.

SFIAH

Too many years of “ifs”, while other teams have consistently developed CHAMPIONSHIP CALIBER franchises.

Nope. There is exactly one CHAMPIONSHIP CALIBER franchise in the NFL: the Kansas City Chiefs. No one else is close. Everyone else has their ifs also.

2 years ago Philly was a championship caliber franchise. They were in the SuperBowl. Last year they fell apart. LA Rams reached the top once, and are pretty mid now.

GM/HC/QB combos are magical when they work. Payton/Brees, Belichik/Brady, Reid/Mahommes. But they are no plucked off trees, or organizations that naturally grow them.

I realize now that you have a flawed notion of how championship football works. You can have the best combos in the world (McDermott/Allen,Harbaugh/Jackson) and never still actually climb the mountain to the top.

And every one of these except for Reid/Mahommes have ifs.

SFIAH

“Ifs” and all… I’ll start with the team that WON THE PATHETIC NFC SOUTH this past season, then pan across the league to all of the teams with a better percentage than us, with more charismatic coaches, better organized systems and better utilized play makers… (Rams weren’t pretty “mid” when they totally dominated us on Thursday Night Football)… all the way up to the “PLAYOFFS?!?”… And here we are (again) saying “Let’s see how things go over the next few decades”…

Pathetic actually.

None of them are championship quality. Not a single one.

It's scary how spoiled you guys were with Payton and Brees. Thinking that you can just go pluck another pair and kee it rolling.

Hell even Payton couldn't make a lot of headway without Brees in either of the two organizations that he worked for after Brees retired.

As for the Succs, we totally dominated them in a must win game for them. Not championship caliber by any stretch of the imagination.

SFIAH

I was there in Los Angeles on that Thursday Night. You might want to cue up the highlights, if you can stomach it. It was a must win game for US, and we got outplayed, outcoached, and BEATEN by what you call a “mid” team.

See, I don’t have to dump on my Saints. They do it to themselves, and if I just let you run with THE FACTS, you’ll be doing it too. You cannot escape reality, my brother.

None of them are championship quality. Not a single one.

It's scary how spoiled you guys were with Payton and Brees. Thinking that you can just go pluck another pair and kee it rolling.

Hell even Payton couldn't make a lot of headway without Brees in either of the two organizations that he worked for after Brees retired.

As for the Succs, we totally dominated them in a must win game for them. Not championship caliber by any stretch of the imagination.

SFIAH

with that.... i am sure the Broncos will be an elite team a hell of a lot faster/quicker than the Saints will be; especially with this current bunch of coaches and players. SP knows what to do, D A not so much...