If I was a Lakers fan I would want Bronny James to have a better rookie year than his father and go on to score more points in his career. I want us to win out, but I feel its less likely. Dennis Allen is like a coaching version of Bronny James, only got a shot because Sean Payton is his daddy and insisted on it, but obviously doesnt have the skills to compete at this level.

Reality though??? Roger Goodell will make sure we finish between 6-9 wins with a little surge near the end of the season to keep the fans engaged. SCREW HIM. I'm not buying his screwjob or his merch.

Honestly, there's not another team in the league that would do much better having lost as many key players as we've had to deal with this season. Backups are backups for a reason. They simply are not as talented as starters. There will be isolated exceptions. A team may be able to cover a hole or two at some positions, but other positions are simply not deep enough across the entire league to provide that sort of depth. QB and offensive line are way up at the top of that position list. We've basically had to dip into the very bottom of the depth pool to field those positions. We've fielded 12 different offensive linemen with 11 having taken a sizable number snaps including four different at center.

People say that injuries are not an excuse for losing. I agree with that. If a team was performing bad before injuries struck they would be being used as an excuse. But, injuries are absolutely a reason behind losing. When a team loses a sizable number of their top performers due to injury, which the Saints have experienced, it is undoubtedly a major reason behind the team's overall performance. The two blowout wins over NFL teams in the first two games of the season shows they were not a bad team at all.

Honestly, there's not another team in the league that would do much better having lost as many key players as we've had to deal with this season. Backups are backups for a reason. They simply are not as talented as starters. There will be isolated exceptions. A team may be able to cover a hole or two at some positions, but other positions are simply not deep enough across the entire league to provide that sort of depth. QB and offensive line are way up at the top of that position list. We've basically had to dip into the very bottom of the depth pool to field those positions. We've fielded 12 different offensive linemen with 11 having taken a sizable number snaps including four different at center.

People say that injuries are not an excuse for losing. I agree with that. If a team was performing bad before injuries struck they would be being used as an excuse. But, injuries are absolutely a reason behind losing. When a team loses a sizable number of their top performers due to injury, which the Saints have experienced, it is undoubtedly a major reason behind the team's overall performance. The two blowout wins over NFL teams in the first two games of the season shows they were not a bad team at all.

I agree that injuries can be a reason for poor performance. For example, possibly DA and Loomis were dropped as babies, or their moms fell down the stairs when pregnant, and they had blood to the brain, and sustained a fair degree of mental retardation.

As for the Saints, all backups are not created equally. Many teams backups are proven commodities they were able to sign to reasonable contracts because they managed their money carefully, or recent middle round picks with promising attributes that could develop into starters. For the Saints, that is not the casing. The Saints go all in on trading up to the first round for a few select mega-projects and spending all their cash to keep aging veteran starters so they can all have a proper 5 year retirement send off, while trading away most of their mid round picks and less most of their solid backups walk away in free agency because Cam and Kamara's kids need to eat. Our depth and backups are the worst in the league, and worse than that, we started the season with 2 backups starting on our oline. Penning and Patrick are the type of guys who would come off the bench for other teams, and though they have performed admirably for us, we would have been much better off if we had 5 solid starters and then guys like that to come in when they got hurt.

Backups who are solid proven steady backups, or who are mid round picks with true potential, compared to backups who are old or journeyman dumped by other teams due to injury concerns or undrafted, are likely to both perform better if given the opportunity, and likely to stay healthier. Good insurance costs money and draft picks, and the Saints have instead opted for the most heavily discounted insurance available.

The Chiefs have had many injuries and are undefeated. The Packers have many and are 5-2. The Saints are a joke.

There is also a reason the Saints have many injuries on offense. We switched offensive systems to a drastically different offense without the the cash or financial flexibility to bring in players suited to the system. A 34yo Taysom Hill is supposed to play the role of a much larger and 3 years younger George Kittle. Chris Olave and Rasheed Shaheed, two speed/finesse receivers, are supposed to play the role of the much more physical and taller and heavier Samuel and Aiyuk who are both over 200 pounds to their 180's. Alvin Kamara is supposed to go from years of lower workload to an every down power back. And there is no depth behind any of them. It should be no surprise they have all been injured.

You are trying to make an excuse for injuries. Besides, Taysom is playing the role of a 6'1" 235 Kyle Juszczyk, not Kittle.

My excuse for injuries is the coach, GM, medical staff, trainers, and roster. If we bring in new leadership from the top and drain the swamp in Metairie, all will be well.

While Hill is listed as a TE and Juice as a FB, when you look at the actual stats, Hill has far more touches per game than Juice, but primarily as a rusher, while Juice almost never rushes and is used more as a receiver. Juice has only averaged slightly over 1 rushing attempt per game one season in his career, and has averaged 1-3 targets per game over his career. Hill has averaged up to 5 rushing attempts and/or 3 targets per game depending on the season. While Juice is actually closer to Kittle in being primarily used for receiving not rushing, Hill is much closer to Kittle in touches per game, and what he is asked to do running through people with the ball much more often.

Its obvious that Hill cannot sustain the hits he has to take in this offense.