hagan714

I know Duce, you were not going down that path.
I have been waiting for this. As soon as we loose it starts. We win and it is quite. LOL
There is no way the saints can focus as much on offense as they have in the past 2 years. They are simply running out of rooster spots. Thats all. I need to know if the OL drafted in the past 2 drafts are going to be ready to step in. Is Duce going to really come back and be productive? What else is left. Colston will get a big pay raise. Mechem is getting big money already. As are Bush and Drew. So the OL and Duce are the big question marks. The OL is so close to being done it is sicking. I still want Brown moved back to RT. To do it we might have to draft a LT to start if the bench can not do it. If Duce does not come back we can go FA or draft. But PT and Stecker might do well with bush in the same backfield.

Whats left? DEFENSE

Year two of the rebuild gang. RELAX. I like the depth we have shown on this team. Alot of players stepped up and played well with all the injuries we have had in this season. I am amazed that we are looking at 500 with Duce out and all the injuries. 2 years ago we would have been in the running for the #1 pick of the draft.

"We may have lost the game, but you'll be hurting tomorrow." Doug Atkins

bobcat4u2

i saw 4 games that the coaching was a good part of the loss.talent covers some,teaching of position covers some,health covers a lot.hopefully,he will improve his grades next year as well as the players learning.that leaves talent improvement and team health to deal with.
what " GENIUS COACH " is available that we could get to do better?

Kittykat

I don't think Payton is the whole, entire problem.

Last year he could do no wrong and he and the entire Saints roster were the league's Golden Boys. An NFC South Championship during your first year as head coach of what is thought to be a dismal team is surely going to give you a boost in your confidence.

Then think about post-season when everyone was touting that this might be the year that the Saints can take it all the way to the Superbowl AND win. Ah, yes, let's boost that confidence (and ego) a little bit more.

I think Payton suffers from a bit of the big head with a large dose of knucklehead thrown in for good measure. I think he calls these boneheaded plays (swing pass on 3rd and short? wtf?!) because he thinks he's a bit of a miracle worker.

Maybe this is the kind of year the team (or more specifically, Payton) needed. A reality check of sorts. Don't be cute, don't be stupid and don't be a knucklehead.

I don't even think you can count last year as experience for Payton. Too many emotions tied to it for it to be a true, down in the dirt, first year as head coach coaching experience. I like to think of this year as his real first year out of the gate...and I think he did all right.

Now, if he comes out with the same kind of BS next year I might be singing a totally different tune. Until then, I'm with him.

http://www.gulftel.com/exploregear/k...odbadugly1.jpg

Cassady37

Ok, I don't know how to quite take this year but I do know this. All we needed was 2 things to make the play-offs and if we would've done them a while back we would not be having this conversation. 1, quit making Reggie the focus of our offensive play-calling, put him in space, create match-ups, use deception but pound the runs with someone a little more suited to the running game in the NFL. (This was Payton's choice.) And 2. if we replaced Jason David and left someone else in there for the remainder of the season we would've not given up quite so many easy pass-plays for scores. (This was Gibb's choice.) Given the change to both of these situations and we would be in the play-offs right now with no need to worry or argue. So who does the overall blame rest with for not making the calls on either one of these? And why do the majority of people watching the Saints games see this and the coaching staff can't? People from analysts, former players,former coaches, announcers and the everyday fan???

papz

I'm going with the assumption that with 35+ million dollars in cap room, we'll sign some quality defensive players for our defense. Lots of top talent out there this offseason for the bidding. I'm also going on the assumption that we learn from our mistakes on defense. We won't start David, sign a good corner, get a blitzing linebacker, and start putting pressure on opposing quarterbacks. I'm just trying to stay positive... hopefully it'll come true. With how bad our secondary was this year, there's no where to go but up.

Tobias-Reiper

Already running Payton out of town? Come on…

I think this offseason will show if Payton is really a head coach, and not just an OC in charge of the team. There are changes that need to be made on defense, both in personnel and even coaching, so we’ll see how good Payton does as a true HC.

As for the offense, there were some bad plays called at the wrong time, and some issues with blocking schemes; if you really look at it, is not that the opposing players knew what the Saints were doing, it is more like the blocking schemes left a lot to be desired. Couple of examples: we heard all the time how they wanted to give Bush the ball in space, but “in space” apparently meant without anyone around blocking for him; or the blitz, who the o-line was never able to hold. Drew’s presence in the pocket had more to do with the low sack count than the o-line’s blocking.

'Cause the simple man pays the thrills, the bills and the pills that kill

NEXTPROBOWLER

the only we we get to the play-offs next year............everyone healthy, new defensive cordinator, and a solid defensive draft, with atleast two key additions on defensive side of the ball in the off season......if we dont make moves this off season we will be stuck being a so-so team forever...........destined to go 7-9, 8-8,9-7 and back down to 6-10

CheramieIII

I will support Payton until about 5 or 6 games into next season. If we are anything below 500 I will be calling for the boy genusis head and we better have a brand new defense and defensive coach this stuff has got to end and end now.

TheDeuce

I believe that Payton can be the guy, but I do believe in the widespread sentiment on this board that he better damn well do something about this defense in the offseason.

UK_WhoDat

Well I dunno if Payton is the problem. But I do know the Saints has a problem.

On the minus side:
That defence is the worst. Any team can beat up on it. The starting personnel was not good enough from game 1. And no one has bothered to improve it. If anything, small fixes (like KK and possibly OY) were overlooked.

Playcalling. The screen. This play drives me nuts. It stinks, stinks, stinks, stinks, stinks, stinks, stinks, stinks, stinks, stinks, stinks, stinks, stinks, stinks, stinks, stinks, stinks, stinks, stinks, stinks, stinks, stinks, stinks, stinks, stinks, stinks, stinks, stinks, stinks, stinks, stinks, almost worked, stinks, stinks, stinks, stinks, stinks, stinks, stinks, stinks, stinks, stinks, stinks, stinks. And then the timing of "smart" plays were poor (Tampa Bay - reverse when the game was ours; Philly - going for it when there's almost a full half to go, blah, blah, bleat, bleat, blah, boo-hoo, deep weeping).

Draft. Why were the Saints exempt this year? We might as well have been. Good money on nothing.

Replacing injured players. Excuse me - when did Deuce go down for the season? Just what did we do? Absolutely nothing.


On the plus side:
Doing as well as we did despite all the minuses.

Happy bloody Christmas. Yep I am hurting ok?

Our Saints, Our City, Our Soul
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