Perspective
 

The Saints lost to TB. Philadelphia lost to OAK...Minnesota got beat down by Carolina. We lost to TB by a FG in OT. At least we know there is parity in the NFL, which is why each team has to bring it EVERY week.

We've gotten exposed on D for the past couple of weeks, but the offense has also been stumped the past few weeks. We've seen that the special teams were a weakness from week 1. This IS NOT the perfect team by any means. We're fortunate Brees is our QB, or our record would be much worse.

And I do wonder...is it a coincidence that the 2 games Shockey has missed is exactly the 2 games we've lost? It's 1 more LB to blitz or to provide run support when he's not in there. I've already eaten my crow about Shockey earlier in the year, and it seems our offense has problems without him in there. Also, we now realize just how important PT23 is...no coincidence that the O struggled when he left the game after the 2nd quarter.

Re: Perspective
 

No offense to you my friend, but I am so sick of excuses for mediocrity. I can't take it anymore.... I'm waiting for it to be a second gunman, on the grassy knowl at this point... No more excuses... No more..

Re: Perspective
 

Dallas was our "excuse" game.

This one is inexcusible. Only a complete and thorough beatdown of Carolina next week will make me optimisitc again...

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You really think we win on the road in Carolina next week? I hope I'm wrong, but I highly doubt it ... They'll be charged to destroy us (and I don't blame them)

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No, but that's what we need to have happen to have any momentum going into the playoffs...

Re: Perspective
 

I'm tired of the mediocrity as well. But 13-2 ain't mediocrity. The last 2-4 games have been mediocrity, but doesn't mean the whole year has been mediocre. We've been exposed, and it's time to fix it on all fronts...or we'll drop it to Carolina and get embarrassed in the playoffs. But we've seen PHI bounce back from getting beat by OAK, and the verdict is still out on MIN. Let's just hope we're not slap in the middle of a 4 game losing streak.

Re: Perspective
 

What excuses do you mean? Seems to me the OP wrote "We've gotten exposed on D for the past couple of weeks, but the offense has also been stumped the past few weeks. We've seen that the special teams were a weakness from week 1. This IS NOT the perfect team by any means. We're fortunate Brees is our QB, or our record would be much worse."

Re: Perspective
 

A 13-2 season is not mediocrity, that is correct.

This is worse than mediocrity. Mediocrity, I could settle for.

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Why not is Carolina invincible? I don't care if we beat them down. I just want us to show some stones and beat them.

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ITS ONLY 2 F'N losses. What is wrong with everyone. We have a banged up secondary. We are doing damn good with the injuries we had to overcome. We are scheduled to have a healthy team come playoffs and the play wont be the same

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DrewDat, I can appreciate what you are saying when it comes to the Dallas loss.

NO EXCUSE for what we saw today...

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What we saw today was NOT A 13-2 TEAM...

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Or will it?

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your right malboro, all i wanted this season was a competitive team and a shot at the playoffs and we got this 13-2 and still a shot at home field threwout. wow not to say i'm a little teed off after today , tampa bay

Think back on this year so far, what you really said
 

i recently just posted malboro man on what i was thinking before the season started, all i wanted was for the saints to have a compeditive season and a shot at the playoffs. NOW STOP IT THERE. say no more st thomas say no more. i've been as guilty as everyone esle who's been joining in on all the negativity about todays jaw dropper yes we lost to tampa bay. all week long you like me saw nothing but a ass kicking against the bucs. well it did'nt happen. now what i said earlier all i wanted was a compeditive season and we got what 13-2 and in the playoffs and still have a shot for home field threwout the playoffs. i'm done with this lost and i'm saying were going to bomb the kittens next week. who joins me, come on lets hear from you.

Re: Perspective
 

The most disturbing part is not the losing. It is the pathetic play. Hard to be excited about our chances in the playoffs based upon what we have seen since the Patriots game. If we were playing well and lost, we could at least feel good about our chances. Are we finished? Certainly not, but, It is time to right the ship. In the playoffs, we will see the best and need our best to be sucessful. I am more interested in how we play than where we play.

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Well put Barry!
Dont forget how much our D has struggled since Jabari "Lockdown" Greer has been out.

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Whoever was chalking this one up as an easy victory, has not been paying close attention to our play of late. This team has not played up to its potential the last several weeks. We got away with sub-par play on both sides of the ball and managed to fall short the last couple of weeks. Even when they managed to pull off a win, they weren't very pretty at all. Everyone else was jumping up and down and I was spitting nails because of how ugly the games were. A win is not "just" a win as many were saying; how we win is important...and how we lose is also important. I was concerned that last weeks loss to the Cowpokes could take us in either direction. We have struggled to start strong and finish. This is the time of year to start strong AND finish well. They've gotten away from crossing their T's and dotting their I's. Believe it or not, these recent games were the start of our playoffs. If anyone thinks the week 1-5 team is going into the post season they are sadly mistaken. We are going into the post season with the week 12-17 team (whoever that turns out to be). Let's just hope that this group gets its groove back: consistency and rhythm on offense - sound fundamentals, fire and intensity on defense. Don't you just love the Saints!?