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by Ralph Malbrough / Contributing Writer

Posted on December 28, 2009 at 7:24 AM

Updated today at 7:47 AM
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Ralph Malbrough is a contributing writer who expresses his voice as a fan.

OPINION - What do you call a loss to a two win team, at home, after having 17-point lead, with home field advantage at stake?

Among the worst losses in Saints regular season history is what you call it. At the very least it's the most crushing regular season loss the Saints have had under Sean Payton.

Let's be real; the Saints are a 10-5 team masquerading as a 13-2 team. They've used an incredibly easy schedule and taken advantage of nearly every lucky break they've gotten to craft 13 wins but right now they aren't very good.

If you want to be reassured, need to have some Who Dat Nation sunshine blown up your backside, or are dying to hear "Everything is ok the Saints are still 13-2," stop reading.

On Friday I told you the Saints were still in good shape but if they lost to Tampa I'd look for the nearest cliff to jump off.

Won't you join me? I've already jumped. The descent is pretty peaceful but it's the landing I'm worried about. I'm guessing I'll crash into the ground after watching the Saints get pounded in their playoff game.

You hear that stampeding sound? It's not Saints fans jumping off the bandwagon. It's NFC playoff teams climbing all over themselves lining up to face the Saints in the playoffs.

The problems with the Saints are so numerous I'm not even sure where to begin.

The defense is beyond a disaster.

Tampa Bay had 400 yards of offense. They ran for 175 yards and averaged five yards a pop.

Josh Freeman, like every other QB the Saints face lately, looked awesome.

We knew the Saints defense was bad when they were behind but now they can't even look good with a 17-point lead.

Gregg Williams seems to have decided to not blitz as much since the secondary was hit with injuries and the strategy is EPIC FAIL.

I'd rather the Saints just say,"We blitz, it's what we do." If it doesn't work so be it. I know the Saints have played good defense being aggressive. I've seen them do it.

The Saints should go back to what worked even with a banged up secondary. It can't be any worse than what they've been doing the last month.

If you want to say injuries are the problem, you are delusional. Scott Shanle and Jabari Greer returning aren't likely to fix this defense. If they do, then they are Lawrence Taylor and Deion Sanders, and I'll admit I was completely wrong.

As much fun as this defense has been creating turnovers, I think the 2006 defense the Saints had when they went to the NFC Championship was better.

That unit was ranked in the top 15 and wasn't getting steamrolled in December.

On offense, the Saints scored 17 points when Drew Brees only had five incompletions and no interceptions.

Huh?

Sean Payton seemed to ease off the accelerator in the third quarter. Maybe the Saints relaxed or Tampa turned into the 2002 Bucs defense.

Who knows? What I do know is the Saints aren't winning any game scoring 17 points, especially a playoff game.

The special teams are also a major concern. They stunk against Detroit in the season opener and they stunk Sunday against Tampa.

The Saints also need a kicker. Garrett Hartley folded like a cheap suit under the pressure of a game-winning 37-yard kick.

What do you think he'll do in the playoffs facing the same situation?

If you have any other suggestions I'm willing to listen. Morten Andersen? Why not? Desperate times call for desperate measures.

The Saints picked the wrong time to have the wheels come off.

Maybe the Bears can give the Saints a late Christmas gift and beat the Vikings so the Saints won't have to beat a red hot Carolina team to get the #1 seed in the NFC.

Then again, for the Saints to do anything in the playoffs they are going to have to save themselves.

You don't get to the Super Bowl with charity from other teams, you get to the Super Bowl by winning.

Right now the Saints are a long way from doing that in the playoffs.

I wish I could close my eyes and still dream Super Bowl but reality is the Saints appear to be in the middle of capping their greatest regular season with their most epic collapse.

I'm not abandoning ship but as Sugar Ray Robinson once said, "The ship be sinking."

At least we'll all go down together.



Ralph Malbrough is a Saints fan living in Houston. Email him at ralphmalbrough@hotmail.com, find him on Facebook, or listen to his Saints podcast at Forecast Radio on Blog Talk Radio

Forecast: Biggest loss in Sean Payton era | wwltv.com | Football

saintfan

I call BS. You are what your record says you are. Breaks go both ways.

gumbeau

st thomas

he calls it how he sees it guys. hes right abut payton sitting on it in the third quarter, i thought he was trying plays out that stunk and we kept giving the ball back, and bone head fumbles by one of our best, our defence is'nt getting off of blocks offences have our number on running the football, greg williams is in the spotlight, he needs to replan his blitzes and stunts ,gaps everything. i really think he needs to be up in the box where other great coordinaters are.

DrewDat

I think in a strange way that peyton knows what he's doing. I think he's gonna call aggressive when we have a healthy team back on the field. Aggressive calling with a half healthy team leads to more injured starters

Belair57

Its sad, but you gotta agree with what was written. I hope we were just holding back and SP learned from the 06 bears game where they knew everything we were doing and maybe, just maybe we are holding back...but I also think we are falling apart

strato

Brees doesnt play as well against that damn cover two..you have to take what they give you and be patient...

Crusader

I stopped reading when that clown used the phrase Epic Fail. He needs to decide if he's writing a sports article or playing World of Warcraft.

gumbeau

Sean Payton looks pretty smart holding back now that home field is secure.

The Tampa loss was a meaningless game. Carolina is a meaningless game. The Saints can come into the playoffs very close to the lineup that they started the year with.

No reason to think they cannot play like they did at the start of the year.

UK_WhoDat

Yeah maybe we let our Ed Block award Hargrove carry the ball for a rushing TD (like the Fridge)

True Dat. It does require patience to beat the Cover Two. Maybe, just maybe SP was having a good look in case we meet the Vikings and/or Colts. Also:
We lost PT early so that reduced our options
We didn't have Shockey perhaps the best weapon against Cover Two
Maybe we will run a 3 or 4 wide receiver/running back set all on wheel routes. But my goodness we will have to protect Brees AND also Colston / Henderson must not drop the ball when the hard hitting safeties come in.

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