New Orleans Saints Notebook: Mission to overcome 'Tampa Curse'

QBREES9 · 01-05-2010, 11:23 AM

New Orleans Saints Notebook: Mission to overcome 'Tampa Curse'

Written by Brian Allee-Walsh, NewOrleans.Com's Saints Beat | Monday, 04 January 2010 20:30 | Brian Allee-Walsh's Blog

NEW ORLEANS – Trend or statistic, that is the question, according to New Orleans Saints Coach Sean Payton.

In a brief, playful moment during his weekly press conference Monday, Payton took exception to a reporter’s usage of the word “trend’’ as it applied to his top-seeded team in the NFC, which will play host to either Arizona (No. 4), Green Bay (No. 5) or Philadelphia (No. 6) at 3:30 p.m. on Jan. 16 in a divisional round game at the Superdome.

According to the NFL, no team has ever reached the Super Bowl after losing its last three games of the regular season. That describes the 13-3 Saints to a “T,’’ make that “L,’’ after consecutive losses to Dallas (24-17), Tampa Bay (20-17, OT) and Carolina (23-10) on Sunday at Bank of America Stadium in Charlotte, N.C.

"Is that a trend or is that a statistic?’’ Payton said. “The Saints have never won a Super Bowl. That’s a statistic. It’s a statistic, not a trend.

“I hear what you’re saying,’’ Payton told the reporter. “Trend is something that's happened lately and I think that’s a number that’s just matter of fact. Certainly, we understand the importance of getting on to this second season.

“There’s so many of these numbers; we’ve heard them all year long. We heard it at eight wins. We heard it at nine wins. We heard it at ten wins. Then, all of a sudden we were paying closer attention to how we beat Washington and Atlanta, not realizing we had to come back and beat the Jets. We had to come back and beat a Carolina team. That’s the nature of our game. We’ll be ready for all the trends."

Now there appears to be another trend the Saints will have to buck if they want to win Super Bowl XLIV on Feb. 7 at Dolphins Stadium in Miami Gardens, Fla.

It is called the “Tampa Bay Curse’’ and it goes something like this:

No team has ever lost to Tampa Bay during the regular season and gone on to win the Super Bowl that same season.

It has held true from the Buccaneers’ inception in 1976 through the 2008 season and 2009 playoffs.

Here’s how the “Tampa Curse’’ unfolds:

Bold*-denotes a playoff team

1976: none
1977: NO, St. Louis Cardinals
1978: Min*, Atl*, KC, Chi, Buf
1979: Det, Baltimore Colts, GB, Chi*, Min, Det, NYG, KC, LA Rams* (Rams lost Super Bowl XIV)
1980: Cin, LA Rams*, SF, NYG, GB
1981: Min, St. Louis Cardinals, Det, GB, Chi, NO, Atl
1982: NO, Buf, Det*, Chi, Mia* (Dolphins lost Super Bowl XVII)
1983: Min, Houston Oilers
1984: Det, GB, Min, NYG*, Atl, NYJ
1985: St. Louis Cardinals, Det
1986: Det, Buf
1987: Atl, Det, GB, Min* (Vikings lost NFC Championship)
1988: GB, Det, Buf* (Bills lost AFC Championship)
1989: GB, NO, Chi, Phx
1990: Det, Min, GB, Atl
1991: Phi, Ind, Det* (Lions lost NFC Championship)
1992: Phx, GB, Det, Chi
1993: Det*, Atl, Min*, Chi, Den*
1994: Ind, Det*, Min*, Was, LA Rams
1995: Phi*, Was, Car, Cin, Min, Jax, GB* (Packers lost NFC Championship)
1996: Min*, Oak, SD, NO, Was, Chi
1997: SF, Det*, Min*, Mia*, Arz, Ind, Atl, NE*, NYG*, Chi
1998: Chi, NYG, Car, GB*, Pit, Cin, Min* (Vikings lost NFC Championship in OT)
1999: Phi, Den, Chi, NO, KC, Atl, Sea*, Min*, Det*, GB
2000: NE, Chi, Det, Min*, Atl, GB, Buf, Dal, Mia*, StL*
2001: Dal, GB*, Min, Det, Cin, NO, Bal*, StL* (Rams lost Super Bowl XXXVI)
2002: Bal, StL, Cin, Atl*, Cle*, Car, Min, GB*, Det, Chi
2003: Atl, Was, Dal*, NYG, NO, Hou, Phi* (Eagles were #1 seed in NFC, lost NFC Championship)
2004: NO, Chi, KC, SF, Atl* (Falcons lost NFC Championship)
2005: Min, Buf, GB, Det, Mia, Was*, Atl, NO, Car*
2006: Cin, Phi*, Was, Cle
2007: NO, StL, Car, Ten*, Arz, Atl, Was*
2008: Atl*, Chi, GB, Car*, Sea, KC, Min*, Det, NO

2009: GB*, NO*, Sea (NO was the #1 seed in the NFC)

*Three teams (1979 Rams, 1982 Dolphins, 2001 Rams) came close to breaking the curse, making it to the Super Bowl. But all three lost. The 2001 Rams arguably came the closest - losing to the Patriots in Super Bowl XXXVI to Adam Vinatieri's last-second game-winning field goal.
*Counting 1976-2008, the Curse has had 186 victims, including 49 playoff teams, 3 Super Bowl losers, 7 conference championship game losers, one #1 playoff seed. Note that the number does not equal Tampa Bay's total franchise victories because many of the victims were beaten by Tampa Bay twice in the same season.
*For 2009, Tampa Bay beat two NFC playoff teams...the #1 seed New Orleans, as well as #5 Green Bay. Results are pending.

INJURY REPORT

Payton said his team should “be as healthy as we have been in the last month-and-a-half’’ going into its divisional game. He mentioned that rookie CB Malcolm Jenkins had a “fairly mild’ tweak of his hamstring against the Panthers. He said DT Sedrick Ellis (knee), TE Jeremy Shockey (toe) and MLB Jonathan Vilma (knee) could have played if needed against Carolina.

RB Pierre Thomas told reporters Monday that he suffered a “cracked rib’’ against Tampa Bay. “I think (Thomas) is going to be back,’’ Payton said. “He’s feeling well. It’s just the dealing with the pain and already that has begun to diminish. He’s feeling better and that’s encouraging. You have the 24- or 48-hour period afterwards where there’s soreness and then a couple of days and now we’re a week removed and the news on him is real good.”

Payton also said S Usama Young “has a real good chance of being back’’ for the playoffs after undergoing sports hernia surgery at some point prior to the Dallas Cowboys game on Dec. 19. And KR/WR Courtney Roby “is fine’’ after leaving the Carolina game at the end of the first half with an unspecified head injury.

PRACTICE SCHEDULE

Payton said the team is off through Friday and will resume practice Saturday and Sunday with two workouts scheduled each day. Those workouts are closed to the media. Their normal practice routine starts Jan. 12 leading up to the divisional game Jan. 16.

“When I say (two workouts), there will be meetings, walkthroughs, then back on the field for a full practice,’’ Payton said. “It will be more of offense vs. defense emphasis, which is like a training camp practice where it’s competitive rather than carded because we really don’t know who we’ll be playing.

“There might be some things we tinker with that get us ready for a certain game. I think the focus is that you start anew in regards to the postseason. You’re in sudden death here. The focus is strictly on one game and playing your best football. The guys will have a break to get away from here and then focus on that specific opponent and away you go. That’s the way you have to handle it.”

Rugby Saint II · 01-05-2010, 11:37 AM

No team ever lost to Tampa and won the Superbowl. That's OK because N.O. never won 13 games before, so we know things can happen that haven't happened before.

neugey · 01-05-2010, 11:54 AM

Arrrrrrr! Only a voodoo priest can break that blimey pirate curse.

UK_WhoDat · 01-05-2010, 01:10 PM

You know what they can do with their Buccaneers "trend".
Put it under their Buccan hat.

Turbo Saint · 01-05-2010, 02:45 PM

that's the dumbest curse i've ever heard of...tampa curse. please...

Xandtar · 01-29-2010, 12:42 PM

This is a curious curse, in that the Bucs themselves are almost never the team that does the stopping part in the playoffs. Almost by definition, they need lots of help for this curse to stay active, and thus far they've always received that help.

Only once has a #1 seed been a curse recipient, and never has that #1 made it to the Super Bowl. In any other year, this would be a lock for curse busting.

However, as fate has it, the only team in football better than you is your opponent, the OTHER #1 seed, the OTHER team that toyed with being undefeated before deliberately losing to get that pressure out of the way come the playoffs.

So, we shall see.

01-05-2010, 11:23 AM	#1
QBREES9 Moderator Join Date: Sep 2007 Location: New Haven Ct Posts: 23,985	New Orleans Saints Notebook: Mission to overcome 'Tampa Curse' New Orleans Saints Notebook: Mission to overcome 'Tampa Curse' Written by Brian Allee-Walsh, NewOrleans.Com's Saints Beat \| Monday, 04 January 2010 20:30 \| Brian Allee-Walsh's Blog NEW ORLEANS – Trend or statistic, that is the question, according to New Orleans Saints Coach Sean Payton. In a brief, playful moment during his weekly press conference Monday, Payton took exception to a reporter’s usage of the word “trend’’ as it applied to his top-seeded team in the NFC, which will play host to either Arizona (No. 4), Green Bay (No. 5) or Philadelphia (No. 6) at 3:30 p.m. on Jan. 16 in a divisional round game at the Superdome. According to the NFL, no team has ever reached the Super Bowl after losing its last three games of the regular season. That describes the 13-3 Saints to a “T,’’ make that “L,’’ after consecutive losses to Dallas (24-17), Tampa Bay (20-17, OT) and Carolina (23-10) on Sunday at Bank of America Stadium in Charlotte, N.C. "Is that a trend or is that a statistic?’’ Payton said. “The Saints have never won a Super Bowl. That’s a statistic. It’s a statistic, not a trend. “I hear what you’re saying,’’ Payton told the reporter. “Trend is something that's happened lately and I think that’s a number that’s just matter of fact. Certainly, we understand the importance of getting on to this second season. “There’s so many of these numbers; we’ve heard them all year long. We heard it at eight wins. We heard it at nine wins. We heard it at ten wins. Then, all of a sudden we were paying closer attention to how we beat Washington and Atlanta, not realizing we had to come back and beat the Jets. We had to come back and beat a Carolina team. That’s the nature of our game. We’ll be ready for all the trends." Now there appears to be another trend the Saints will have to buck if they want to win Super Bowl XLIV on Feb. 7 at Dolphins Stadium in Miami Gardens, Fla. It is called the “Tampa Bay Curse’’ and it goes something like this: No team has ever lost to Tampa Bay during the regular season and gone on to win the Super Bowl that same season. It has held true from the Buccaneers’ inception in 1976 through the 2008 season and 2009 playoffs. Here’s how the “Tampa Curse’’ unfolds: Bold-denotes a playoff team 1976: none 1977: NO, St. Louis Cardinals 1978: Min, Atl, KC, Chi, Buf 1979: Det, Baltimore Colts, GB, Chi, Min, Det, NYG, KC, LA Rams* (Rams lost Super Bowl XIV) 1980: Cin, LA Rams, SF, NYG, GB 1981: Min, St. Louis Cardinals, Det, GB, Chi, NO, Atl 1982: NO, Buf, Det, Chi, Mia* (Dolphins lost Super Bowl XVII) 1983: Min, Houston Oilers 1984: Det, GB, Min, NYG, Atl, NYJ 1985: St. Louis Cardinals, Det 1986: Det, Buf 1987: Atl, Det, GB, Min (Vikings lost NFC Championship) 1988: GB, Det, Buf* (Bills lost AFC Championship) 1989: GB, NO, Chi, Phx 1990: Det, Min, GB, Atl 1991: Phi, Ind, Det* (Lions lost NFC Championship) 1992: Phx, GB, Det, Chi 1993: Det, Atl, Min, Chi, Den* 1994: Ind, Det, Min, Was, LA Rams 1995: Phi, Was, Car, Cin, Min, Jax, GB (Packers lost NFC Championship) 1996: Min, Oak, SD, NO, Was, Chi 1997: SF, Det, Min, Mia, Arz, Ind, Atl, NE, NYG, Chi 1998: Chi, NYG, Car, GB, Pit, Cin, Min (Vikings lost NFC Championship in OT) 1999: Phi, Den, Chi, NO, KC, Atl, Sea, Min, Det, GB 2000: NE, Chi, Det, Min, Atl, GB, Buf, Dal, Mia, StL 2001: Dal, GB, Min, Det, Cin, NO, Bal, StL* (Rams lost Super Bowl XXXVI) 2002: Bal, StL, Cin, Atl, Cle, Car, Min, GB, Det, Chi 2003: Atl, Was, Dal, NYG, NO, Hou, Phi* (Eagles were #1 seed in NFC, lost NFC Championship) 2004: NO, Chi, KC, SF, Atl* (Falcons lost NFC Championship) 2005: Min, Buf, GB, Det, Mia, Was, Atl, NO, Car 2006: Cin, Phi, Was, Cle 2007: NO, StL, Car, Ten, Arz, Atl, Was* 2008: Atl, Chi, GB, Car, Sea, KC, Min, Det, NO 2009: GB, NO, Sea (NO was the #1 seed in the NFC) Three teams (1979 Rams, 1982 Dolphins, 2001 Rams) came close to breaking the curse, making it to the Super Bowl. But all three lost. The 2001 Rams arguably came the closest - losing to the Patriots in Super Bowl XXXVI to Adam Vinatieri's last-second game-winning field goal. Counting 1976-2008, the Curse has had 186 victims, including 49 playoff teams, 3 Super Bowl losers, 7 conference championship game losers, one #1 playoff seed. Note that the number does not equal Tampa Bay's total franchise victories because many of the victims were beaten by Tampa Bay twice in the same season. For 2009, Tampa Bay beat two NFC playoff teams...the #1 seed New Orleans, as well as #5 Green Bay. Results are pending. INJURY REPORT Payton said his team should “be as healthy as we have been in the last month-and-a-half’’ going into its divisional game. He mentioned that rookie CB Malcolm Jenkins had a “fairly mild’ tweak of his hamstring against the Panthers. He said DT Sedrick Ellis (knee), TE Jeremy Shockey (toe) and MLB Jonathan Vilma (knee) could have played if needed against Carolina. RB Pierre Thomas told reporters Monday that he suffered a “cracked rib’’ against Tampa Bay. “I think (Thomas) is going to be back,’’ Payton said. “He’s feeling well. It’s just the dealing with the pain and already that has begun to diminish. He’s feeling better and that’s encouraging. You have the 24- or 48-hour period afterwards where there’s soreness and then a couple of days and now we’re a week removed and the news on him is real good.” Payton also said S Usama Young “has a real good chance of being back’’ for the playoffs after undergoing sports hernia surgery at some point prior to the Dallas Cowboys game on Dec. 19. And KR/WR Courtney Roby “is fine’’ after leaving the Carolina game at the end of the first half with an unspecified head injury. PRACTICE SCHEDULE Payton said the team is off through Friday and will resume practice Saturday and Sunday with two workouts scheduled each day. Those workouts are closed to the media. Their normal practice routine starts Jan. 12 leading up to the divisional game Jan. 16. “When I say (two workouts), there will be meetings, walkthroughs, then back on the field for a full practice,’’ Payton said. “It will be more of offense vs. defense emphasis, which is like a training camp practice where it’s competitive rather than carded because we really don’t know who we’ll be playing. “There might be some things we tinker with that get us ready for a certain game. I think the focus is that you start anew in regards to the postseason. You’re in sudden death here. The focus is strictly on one game and playing your best football. The guys will have a break to get away from here and then focus on that specific opponent and away you go. That’s the way you have to handle it.”
	www.sportsshooter.com/johnjcoleman " Anyone can take a picture Only a Photographer can take a photograph "

01-05-2010, 11:37 AM	#2
Rugby Saint II Bounty Money $$$ Join Date: Oct 2008 Location: 5800 Airline Dr. Metairie, LA. Posts: 24,073	Re: New Orleans Saints Notebook: Mission to overcome 'Tampa Curse' No team ever lost to Tampa and won the Superbowl. That's OK because N.O. never won 13 games before, so we know things can happen that haven't happened before.

01-05-2010, 11:54 AM	#3
neugey Hu Dat! Join Date: Dec 2004 Posts: 6,715 Blog Entries: 13	Re: New Orleans Saints Notebook: Mission to overcome 'Tampa Curse' Arrrrrrr! Only a voodoo priest can break that blimey pirate curse.

01-05-2010, 01:10 PM	#4
UK_WhoDat 1000 Posts + Join Date: Aug 2003 Location: Wherever I lay my hat Posts: 3,984	Re: New Orleans Saints Notebook: Mission to overcome 'Tampa Curse' You know what they can do with their Buccaneers "trend". Put it under their Buccan hat.
	Last edited by UK_WhoDat; 01-05-2010 at 03:16 PM..

01-29-2010, 12:42 PM	#6
Xandtar Bucs fan Join Date: Jan 2010 Location: The West Indies Posts: 23	Re: New Orleans Saints Notebook: Mission to overcome 'Tampa Curse' This is a curious curse, in that the Bucs themselves are almost never the team that does the stopping part in the playoffs. Almost by definition, they need lots of help for this curse to stay active, and thus far they've always received that help. Only once has a #1 seed been a curse recipient, and never has that #1 made it to the Super Bowl. In any other year, this would be a lock for curse busting. However, as fate has it, the only team in football better than you is your opponent, the OTHER #1 seed, the OTHER team that toyed with being undefeated before deliberately losing to get that pressure out of the way come the playoffs. So, we shall see.

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01-05-2010, 02:45 PM	#5
Turbo Saint SoCal Saint Join Date: Jul 2007 Location: OB - San Diego, CA Posts: 726	Re: New Orleans Saints Notebook: Mission to overcome 'Tampa Curse' that's the dumbest curse i've ever heard of...tampa curse. please...