Pieces in place?
 

Despite 2011 success, Saints strive for more

As the New Orleans Saints raced through the second half of their schedule on a lengthy winning streak, gaining more and more confidence with each game, the question came up almost weekly in their locker room:

Were these Saints better than a team that two years earlier won its first 13 games en route to claiming the title in Super Bowl XLIV?

The 2011 Saints certainly looked the part with an offense that was on its way to setting a slew of club and NFL records, a defense that gave up yards but made big stops when it had to, and an improved special teams unit.

But as far as coach Sean Payton is concerned, it’s all about wins and losses, and the Saints provided the ultimate answer with a 36-32 loss to the San Francisco 49ers in the NFC Divisional playoffs a week ago.

“That 2009 team won a Super Bowl … and this team didn’t,” Payton said during his end-of-the-season news conference last week. “I don’t think we need two weeks or four weeks to reflect on that.”

Make no mistake, however, Payton was proud of what this year’s team accomplished.

Full article.
Pieces in place? | Saints | The Advocate

I won't say "ALL" of the pieces were in place. But most of them were and still will be for next year. Defensive issue are what was missing. With Spags now in command, I think the puzzle is close to being comlete. Draft and FA with "Hopefully", complete the puzzle.

I would say we have a great bass.With Spag's coming onboard were off to a good start.

I can't think of a team with more pieces in place than the Saints.

I'm looking at the puzzle and there seems to be some missing pieces.........oh wait, what's that on the floor?

We thought he had most needed pieces in place for THIS year .... guess we erred. In GW we should have not trusted for the last two drives. I certainly hope we can find those remaining pieces for next year!

We had all the pieces this year. We tied for the 2nd best record in the entire NFL.

Absolutely, Not easy to go 14-4 in the NFL. I remember 1-15.

I don't care if you go 16-0...
Its what you do in the play offs when you get there...

D can't get the job done in 2 seasons we go out basically the same way.

GW overated and we have even less talent on the D side each year.

Spags needs to get some of his boys via FA and fast.

a time out to relook at the setup may have changed this whole outcome and we may be landing in indy now. sorry i'm still mourning. we were a better team in 11 than 09 in my opinion

Nope, the Saints did not have all the pieces together for 2011. Missing piece is a game changer on defense. The 2009 season was all about Darren Sharper. The Saints have not found anyone close to his defensive production since then. Yes, most of the pieces are there, just need a game changer to make it effective. Also, it wouldn't hurt if the Saints would use their running attack a little more. I get it that the running game finished great, but seriously, Mark Ingram toting the ball 20-30 plus times per game is going to do wonders for the team.

All I got to say is, a 9-7 team won the Super Bowl. I didn't watch it, because I'm still sick over that pathetic defensive effort and loss at Frisco, and a team we've trashed for the last 3 years including this year goes to the Super Bowl when EVERYONE ON THE PLANET KNOWS that had we won and the Giants had to go through us at home to get where they are now, IT WOULDN'T HAVE HAPPENED and we'd be the champs right now. I think it's time to stop being so goody, goody and all about this BS defense. These guys or should i say gals, oh wait, thats an insult to the way women can play decense, need to be called out on the carpet for their play or the lack there of. These last 2 playoff losses are strictly on them and their pathetic effort and play. If you say "Well the offense and ST turned the ball over 5 times" I say that's true, but the offense overcame those turnovers to win the game TWICE and the defense blew it again, TWICE. All those that think Patrick Robinson is even a decent CB should actually WATCH this guy play, he might as well not even be on the field he's so bad. We do still need defense. We STILL need DT's, we STILL need DE's (Rob Ninkovitch wasn't good enough to play for us, but turned into one of the TOP PASS RUSHERS in the NFL in NE) and we STILL need better LB's and yes I'm including Vilma in that too.

Why is it that we get a supposed TOP DC in Williams to come here and he can only produce 1 good year? Do we need to replace DC's every other year to every 3 years to stay on top defensively? I don't think so. Right now we've got Spags, and while I'm happy about that, how long do you think he's gonna stay? A year? Two? Spags has his own agenda, and while I understand that, it just puts a damper on things because you'd ideally want a guy for at least a 4-5 yr. tour. Oh, well, it is what it is. Time's a wastin.

On our O all the pieces worked like a fine tuned machine, to me the most complete offense in the NFL, we need to keep them all. Defense if thats what you call it, ran like it something out of a shady used car lot, I do see a bright side to this jalopy, install the master mech.{Spags} get 3 to 4 pistons 2DT's, 1 MLB. or OLB. and 1 killer free safety { which might be here already in Quaddus} tweak the engine and see how we do. I think if we cut or trade the overpaid, over-hyped dead weight on D and get a few real players we will have top 10 D this year. I like what I see from most of our youth and I think G.W. left us sitting well with them, it's the namesakes like Vilma, Smith, Ellis, Rodgers that don't produce for there money I want gone, not restucture their contracts but gone. It's what have you done for me lately type of D I want, you know the kind that feeds off each other every game.

The NY Giants just won a Superbowl with the #8 offense and the #27 defense (we were 24th).

ALL THE DAMN PIECES ARE IN PLACE!!!

We definitely have some good pieces in place.
Brees is arguably the best QB in the league. We have a stable of running backs. Wide receivers who are unselfish and know their role. Jimmy Graham is a beast. The best two guards in the league, assuming we keep Nicks. A new DC with high expectations. Some young talent on D with big upsides.

Stats are for losers.

Those stats don't tell the whole story.

It's all about getting hot at the right time and making plays when they matter. I hope people can finally see once the post season starts, regular season rankings are irrelevant.

Waaaaaaa... we ranked in the bottom of the league in defense(so annoying). Who gives a crap? Colts, Giants, even the Saints the year we won the Superbowl. Accumulate the talent, get to the post season, and make plays. We are not far from where we need to be.

Cliche's are for the simpleminded.

We certainly have enough talent on both sides of the ball to win it all.

I would agree we have most of the pieces. We need a PLAYER on defense.

IMO our secondary is way better than the Giants but there is no denying there front 4 are light years better than ours. To just look at the D ranking is not really telling the story.

It comes down to how many games did the Giants D win for them and how many did our win for us? If we had a front 4 close to what they have we would have been hoisting the trophy last night.

So it's hard to say we do or don't have the pieces in place. Maybe we do and Spags can bring them to light like he did with Tuck but until that happens, you can't look at what our D has done and not think we don't need help.

If our offense doesn't turn the ball over 5 times in the San Fran game we're hoisting that trophy last night. That has nothing to do with defense.

All we need is a pass rushing terror. Get that and this defense is a whole different animal.

Yep, I'm not saying we don't need to improve, but we certainly had all the pieces in place to win it in 2011.

A few key upgrades on defense and we'll go from Superbowl favorites to Superbowl favorites.:)

All depends on the D.

I believe no way the 09 team would not have dropped a game like the Rams. That game turned out to be critical in the end and it was totally their own fault for over looking that game.

:popcorn:

I don't feel it was our defensive TALENT that was a question, it was our play-calling, plain and simple.

Blatant mistakes in calling lost at S.F. That and a few unlucky fumbles that happened all at one time when they could have been spread over a couple games at most.

No one has yet explained why Roby, after being absent all year from catching returns, was fielding kicks in the most important game of the year.

And someone needs to collect ALL copies of loose, prevent-type defenses and BURN all memory of them. It's an open invitation to score. Nothing more.

Alaska

This one is easy.

Pierre was out.
That makes Sproles' role in the run game more important than his return duties.

We have a proven returner on the roster in Roby, so rather than risk losing or tiring Sproles in the return game, Roby came in.

Simple really......... UNTIL HE FREAKIN MUFFS THE KICK!!!!!!!!!!!!

I don't question Payton putting him in.

At some point players gotta make plays.

For the most part I agree. I think we have plenty of talent, and I also believe a few guys need to be shown the door, but overall I think Spags has plenty to work with.

It came down to when we had the lead on San Fran. we got beat not once but twice. Our D stunk just about every game this year. We might have beat N.E. in the bowl last night but there is no way we held them to 17 points with G.W. and this bunch he had and Lord knows what would happen if our O had a bad night, our D could not beat them..