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After having a week to digest an unpalatable 7-9 finish, their first losing season since 2007, the New Orleans Saints coaching staff has had time to figure out where it all went wrong.

Then again, it didn’t take a lot of time to do that after a team that won 13 games, advanced to the divisional round of the playoffs and came within a half-minute of playing for a second NFC
title in three seasons just one year ago, took a major step backward with six fewer victories in 2012.

While that was difficult to swallow, the task of fixing the problems that caused their mercurial drop from title contenders and left them as one of 20 teams with nothing to play for in January will be harder.

Here are five things the Saints must do a better job of next season if they expect to be among the conference’s elite teams in the postseason next January:

1. Stop the run.

The No. 1 spot was a
toss-up between stopping the run and stopping the pass, and unless you were vacationing in Antarctica the past four months, you know why it could go either way.

Any defensive coach will tell you that stopping the run is the first order of
business. The Saints didn’t do that, ranking last in
allowing 147.6 yards per game and 5.2 yards per carry — nearly a yard more than the league norm of 4.3 yards.

Two of the eight 200-yard games posted by running backs this season came against the Saints, so that says a lot right there.

Read more: Five things the Saints must improve on | Saints | The Advocate — Baton Rouge, LA

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Everyone is entitled to be stupid, but some abuse the privilege.

All little common sense goes a long way.