Five and One
 

I know today hurt.... I'd say less than 2% of Saints fans thought we would be going in to the bye 5-1.

We have 1 loss, to a non division, non conference team. This would be the one to lose if we had to.


Time to heal up, regroup and be ready for week 8 we play the Bills.


This game was fairly evenly matched and a great game.

Re: Five and One
 

No doubt! Most were saying we would be 4-2 going into the bye. 5-1 with the loss to the AFC, doesn't really hurt us...

Re: Five and One
 

standing wise it is probably the best loss to take to an afc team

Re: Five and One
 

I'm smiling because I saw a great football game.

That being said, I'm a little pissed at the coaches. Instead of playing to win, they played not to lose and got beat. In my best Her Edwards voice: "YOU PLAY TO WIN THE GAME!!"

Hats off to the Pats on a great win.

Still 5-1 and on top of the South. Life is good!

Re: Five and One
 

The refs didn't help us. They were calling some tickytac BS. The PI in the end zone was legit but there were some really bad calls including ignoring 2 time out calls.

Re: Five and One
 

Yeah man still hurts cuz this one seemed nearly in the bag!

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Re: Five and One
 

It was a hard fought game between two Chess Masters, each trying to out think the other. I felt at some points they both out thought them selves...... You give Brady 7 shots at the endzone you should expect at least 1 TD.


Huge bright spots:

131 yards rushing *5 Yards per carry!
5 sacks

Re: Five and One
 

At the end of the game we didnt play to win, we played not to lose and thats what is the most frustrating

Its great being 5-1, but pathetic clock management and play calling cost us 6-0

Re: Five and One
 

5 and 1 exceeds EVERYONE's expectations. Period.
NO ONE predicted 6-0 at the bye. Let's put this into perspective.

Re: Five and One
 

A good team at home is always hard to beat. Brady with no timeouts, 70 yards, and no timeouts has a knack for doing these types of things.

What sticks out the most is a play from the SECOND QUARTER. 3rd and 18...really? There were plenty of "plays of the game", but this one sticks in my crawl. Woulda, shoulda, coulda.

We can blame Payton for this one. Time management down the stretch was horrible. Pats got the ball TWICE with 2:24 left with one timeout left, plus one of those possessions was intercepted. Unreal.

But, time to press forward and learn. We found a ground game, and Stills is developing nicely. There are definite positives from this game, more so than the negatives. Anybody other than Peyton and Brady at QB and we win this one. Press forward.

Re: Five and One
 

We'll get another shot at them ... Hint ! Brady proved why he is the Goat .. He found a weak link last seconds ... This is quite possibly the best thing that could've happened to us .... I'd rather us come out of the Bi ticked off with a chip on out shoulders rather than complacent with a target on out backs

Re: Five and One
 

I'm glad we lost this game..... Seriously. It was one of the most meaningless games we play this season in regards to the post season dnd it shed the whole undefeated drama that was soon to start.


We were evenly matched, other than our running game finally taking off, I took nothing good or bad away from this game.... Who ever had the ball last won...

Re: Five and One
 

More time to game plan for the bills, jg and the team get healthy .. now we know how defeat feels better to get the loss out of the way now than later.

Re: Five and One
 

I don't know what's up with the low expectations around here. I didn't by any means assume we'd start 5-0 but I felt that we were better than every team we played including today. Last year was a catastrophe in so many ways that there's no way you could judge this team based on last year's. I didn't expect the defense to be as good as it HAD been before today, but I still thought that with some stability back in our offense we'd return to 2011 form.

For the most past, we have. But today was a ridiculous loss. This was not the Patriots of old. We had them, but we could never get the knockout punch, thanks in large part to poor calls, and also some conservative play calling.

Re: Five and One
 

Evenly matched? It might have appeared that way on the field, but if you read the injury report, it was not very even. You can't take anything for granted, and I know I didn't, but I couldn't help but expect a much better performance.

Re: Five and One
 

This is a positive thread..and since im a negative person by character im not going to post my thoughts..continue on, its like therapy right now

Re: Five and One
 

I hate Brady, Bellicheck, and the Pats so much that this loss stings about as much as a loss can. I feel like our team just lost the SuperBowl.

Trying to remember that one loss is just one loss but it makes me wonder about how we're going to do going forward.

How can we not get ONE first down on two drives that would have closed out the game? How do we only rush 3 and still allow receivers to get wide open down the field?

I just feel rotten right now. And having a bye week for this to fester is going to be SUPER tough to deal with.

Re: Five and One
 

Don't let it. Seriously. You control that. There are positives to take from this. When they scored that last TD I felt sick. Then I took a breath and decided not to let it ruin my night.

Re: Five and One
 

If there is such a thing as a quality loss, this was it. Hard fought game against a high quality opponent at their house, we learned a lot about our weaknesses, got a reality check for our rookies, took some unnecessary pressure off, and it is was the least painful game to lose statistically. All of that, plus we get the bye week to heal up, and study what all we did wrong, and come out swinging in the second half of the season.

Re: Five and One
 

Great post.

Re: Five and One
 

I admire you, honestly. I've actually been thinking about trying to give up watching football all together because of how I feel after a loss. It really does not matter but it upsets me for days and I'm kind of starting to hate that.

I don't know.

Re: Five and One
 

At the end of the day its only football.
If this ruins your night and you feel like cursing out coaches and placing blame you have a shallow life indeed.

I'm going watch walking dead then boardwalk empire.

Re: Five and One
 

Dang, when did I join a falcons board? I know it was a hard loss to swallow but the way some are reacting you'd think we just dropped to 1-5. Sorry, I know there's a lot to gripe about with this game but it isn't the worst loss we could endure and at least it wasn't Jacksonville on the other side of the field with us laying one of those huge eggs against such teams as we will, on occasion, do.;)

Re: Five and One
 

I used to be like that. Still am sometimes but like I said, it's up to you. Now during the game it's a different story. Sometimes I just have to change the channel or something.

Re: Five and One
 

I'll tell y'all this much...I can sure-sight handle a loss like this to a good team on the road than, say, these blasts from the past:

3) 2003 @ Jacksonville: we score a TD with zero seconds left on a miracle fluke kickoff return and our kicker misses the extra point and we lose by 1 and eventually knocks us from a playoff spot.
2) 1999 in the Dome: rookie QB for an expansion team throws a hail mary to give them their first win and we lose 21-16, dropping to 1-6 for the year.
1) 1980 @ SF: in the midst of a 0-13 season, we lead Montana and SF 35-7 at half, only to lose 38-35 in OT and drop to 0-14.

There are numerous others that get honorable mention (playoffs @ SEA and @ SF), but at least we were in the playoffs at that time.

Put it in perspective, as this game today is not that big of a heartbreak. We've seen much harder times 'round here. We've had it good in the very recent past and this present time. Have a sense of humor about it; it's much easier than the alternate.

Re: Five and One
 

A loss like this stings longer than a win feels good.

Alaska

Re: Five and One
 

I agree -- the run game improvement was very, very encouraging. And, I thought the defense played well against a Brady & Co.

Play calling in the final minutes totally sucked azz. That last first down we needed -- still can't swallow what happened.

Re: Five and One
 

Look, dude .... WE WERE UNBEATEN. What about NOW being beaten do you not understand?!? Carry your FailClowns forgiving ass outta here.

Re: Five and One
 

Anybody says they are happy at a loss -- does not belong here.

Go trip with the Falcons about next year.

Re: Five and One
 

Cool you jets there pal. I am well aware that we were unbeaten and are now beaten. Did you really expect us to go 16-0? If so then you need to get out of that fantasy world you're living in. I was making mention of the fact that some on here were acting like our season was now in peril over this one loss much like those idiots in atlanta act. As far as your last statement goes don't you ever couple me in with that fanbase again and actually READ what I wrote and notice that I ended it with a smile and a wink!!!

Re: Five and One
 

I don't think you understand what Oak meant by what he said. We would all like to team to be undefeated through the Superbowl. That isn't going to happen. It's like the great post earlier on, we get to fall off the radar, heal, learn from our mistakes, and prepare. It was a great game. The end was funky but we took their TO's and it came down to 1 play that Greer almost made. The team will be better for it.

Re: Five and One
 

This guy doesn't understand what anyone meant by what anyone said.

Re: Five and One
 

We're gonna fall in the "Power Rankings"...big whoop. We don't play next Sunday, so forgotten for a while. We play the Bills at home against ?QB? on the 27th. We're gonna fall way off the radar in the national media, where we thrive. We get healthier for a stretch. Anybody remember that this is a Payton-coached Saints team? After a loss, with the next game in the dome after a bye week? It makes a HUGE difference.

And for those worried about the D...J. Jenkins didn't even play (if he did I completely missed it). It was almost like Payton and Ryan were handicapping us to get Bunkley more snaps at nose tackle. Saving Jenkins? Yep, considering the amount of snaps he's had to take so far this year, plus he is a rookie and we'll need him for that NOV-DEC time. It was like they kept J. Jenkins playing time this game (if he even played at all) minimized in respect for the long haul to get Bunkley more snaps and up to game speed. I'd rather have a fresh rotation of Bunkley, Jenkins, and sometimes Hicks at the nose in NOV-DEC.

This is a marathon, not a sprint and you don't show your hand this early in the year. Kinda like a pseudo pres-season game in a way since it was an AFC team and we were already 5-0. Of course you go for win each and every time out, but we did not go "full-out" in this lesser-of-importance of a game in respect to the long haul...and that's the way I sees it. If it had been SEA or SF, you would have seen us throw the house at them from both sides of the ball. It's called hiding tendencies.

Re: Five and One
 

No shame in losing to Bill & Tom. None. Regardless of their supporting cast.

If anyone had told me we'd be 5-1 and leading the division at the bye week I'd have said, "yeah. Giddyup!"

Hate to lose. Hate to lose even more when we blew it. But we didn't blow it this time to some unknown QB who's gonna be out of the league next year. We lost to the leagues best over the last few years.

I'm already over it. Looking forward to the break and getting back to bid'ness in a couple weeks.

Re: Five and One
 

Frankly, I don't see how going unbeaten happens any other way -- than to expect it, practice for it and believe, that with the right preparation and some luck, it could actually happen. It seems to me that any other way of thinking -- will produce losing results.

So, yes, if we are unbeaten, I expect that since we are playing very well -- that at least it is possible for us to go unbeaten. And, being unbeaten, is, of course, the only way you could get to a perfect season. We almost did it once before -- why shouldn't I think it is possible?

Where are the Saints pessimists boards? You should meet over there.

Re: Five and One
 

Look, I'm not going to get into a pissing match with you. I am not a Saints pessimist. I, too, was hoping for an undefeated season. Yes, we go into every game with the idea of winning them all. But unfortunately every team has a down game or two. You are right in that we were playing well enough that it was starting to look like a reality. But losing today is also just that, reality. I was not saying an unbeaten season wasn't possible but seeing as an unbeaten regular season has only happened what, twice and only once has a team run the table all the way to the Super Bowl the odds aren't exactly in one's favor. I notice you are new here and we all generally respect each other's opinions here whether we agree with them or not. But you attacking me like you did was uncalled for. I was trying to make light of a tough loss and the reaction of some to that loss. So as for me I would just as soon bury the hatchet and move on from here as fellow Saints fans who are passionate about our team. ;)

Re: Five and One
 

I had it dead on at 5-1 going into the bye week. http://blackandgold.com/saints/59832...rediction.html

We are in GREAT shape now. Got the bye, get healthy. With the exception of Seattle we are easily better than every team on the schedule for the rest of the season. And I think we're probably better than them too, by a little.

Re: Five and One
 

We could be 1-5 like the falcons..

Re: Five and One
 

Wonder if Lewis got a talking to about chucking that guy out of bounds to stop their clock.

Re: Five and One
 

He did have a int. But that play and the PI in the end zone seem to make you forget about it.