SaintsBro

Not sure about "done with Payton" but after this game yesterday I think it's a legitimate time to pause and ask the question if maybe we have seen the ceiling of the Payton/Brees era and this whole incarnation of the Saints.

Like it or not, Sean Payton is still 0-3 in the playoffs on the road. This game yesterday might as well have been a playoff game, and they lost. Same with Green Bay in '11 and a couple of other key road game losses you could probably point to, with playoff or seeding implilcations over the years. The Saints are 3-5 on the road this year and were 3-5 last year without Payton. Drew Brees is 6-12 career on the road against teams with winning records. Of course, the Super Bowl year we had a very special defense and the #1 seed and home field all the way.

I was astonished when I recently learned that Drew was actually 6-11 on the road (now 6-12), against winning teams, and I wonder how many Saints fans may realize that, because it is never brought up.

Calling them "pass happy," finesse, non-physical, complaints about the playcalling, can't win in cold weather, get beat by physical teams, no run game, can't close out a game, blah blah blah -- maybe these criticisms are all just variations on the same thing... Maybe there is a ceiling to this style of Brees/Payton football and the mold of this team he's built -- maybe there's a limit on how far it can go. Maybe this formula is great for winning games in the Dome, where they are awesome, but maybe it does not work on the road. Without the comfort of the Dome in the post season, a coach who is 0-3 in postseason road games and a QB is who is 6-12 against winners, is always going to be an uphill battle in the post season, in anything other than getting the #1 seed position and being at home all the way.