WhoDat

Is it just me, or does it seem this team just keeps getting worse? Before you blurt out yes, stop and think about it. It always FEELS like things are worse now than before - my question is are they really?

Maybe this is an exercise in futility b/c I do think that wha we're all feeling is true, they are getting worse. Still, I can't help but stop and think about what could have been.

The 2000 N.O. Saints weren't a great team, but they were scrappy. They played over their heads and won when it mattered. The defense was relentless in coming at the O, and our offense could put some points up.

2001 we were still young and Haslett made some defensive changes that were, IMO, unwise. Still, the team was still tough. They really started doing what has come to be Saints Standard Operating Procedure in 2001 - they played up and down to competition. However, they were 7-5 in week 14 when they went to Tampa for a show down between two 7-5 teams for what was basically a wildcard spot. Sure they collapsed, and I was mad as hell then, but the team was still competitive for the better half of the year.

Enter 2002. The team started 7-2 and was arguably the best team in the league at one point. The Saints were on fire. But somewhere between the Bye, a tough loss to ATL, and Deuce getting hurt, it all went to sh-t. They stumble down the stretch but are still in position to actually fight to win the division with 3 games left. An injured AB can't move the O and we suffer another collpase.

2002 was it for me. It signaled the beginning of the end. I though we should have dumped Haslett then. Many people disagreed, but I think I saw the will snap. The Saints really lacked that killer attitude that they had in 2000. Maybe it was the player turnover. Maybe it was that certain players got paid and were on easy street. Maybe it was a lack of veteran leadership... maybe it was all of those things, but IMO Haslett's fate was sealed in 2002.

Last season they were pretty bad. Started 3-5 and didn't beat a team with a winning record until Dallas. But some people saw something in the second half of the year - a get up and fight that reminded them of the gritty 2000 team. Was it there? I doubt it. I think the Saints and an already desperate coach managed to out-talent other bottom dwellers.

This season, the Saints can't even seem to do that. The D is getting progressively worse. The offense is suffering both as a result and on its own. Our coaching staff looks even more inept and our players more clueless. Is it just me, or is this the worst Saints team since at least the Ditka era?