Marlboro Man

Offensively we really didn't have even good WR's until we got Joe Horn. We had some really great RB's in Hilliard and Mayes and Gijan, but the reality was that injuries just killed us. We would get to the playoffs and by then we were decimated with injuries on defense which was our claim to fame and with such a mediocre offense we couldn't get past teams that would score on our depleated defense.

WhoDat!656

Eric Martin may not have been the best WR in the NFL then, but he was like Marques Colston.

Don't forget about Quinn Early

Jack Vegas

Eric Martin and Quinn Early were both good, starting-quality receivers. So was Lonzell Hill for a few years. Floyd Turner and Brett Perriman were good #3 types. In the later years of Mora when Everett was QB, Michael Haynes and Torrance Small were putting up good numbers too. We always had a revolving door of WR's but they were always productive for the most part.

If you could send Brees back in time to those teams I bet the offense wouldn't look much different, with Martin in the Colston role, Early as Lance Moore and Turner as the Henderson/Meachem field-stretcher.

We had all the parts on offense then, just not a QB. Now when Ditka took over, that was when we were devoid of talent on offense.

Halo

Jim Finks!
The front office was taken from the same group who built the '84 Bears.
Finks left the Bears in 1982 before that monster gelled, but it was his handiwork that brought those players together. Finks resigned when the organization didn't consult him when they hired Ditka, someone Finks didn't like so much.

The Bears were a limp wrist through the 70's until Finks went in and acquired players. Then they ran playoffs for years.

His style of team was old school - build a nasty defense and spend your money on monster offensive linemen, and the rest will take care of itself.

Although he was the architect of teams, Finks lacked "pizzazz" or magic needed to make a Superbowl winner. Someone like Ditka was able to spark a fire to build one of the more memorable teams in NFL history using Finks talent pool he left with the Bears (yes it takes an insane idiot like Coach Ditka to create an earth shattering miracle). It also took Ditka a short few years to mostly dismantle that team, so it was practically a one hit wonder.

Finks was no frills, and so was the Saints offense just like Finks - old school, unimaginative, down and distance, playoff bound but never Superbowl material.

RockyMountainSaint

Carl Smith

OldMaid

1-Mora was a bit conservative at times.
2-Thus relying on Anderson for the 3pts over and over and so on.
3-You really did not have a QB in Bobby Herbert and backup, Fourcade. LA boys which were most important for fans then to have rather a really strong QB.
4-O-line was ok.
5-YES, D-line was tops and that and Anderson put up points by D-line shutting down the other team and Anderson 3pts again, aain and so on.

Jamessr

I remember one game at the start of the 4th 21-21.
Other team 3 TD's Saint's 7 field goals.

I remember the announcer mentioning how the Saints got there the other way.

st thomas

Carl smith, carl smith, carl smith and a few prevent defenses when u have one of the defenses ever

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Saint_LB

...because Mora didn't like Fourcade and gave up on him too early...because Bobby took his ball and stayed home when Johnny was named starter...and when they gave up on John F they went out and mortgaged the farm for a noodle arm QB named Steve Walsh.

hagan714

coaching end of story

Mora inherited quarterback Bobby Hebert so that does not hold water
Plenty of solid talent in the backfield. Wr were pretty solid. OL was well above average also

he gutted the NFL best defensive coaching staff to keep the OC Carl Smith.

It was Mora love for Carl Smith that killed the team. I forgot his name for a reason but it has resurfaced here. Mora never did the right thing with his offensive coaching staff. Replace Carl Smith. We always were waiting for those two come out of the closet. that would be the reason we could think of for this love affair to go on

I never understood his loyalty to the OC Carl Smith at all.

Mora has to thank Bum for building the core of the team that made him a winner.

blame rest with Mora.

"We may have lost the game, but you'll be hurting tomorrow." Doug Atkins