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After losing the NFC South to the Carolina Panthers by a half game last year, the New Orleans Saints figured to have a course correction in 2015. Drew Brees was due to have another big season, the defense couldn’t be much worse than its No. 31 ranking from last season (even if keeping Rob Ryan as coordinator seemed inexplicable) and Vegas pegged the Saints as preseason favorites to get back to the top of the division.


But now, after a respectable loss to the Arizona Cardinals in Week 1, then a baffling home loss to 2014’s worst team, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, in Week 2, there’s every reason to wonder if the Saints aren’t only the worst team in their division, but in the entire conference?

Nearly every team in the NFL will experience a bad loss at some point in the season. They’ll catch a team on the wrong day or come out flat and notch an L instead of the expected W. This loss to Jameis Winston and the Bucs felt a lot different. It was like two evenly matched opponents fighting a battle of attrition.


Winston played a perfectly acceptable game — far better than his debut — but was hardly extraordinary in his first NFL victory. He threw for a touchdown and ran for another, but had a key fumble, the process of which, summed up the game pretty well.


On a third-and-3 from his own 27, Winston fumbled the ball. New Orleans, down 23-13 at the time, recovered. The Saints then gained one yard on three plays and missed a 42-yard field goal. Like I said, battle of attrition.


Surely the headline is hyperbole. The Saints can’t be the worst team in the NFC! Not the franchise with four playoff appearances in the last six seasons (including a Super Bowl win) and a Hall of Fame quarterback who passed Dan Marino for third on the all-time pass completions list in Sunday’s loss. But the following are all facts:


• New Orleans lost a home game to a team that finished 2014 with a 2-14 record and had the No. 1 pick in the 2015 draft.


Are the New Orleans Saints the worst team in the NFC? | For The Win

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