jnormand

I know this sounds ridiculous. I know it sounds like banter from an old Saints fan that just "doesn't get it."

But here's my take:

I was a fan when the bags were on people's heads. I was a fan when nothing seemed to go right...ever..for years. This team seems much like that one. Hell, the offense was given plenty of opportunities to put this atrocious game away. The defense bended. It broke. The offense sputtered and it came up dry. Everything that could go bad did.

I won't judge a fan that thinks this team is awful. That it's done. That the 2015 Saints are just plain terrible.

But I'm not done. This team isn't either. It's week 2. And yes I know people are calling for the heads of Sean Payton, Mickey Loomis, Drew Brees and God knows who else.

But I'm not. I still believe in this team. And I really think they believe in themselves.

This is a different team than last year. It's young. And injured. And hungry.

I'm not saying this team is going to run the schedule from here on out. We may not win the division or make the playoffs. But its got some guts. It's got some character. It's definitely more than what we had last year and I'm not giving up on them.

So say what you want. This team will learn from mistakes. The Saints may not be the best team in the NFC South, but they're learning.

As far as I'm concerned, we didn't learn anything from this week except that we need to fix some problems.

That's my take. This team is not an 0-2 team. It just needs more time to get these young kids rolling.

I'm not giving up. And I truly hope and believe the Saints and their fans aren't either.

burningmetal

I'm not giving up as in not watching or caring anymore. But I don't have any confidence in them. I see a few hungry players, but I don't see a hungry team. Sorry to say it, but it's the only conclusion I can come to at this point.

nola_swammi

The young kids showed up,,,,,Cooks, kikaha, Anthony, Swann, and even Coleman. Where was Brees, Strief, and Hicks?





I am not giving up on them but my expectation for a victory is gone. I will now just be hopeful that we win. I am worn out from being depressed all week over a loss. Facing the facts that Brees have the mental abilities to be a elite qb but not the physical. That throw to cooks would've been a td back in the day but turnout to be interception. I will ALWAYS root for the saints, no paper bags for me but I also want be entering in the debates on who the best 2015 nfc south team

WhoDat!656

As much as Payton and Loomis are lauded for the free agent signing of Brees in 2006, they should also be vilified for releasing Harper and Jenkins 2 years ago.

Crusader

What we learned IMHO ist that this probably is the best draft we have had since 2006. Just Anthony and Kikaha would make it so. Those two guys are going to be great. It is so exciting to see them play. Swann looks good too.
Its to early to pass judgement on Grayson, Peat or Murphy yet but I see great potential there too.

SaintFanQ

I'm not giving up! There's still plenty of games to play yet! Next game against the Panthers will be a tough test though!

GEAUX SAINTS!!

burningmetal

This I cannot agree with. We don't need those guys, and I sure don't miss them. We only had the worst defense in history with those two. I'm not saying it was all them, but they obviously weren't helping.

hagan714

Like jnormand I have seen it all from day 1 at Tulane stadium. I am here and always will here as a saints fan. Most of us old timers did not drink the koolaid and look at a team like this as a starting place for what will come.

Is there a foundation to build on? I have seen worse so there is a plus. Now the hard question.

How long will it take? Can not take as long as it did before just to become a winner. Or will it? fan in me says nahhhh

Lessons learned? Mickie magic pencil can only do so much year in and year out.

Quick look at our team
Average age 26.15 not bad ranks us 17th in the NFL.
Rams are the youngest team at 24.98. How did they do it? The draft. The cap will catch up to them just like the sea hawks.

Now here is the real issue at hand
2015 New Orleans Saints ranked 32 in the cap
Cap money used? $145,092,430
Cap space left $56,406

Dead money? $30,784,986

There in lies the issue at hand. that is a lot of talent we can not field for whatever issue.

When do we honestly have a shot of getting out from under this mess?

2016 cap money spent? $151,699,720
oppsss over by $-1,699,720 not bad we have seen worse. A silver lining?
Dead cap? $14,893,097 getting better but still #1 in the NFL. Then again anything looks better after 2015

2017 cap money spent? $87,684,281

So without getting bogged down in even more money talk. The way I look at this team in 2015 and the team in 2016 is a simplistic view of expectations.

Can we field a competitive team while getting younger and even cheaper by 2017?

Hard question will be letting Drew walk to chase the ring before he hangs up his cleats and live with a high comp pick in return?

Either way 2017 is the magic year and with some luck and some divine intervention in the draft we might be ready to make a push for the promise land yet again

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

Papa Voodoo

Well, this team is going the same place (or worse) than it did last year. Saints will not make the palyoffs, but the team will do just enough to give fans false hope until December and then fold. We're 2 weeks in and in a 4 game hole to 2 teams in our won division.

We have no pass rush. We have poor ball control. We have poor execution. The offenseive line is porous. Sean Peyton's "fire" has been gone since 2012. We're an unimagniative, poor execution team with no tempo. Will I stil root for the team no matter what? of course, but the 2015 Saints are done before they ever got started.

Atlanta will win our division this year and flop in the palyoffs.

Cruize

Nope.