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New Orleans Saints in irreversible decline? Sean Payton's plight

Re: New Orleans Saints in irreversible decline? Sean Payton's plight

Quote:

... In their 2009 Super Bowl title campaign, the Saints were loaded -- particularly on offense -- with both talent and experience. The offensive line was as good as any in the game, with Jonathan Goodwin at center, Carl Nicks and Jahri Evans at guard, and Jon Stinchcomb and Jermon Bushrod at tackle. That made everyone around them better; Brees had more time in the pocket, while the ground game had bigger holes to work with.
New Orleans was deep at wide receiver with size and speed. Tight end/matchup problem Jeremy Shockey complemented multi-talented running backs Pierre Thomas and Reggie Bush.

Now the line is patchwork. The Saints scored talented center Max Unger from Seattle, but they had to give up Graham to get him. Marques Colston remains at wide receiver, but he's 32 years old.

Brandin Cooks, of course, is a very promising second-year pro, but the Saints have nothing at tight end to compromise a defense and give Cooks more room to operate. They are relying heavily on the productivity of Mark Ingram at running back. Yet, behind this subpar line, Ingram is averaging an anemic 3.1 yards per carry -- easily the lowest figure of his career.

All of the above factors into the current uneasiness in the Big Easy. How can the Saints heal their wounds?

Payton might eventually have to consider taking a page out of Mike McCarthy's book and focusing solely on the head-coaching duties, ceding play-calling responsibilities to his offensive coordinator, Pete Carmichael. That could work; Carmichael and Brees have proven they are more than capable of running the offense without him. In 2012, when Payton was suspended in the wake of the Saints' bounty scandal, Brees had 43 touchdown passes and eclipsed 5,000 yards through the air. Of course, Brees' shoulder issue could delay any potential large-scale changes in duties.

Pretty fair article

Re: New Orleans Saints in irreversible decline? Sean Payton's plight

good article. In the short term I can only hope that the injury to Brees was a major wakeup to this team and line and that they get their asses in gear this week.

Re: New Orleans Saints in irreversible decline? Sean Payton's plight

I can't stand Billeck but as much as I hate it I have to agree with the lick bag.

Re: New Orleans Saints in irreversible decline? Sean Payton's plight

Funny most of the things in Billicks article have been talked about on countless threads in this forum.

Re: New Orleans Saints in irreversible decline? Sean Payton's plight

It's obvious that our O-line has been on the decline for years now. Grubbs was sub par and Goodwin was just too old to produce the second time around. Our LT and LG are old and their skills have been deteriorating for the last couple of years(from where I sit). Unger isn't exactly a spring chicken either. But he's not in decline yet. However, we will most likely give him an incredible extension.

Re: New Orleans Saints in irreversible decline? Sean Payton's plight

What happened to the great Josh Hill? Everyone including Payton talked this guy up as the second coming of Jimmy but those who knew football knew better and so far they were right. The guy is nonexistent in the offense, great job Sean.

Re: New Orleans Saints in irreversible decline? Sean Payton's plight

Quote:

Originally Posted by Lord_Saint83 (Post 670559)

No one ever said Hill was even close to having Jimmy Graham's skills.

Where in the world did you read that?

Re: New Orleans Saints in irreversible decline? Sean Payton's plight

Sounds like there are others that agree with what we have been saying.

It appears Payton & Loomis think too highly of themselves. The Pats can do what they do because they know what they are doing. Payton & Loomis haven't earned it yet. Unfortunately that has become painfully obvious.

Since our owner spends his time in litigation these days, he probably hasn't been paying much attention to the team. I don't think he is capable of making decisions to pull us out of the fire. We can't count on Loomis who is part of the problem. Who's left? We might be in this mess a long time to come.

Re: New Orleans Saints in irreversible decline? Sean Payton's plight

On a article on espn.com of Sean at the nfl owners meetings talking him up basically but not directly said so.