What really needs to happen is a strong showing and winning games right out of the gate. The years that the Sean Payton Saints have historically done REALLY well, are all years where they come out strong and win a bunch of games, get the divisional lead, and then keep on going. The years when they slip up, drop games, and where they have to battle back, or when they're outside looking in, when they need help, or the seasons when they hit a slump and then have to keep clawing and fighting to find their way back into the mix, week after week....Those years NEVER turn out well for the Saints. It's a clear pattern in every single Sean Payton/Drew Brees season.

2006, 2009, 2011, for three obvious examples -- all those years were pretty darn good, and in all of them the team was a juggernaut, rolling off an impressive string of wins to run the table starting early in the season. Other years where the team falters, slips up, or where they have to kick and claw their way back into the hunt late in the year -- going win one, lose one, win one, lose one, all year long -- those years don't seem to EVER end up being nearly as good for Sean Payton teams. For whatever reason, they're just not built for that. They need strings of wins in a row, not a win one, lose one, win one, lose one type season....