Is that supposed to make me feel better, or worse?

Doubt we would've won against the Patriots.

Something went wrong with our offense back with the Cowboys game and we never fixed the problem. They showed the blueprint for stopping our offense - slow down or completely shut down Kamara and Thomas, then it's a show of Brees trying to pick you apart with a cast of no-name receivers. Teams knew they had nothing to worry about with Tommy Lee Lewis, Kirkwood and Dan Arnold.

I don't think we had a single game all year where we had 31+ points without Kamara or MT having a big game. Both of them drove our offense. Go back and watch highlights from earlier in the year and it's usually Kamara running and Brees throwing to Thomas. When Pro-Football-Reference released their AV numbers of the year, Thomas was the highest ranked wide receiver of 2018 and he was the highest rated player of the Saints (Both Thomas and Kamara had a higher AV than Brees). This offense depended so much on Thomas and Kamara, cause they didn't have any other weapons. This was put on full display when Dallas held us to 10 points.

The offense just broke down after Thanksgiving and was never the same again. They struggled with Tampa, Carolina and Pittsburgh to end the year. We seem to forget that they very nearly blew it vs the Eagles in the playoffs. Despite dominating them in yards and our defense holding Philly to below 90 yards for 3 quarters, the offense screwed around all game and could barely put 20 points on the board, giving Philly one last shot at winning.

We also were struggling against the Rams despite the non-call screwing us. We couldn't close the door that day on a team we had previously had a 13 and 10 point lead against.

The defense was the true MVP of this team in the final month and a half. They straight up won games for us when our offense couldn't do anything. Go back to that Tampa Bay game and we were getting our butts kicked until the blocked punt shifted all the momentum. Same thing with the Carolina game, they only allowed a single TD in that game while our offense struggled. They also bailed us out against Pittsburgh and later against the Eagles in the playoffs.

Sorry, but I don't believe we would've beat the Patriots. Judging by how the offense collapsed late in the season and knowing Bill Belichick and how he game-plans, I'm pretty sure he would've took Kamara and MT out of the game like everyone else had been doing in the last month and forced Brees to pick them apart without his main two weapons. I completely believe the offense would've struggled against NE's defense and I get this conclusion based off how badly they struggled in the past month and a half. No doubt Brees would've put more than 3 points on the board and we would've had some successful drives, but I don't think we would've dropped 30 on them.

I think we would've needed a strong defensive match up against the Patriots offense, most likely it would be similar to the Rams' game plan. I don't think the Patriots would've ran the ball well against us like they did vs the Rams, but it's no telling what problems Edleman and Gronk would've given us in the secondary. Hogan was also a non-factor in the SB and we have no idea if he would've went off on us. If you look into the advanced stats, Tom Brady has had some of his greatest games against zone defenses and his highest QB rating is against the zone. Dennis Allen's scheme is a zone and I'm sure Brady would've found his receivers in it.

Something else that really hurt us in the playoffs was losing Sheldon Rankins. We had zero sacks in the playoffs. We got some pressure here and there, but it wasn't the same without Rankins. I'd feel a bit better about a match up with the Patriots if he were there.

24-17 Patriots win is what I believe would've happened.

I think had Saints played Patriots it would of looked alot like Dallas over again but I firmly believe our defense would of held Brady in check much like the Rams did most of the game, but the Saints would of did more damage than Goff, I think it would of been a toss up honestly, something like 16-13 or 17-14 type game.

Yeah, I can see it going like the Dallas game. I am 100% sure our offense would've struggled to do much and would've no doubt scored less than 20 points. They struggled in every game for the rest of the year starting with Dallas. That's the one thing the non-call against the Rams makes us all overlook - Brees did not play well in that game and something was definitely off with our offense. I thought they played badly vs the Eagles and I was worried about the offense going into the NFC title game due to how they still looked like the same slumping unit they were for the end of the year.

Over the course of Brady's career, he's had most of his best games against zone defenses, which is the scheme Dennis Allen runs. I think Brady would've had more success against us than the Rams. Wade Phillips has some experience against Brady and confusing him.

The Patriots defense was criminally underrated all year. They actually ranked in the top 20 on yards for most of the year and finished the season in the top 10 in points. Their secondary gradually improved as the year went on. No one wanted to give them credit, instead rehashing the same stupid rants about "The AFC East is so bad! The only reason they're good is the AFC East!". People were picking the garbage Texans to beat them in the playoffs. I laughed my ass off when I seen people picking the Chargers to beat them and then the same people acting so surprised that NE dropped the hammer and wiped the floor with them.

No doubt in my mind the Pats would've given us massive issues in the SB.