New Orleans Saints Forums - blackandgold.com - Breaking News Saints QB Drew Brees to have surgery to repair torn ligament in thumb, expected to miss 6 weeks

Quote:

Originally Posted by blackangold (Post 855887)

Monday morning QBing is so easy...

It was a miracle we weren’t champs last year, but because of 1 bad call by the refs we would have been the best team (at least in the NFC, could have beat the pats). What games last year do you think we were lucky to win?

We didn't lose to the Rams in the NFCCG because of one bad call. We wouldn't have even been in that position had they played better and not let that team come back from a 13-0 and 20-10 hole. We even had a chance in OT and immediately turned the ball over on one possession. Of the final 4 teams in the conference tile games last year, our offense had the worst stat numbers across the board. That game went very similar to the Pittsburgh game where we just struggled the entire second half and couldn't do much. It was like we had the Rams at the edge of a cliff and just couldn't shove them down, letting them hang around long enough to come back.

Something else about the non-call that only Troy Aikman of all people seemed to get - if Nickel-Robey had been watching the ball and not trying to commit PI, it's most likely an interception. I noticed it upon re-watching the clip repeatedly. The pass to Ginn that set us up, also was nearly intercepted. We weren't playing all that well against the Rams that day. That's why I don't blame it all on the refs. We looked beatable all throughout that game. 2 dropped TDs in the end zone prevented us from going up 17-0 early and that most likely would've turned it into a blow out.

I don't think we would've beat the Pats. People were underselling how good that Pats team truly was last year. I remember when everyone was picking the Chargers and then acted shocked when the Pats wiped the floor with them. Their defense was underrated all year long and only the writers at FiveThirtyEight got this. Every team ran the same gameplan that Dallas had against us and NE definitely had the personnel to have taken away Thomas and Kamara and made life hell for us. The Pats completely shut down Tyreek Hill and Travis Kelce when they played K.C, who was in much better shape than us at the end of the year. On the flip side; NE has already proven they can dismantle Dennis Allen's zone scheme defense. The Rams took advantage of our secondary that struggled with physical receivers. Gronk and Edleman would've had a field day.

People put too much stock into the Pats being held to 13 points in the SB. Wade Phillips has a history of giving the Pats offense issues. His defenses usually hold them below 24 points. Brady has had some ugly games against Wade's defenses. Dennis Allen isn't on the same level as Wade and he runs a zone defense scheme. Brady has posted some of his career best games against zone. That's part of the reason he usually puts up such great numbers against Pittsburgh, they like to run zone against the Pats and get slaughtered.

I wanted the Chiefs in the SB. I was never confident about facing the Pats, mainly cause of their defense and how bad we looked at the end of the year. I think we could've beat the Chiefs or any other AFC team. Bill B would've just ran the same gameplan Dallas did against us but would've had the right personnel to hold us down.

Quote:

Originally Posted by blackangold (Post 855887)

What games last year do you think we were lucky to win?

Cleveland - Give up a hail mary type pass in the final seconds. Browns also helped us by missing a bunch of field goals. Usually we lose these types of games, but thankfully we won.

Tampa Bay - We were getting whipped in this game until the big blocked punt set us up for a quick TD score and getting back into it. Defense spent this whole game carrying us and eventually we got it together and won. It helped that we were able to adjust and run the ball heavily in the second half.

Carolina - Defense 100% carried us in this game. Again, we usually lose these type of low scoring games where the offense is shut down, but we got through this one.

Pittsburgh - Defense again, carried us the entire second half. We went from dominating Pittsburgh in the first half, to not being able to do anything in the second half. And yet despite the defense's masterful performance, we don't get that last TD to win the game if not for the controversial PI call on Joe Haden. This was a game where everything had to go our way to barely squeak it out, but it looked like we were going to blow them out early on.

Philly - Seriously... if Jeffrey don't drop that pass and they score on that final drive, everyone would be questioning some of the WTF play calling in that game from Payton. This game has always bothered me cause statistically, it looks like a blowout when you look at the numbers... yet we barely scored 20 points and let Philly hang around all game. The defense held them below 90 yards after they went up 14-0. This was on the offense for constantly shooting themselves in the foot with boneheaded penalties and early on, we didn't run the ball when Brees was struggling.

Something has been wrong with this offense for a while now. They haven't been the same since November. We've only scored 30 points in 2 games since then (Pittsburgh last year and Houston last week) and yet even in both of those games, they struggled to score TDs. This has become an ongoing issue since the Cowboys loss, hence why it makes me feel like the Packers downfall they lost to Denver a few years ago. GB and Rodgers haven't been the same since that game.