January 21, 2021
GOD BLESS
Our thoughts and prayers go out to everyone adversely effected by Hurricane Delta… and My heart goes out to my friends in the Lake Area who endured major destruction at the hands of Hurricane Laura and Hurricane Delta. My thoughts and prayers are with you. We strongly urge readers of this newsletter to donate to a worthwhile Hurricane oriented charity in the Lake Area.
TODAY’S COLUMNS:
Scott assesses the Saints
Dennis is under the weather and is taking this week off
Please scroll down below.
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THE WIZARDRY OF OS
That was my fear. I was hoping the Saints team from November would show up, but the downward trend only continued. Once again, this team started poorly the first quarter of the season, improved the second quarter, peaked in the third quarter, and declined the last quarter and playoffs.
I do not know what happened to the run defense, but it fell apart. The secondary played well, but cannot catch interceptions or make plays when given the opportunity. Marcus Williams could have had an interception against the Bucs, but could not get his foot down. Marcus Lattimore could have prevented a field goal with an interception, but also did not make the play.
Offensively, the big play guy was going to be Deonte Harris and he got hurt. Late in the year turnovers were a problem and they continued against Tampa.
The most upsetting aspect of this loss is how poorly the Saints had to play for the Bucs to win the game. A constant problem this year was penalties for no good reason that gave first downs or nullified plays. The penalty on Granderson fits that category perfectly. Of course, what would a playoff loss for the Saints be without another missed call that made a huge difference. The first interception should have been brought back to midfield by a block in the back.
Like I said last week, I could handle the playoff disappointments better if the Saints would just play well and the other team played even better. That has not been the case, so the question the organization has to figure out is why the pattern has been so consistent and solid, but not great in January.
New Orleans is at a crossroads in many ways. Brees will likely retire and the salary cap is not increasing. The contracts of many key contributors are up. The core of this team has stayed the same the last 4 years and the results have been regular season wins matched with playoff disappointments. The coaching staff is going to undergo a significant change as coaches are being poached by other teams.
Many people this week are trying to declare whether he and Payton overachieved or underachieved. What if we look at it under this lens? In 2005, would anyone have predicted that by 2021 the Saints would win a Superbowl, go to 2 more NFC Championship Games, make the playoffs every year except for five, and win double digit games 9 of those years?
I have heard the arguments this week. The Saints blew the playoff games against San Francisco, Minnesota, and Los Angeles. We should also recognize the commissioner stole a year from the organization and the Saints were the victim of the worst no call in NFL playoff history.
The Saints, in this era, clearly overachieved and rewrote the standards for this organization. Looking at the talent on the team each year, though, I believe the answer is C. The Saints achieved. There were many outside factors that prevented multiple Super Bowl appearances, but the consistency during the regular season is second only to New England during this time period.
I know how hard it is just to be in the conversation in the NFL. As a result, I know how quickly it all could end and let´s be honest, that is what we all fear. New England lost Tom Brady and did not make the playoffs. The Patriots lost many other players as well, and as a result, I think they won more games than they should have this year. Looking at their games though, they would have made the playoffs with better quarterback play.
Saints fans knew we had to take advantage of the Brees window and that is what did not happen. The window was open, but we only climbed through the opening once despite many opportunities. When will the opportunity come around again?
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DENHAM SPRINGS HS FOOTBALL RADIO BROADCASTS ARE A JON FINE PRODUCTION ON FAMILY RADIO, 91.9 FM, BATON ROUGE and JonFineProductions.com.
JON IS THE OWNER OF AN EBAY STORE. ArrestedDevelopmentMediaGuides, SELLS SPORTS PUBLICATIONS. YOU CAN LINK TO IT BY VISITING JonFineProductions.com.
JON IS PROUD TO WORK AS A MARKETING REPRESENTATIVE FOR SPORTSRADIO-1310-KEZM-SULPHUR/LAKE CHARLES.