When can the Saints blow it up?

[dawg80]

It was 1979....I think (probably have the year wrong). Both the Saints and the Rams are 8-7 tied for first in the old NFC West. Final regular season game happens to be Rams at Saints. All we have to do is win this game and we are division champs and playoffs bound!!! Saints dominate the 1st Half and most of the 3rd qtr, but due to shooting themselves in the foot...numerous times...only lead by 10 pts or so, 20-10, or a score like that. Then there are 7 mins left...Saints D gets a stop, Rams punt...Saints run the ball twice, clock is running, down to 6 mins...3rd and 1 at around our 30 yard line. We decide a pass is a good idea...Nolan Cromwell steps in front of a down and out route.....Pick 6! Saints 20 Rams 17. Saints get the ball after the kickoff. Run the ball, get a first down, another couple of runs, another first down. Rams burn all their timeouts. Saints face a 3rd and 2...try a pass, ball is tipped, Nolan Cromwell takes it back, Pick 6! Saints 20 Rams 24. Ended up as final score. We leave the Dome and head to Pat O's and get plastered by Hurricanes. Swear we will never waste our time attending another Saints' game....ever! (until the next time).

[dawg80]

Payton fired FIVE assistant coaches today. Joe Vitt is a surprise, but McMahon needed to go. Big changes were needed, and it looks like Payton is making them.

(From ProFootballTalk.com)
Sean Payton fires five Saints assistants, including Joe Vitt

And kept our lousy DC?

If you didn't know before, you now know what (who) the problem is.

[StrayDawg]

Giving Rob Ryan the axe last year was a good move. You can't fire Dennis Allen after only one season. I actually thought the defense improved in the second half of the season. They weren't great, but when all starting DBs are on IR, you have a hard time defending the pass.

I agree with The Historian about Jeff Ireland, and I think these 5 coaches are just the beginning of changes. I expect to see a few front office guys and scouts be given a pink slip as well. Ever since Mickey Loomis was put in charge of the Pelicans, things have started slipping when it comes to talent evaluation and draft picks. I think this is what Payton wanted to change last year when he flirted with leaving, and it's finally going to hit the fan.

I'm always optimistic, but with the IR players coming back, and a couple of good defensive draft picks, the Saints aren't that far away from contending for the playoffs again. It also won't hurt that we will have about $50M in salary cap to play with this year. We haven't had that luxury in a while.

As bad as things were this season, we still would have been tied with Detroit (9-7) for a wild card spot, if our special teams hadn't given away the Denver and NYG games. Of course, we laid an egg against Detroit, so they would have had the tie-breaker.

[HogDawg]

Yep. I've been preparing my son all season by telling him that he'll grow up with the same pathetic Saints I grew up with.

Fear not guys......you have a a REAL alternative!!! AMERICA's Team!!

[HogDawg]

Five of the six most popular games during the 2016 season featured the Cowboys, according to Sports Media Watch. After nine weeks of flailing ratings (viewership across the league was down 14 percent), the Cowboys' resurgence coincided with a substantial uptick in interest. Over the second half of the season, the Cowboys averaged 23.7 million viewers which, as Bloomberg.com notes (via Fox), was more than last year's World Series (23.4 million) and the NBA Finals (20.2 million).

http://www.cbssports.com/nfl/news/heres-why-the-cowboys-success-may-have-saved-the-nfl-from-a-tv-ratings-nightmare/

"There's not another brand in American sports that delivers that kind of impact," said Michael Mulvihill, Fox Sports' executive vice president of research. The Cowboys "have always been the most popular team. Now we have a resurgence, and that's great."

[techman05]

Fear not guys......you have a a REAL alternative!!! AMERICA's Team!!

Or I could saw off my own foot with a rusty butter knife. That sounds more appealing.

[dawg80]

Or I could saw off my own foot with a rusty butter knife. That sounds more appealing.

[ChuckK3]

I would like to know why so many SAINTS fans have animosity toward the Cowboys? Seriously, as a lifelong Cowboys fan who's been around both fan bases all my life, I don't think I've ever heard a Cowboys fan talk about the Saints the way some of y'all talk about the Cowboys...

Is there a history there that I don't know about?

[DogsWin]

Seriously, as a lifelong Cowboys fan who's been around both fan bases all my life, I don't think I've ever heard a Cowboys fan talk about the Saints the way some of y'all talk about the Cowboys...

Bwhahaaahaaa. You obviously don't get to Dallas much.

[sportdawg]

I would like to know why so many SAINTS fans have animosity toward the Cowboys? Seriously, as a lifelong Cowboys fan who's been around both fan bases all my life, I don't think I've ever heard a Cowboys fan talk about the Saints the way some of y'all talk about the Cowboys...

Is there a history there that I don't know about?

It's a lot like the animosity that Tech fans have toward LSU. Growing up here in Shreveport, the local stations would almost always play the Cowboys over the Saints. It did not change until the Payton/Brees era.

[Dwayne From Minden]

I would like to know why so many SAINTS fans have animosity toward the Cowboys? Seriously, as a lifelong Cowboys fan who's been around both fan bases all my life, I don't think I've ever heard a Cowboys fan talk about the Saints the way some of y'all talk about the Cowboys...

Is there a history there that I don't know about?

Cause most of the bullies in middle school wore Cowboy Starter Jackets and Drew Pearson jerseys...

[Champ967]

Cause most of the bullies in middle school wore Cowboy Starter Jackets and Drew Pearson jerseys...

And later they turned out to be gay ...




(Not that there's anything wrong with that.)

[techman05]

I am dedicated to the Saints, Cubs, and Bulldogs. I have been taught to hate the Cowboys(proximity), Cardinals(rivalry), and tiggers(entitled brats). There are very few teams I could be a casual fan of and Dallas is just not one of those few.

[HogDawg]

It's a lot like the animosity that Tech fans have toward LSU. Growing up here in Shreveport, the local stations would almost always play the Cowboys over the Saints. It did not change until the Payton/Brees era.

And for the next 20 years everybody in the Shreveport area is going to be begging for the Cowboys.

[ChuckK3]

And for the next 20 years everybody in the Shreveport area is going to be begging for the Cowboys.

It's nice to see Cowboys merchandise once again showing up in north Louisiana stores.