10 seconds and 61 yards. That’s how close the New Orleans Saints were from reaching their first NFC Championship Game since the 2009 playoffs. 10 seconds and 61 yards.
Today everyone knows they didn’t win. It was 24-23, with the Vikings just hoping to get into FG range. When Case Keenum found Stefon Diggs on the right sideline, Saints rookie safety Marcus Williams failed to make contact with Diggs, allowing him to trot into the end zone untouched.
If Drew Brees never gets a second ring, never makes it to another Super Bowl, or even back to the NFC Championship, this is the exact moment that everyone’s going to look to. Brees has done just about everything there is to do in an NFL career. What has escaped him though is a second Super Bowl. The second Super Bowl that contemporaries Peyton and Eli Manning, Tom Brady, and Ben Roethlisberger have achieved.
The Saints Super Bowl window is one of the most interesting in the NFL. In my opinion, this year is Brees’ last chance to actually win it all. Every other contender in the NFC has new noise to deal with. Philly has to navigate Carson Wentz’s recovery and return. All of the Rams offseason acquisitions have to learn how to play together. And the very team that beat the Saints, the Vikings, must adjust to new quarterback Kirk Cousins leading their offense. The Saints don’t have a situation like that. The core hasn’t changed, with Brees, Mark Ingram, Michael Thomas, and Cameron Jordan leading the way. Not to mention both the Offensive and Defensive Rookies of the Year Alvin Kamara and Marshon Lattimore.
This is possibly the best collection of young talent that Brees has had around him, and certainly one of the most talented defenses. Everything is in place for it to happen this year, and like I said, this is all Brees gets.
I understand Brees is on a two-year contract, and that, technically, during the 2019 season the Saints are going to compete. Don’t get it twisted. Once the Eagles, Rams, and Vikings, mesh all of their new talents together, they’re all substantially better than the Saints. They’re loaded with star power on both sides of the ball that the Saints can’t compete with. The Saints have to hope that those teams struggle with the aforementioned “new noise.”
NFL analysts and the media have made football fans think that once Drew Brees goes the Saints go with him. They have people believing that Brees determines the Saints success. While I do understand how important he is to the franchise, it’s also important to realize how much the Saints have changed.
In the three seasons prior to 2017, the Saints ranked 28th, 32nd, and 31st in scoring defense. In 2017, they jumped to number 10, and I have little reason to believe that they won’t continue to improve or at least remain solid. New Orleans’ rushing attack was completely different in 2017 as well. They jumped from 24th ranked in 2016 to 5th in 2017. In one offseason, Sean Payton basically remade the Saints into a completely new football team.
These Saints are going to compete for a while once they take a few years to fill out their entire roster. This front office continues to draft well and will methodically fill every hole on this roster one by one. Until then, they have one shot this year to make it happen before a mini-rebuild.
I know it may sound like I’m contradicting myself, saying that their roster can compete now without Drew Brees’ help but won’t be able to after he leaves for a few years. That’s because while Brees isn’t the whole offense anymore, he’s the X-factor. He’s the guy who’s going to make those necessary plays if the Saints do end up making it to Atlanta on February 3. He might even help them win it all.
Care to argue or just want to discuss, find me @MS_Persources