The Saints hit their January iceberg in the playoffs, as they have often done over the last 10 years. They lost to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers 30-20 in the Superdome, their third crushing playoff lose at home in the last 4 years. This time the dome was hollowed out by a virus, making the end an eerie one.
First – the game. While the Saints defense played well, they couldn’t overcome the field position gifts the Saints offense was coughing up. Three Drew Brees interceptions were all critical, but it was a Jared Cook fumble in the midst of a catch and run late in the 3rd quarter that was the turning point. The Saints had a 20-13 lead and were driving toward a two-score lead. The Bucs converted and tied the score at 20 as the fourth quarter began. The Saints would not score again. The Saints receivers were blanketed all day, and 21 of the Bucs’ 30 points came on short scoring drives following 3 of the turnovers. Michael Thomas didn’t catch a pass. Deonte Harris, who had two stunning first quarter punt returns, hurt his neck and missed the second half.
Those punt returns resulted in two field goals to start the game and the Saints took a dreaded 6-0 lead, the one that can be easily overcome with a touchdown. Imagine if they had converted both for a 14-0 lead instead. But, the Bucs defense was much better today than it had been in the two regular season contests. Two touchdown catches by Tre’Quan Smith, one on a trick play from Jameis Winston, (Ironically the longest completion of the day) kept it close, but the turnovers were backbreakers. It was a most unexpected end for the most talented team the Saints have ever had. It was just two months ago that the Saints clobbered the Bucs 38-3. The Bucs defense was helpless that night. That night the Saints offense was unstoppable. This night they stopped themselves repeatedly. It was an ugly game and another ugly end to a season.
History is strange. It appears the Brees era is over, and it’s been thrilling, but with this unsatiated appetite, like we should have eaten more, we should have feasted more, the desserts weren’t good enough. We shoulda, coulda, woulda had more than one Super Bowl title.
Our disappointment is not without precedent in sports. The Brooklyn Dodgers, stacked with Hall of Famers like Pee Wee Reese, Jackie Robinson, Gil Hodges, and Duke Snider lost 5 times to the New York Yankees in the World Series before “next year” finally came in 1955 and they won their only World Series before moving west.
Then there was Jake LaMotta who lost 5 times to Sugar Ray Robinson, beating him only once.
Yes, History is strange. With our area ravaged by Hurricane Katrina in 2005, the Saints had to play all their games on the road, a disaster for Coach Jim Haslett. It was much like the figurative disaster that took place in Cleveland when Art Modell announced he was going to move the Browns to Baltimore in 1995. The til-then ascendent Browns collapsed, and head coach Bill Belichick and Defensive Coordinator Nick Saban were out of a job. We know where they landed, and how they wrote a new history.
With owner Tom Benson contemplating moving the team to San Antonio, NFL Commissioner Paul Tagliabue (the one who liked us) steps in and fast tracks the Superdome repairs. Into the Saints facility walks Drew Brees, having been cut loose by San Diego after a devastating arm injury, to join Sean Payton.
Imagine how things could have gone if free agent Brees had passed the physical in Miami and chosen to play there with Nick Saban. Imagine Brees and Saban in sympatico, challenging Brady and Belchick all those years that the Patriots got free passes through the weak division. Imagine Saban not going to Alabama. Imagine how different it all could have been. We got lucky. We got competitive.
In the wake of Katrina, I started writing this blog and I have chronicled each and every game since. I haven’t hesitated to be critical at times, but I always kept in mind that there was an opponent on the field, trying as hard as they could. Only one team wins their last game in the new year each season, and the Saints did that once, and the 2009 team provided unrivaled elation for the long-suffering Saints fans.
I won’t suggest that those of us who have been Saints fans since John Gilliam caught the first kickoff are the only suffering fan base. But in 54 seasons, the Saints have only been to the playoffs 14 times. Nine of those times have been in the 14 years of the Payton/Brees collaboration. Eight have been unhappy endings.
In 2007, the Saints made their first trip to an NFC Championship Game but they weren’t competitive in a loss to Brian Urlacher and the Bears, a 35-14 slip-sliding affair on the loose Soldier Field turf. The Bears would lose to Peyton Manning and the Colts in the Super Bowl.
In 2011, it was Marshawn Lynch and his 67 yard beast mode run, as the 7-9 Seahawks upset the defending champion Saints. We will have to watch that run for the rest of our lives. The Seahawks lost to the Bears in the next round.
In 2012, it was Alex Smith and Vernon Davis that overshadowed an incredible Brees led comeback utilizing Darren Sproles and Jimmy Graham. To me, the 49’er’s 36-32 victory, is still the toughest loss of this era. The 49’ers lost to the Giants in the NFC Championship game.
In 2013, it was Seattle again, in a 23-15 loss when the Saints were held scoreless for 3 quarters, then mounted a furious comeback that fell short. Seattle went on to trounce Denver in the Super Bowl.
In 2017, the Saints were down 17-0 at the half when Brees piloted an incredible second half comeback to take the lead. Then it was Stefon Diggs who pulled off the Minnesota Miracle to break our hearts on the last play of the game. The Vikings got stiff-armed by the Eagles, who would go on to win the Super Bowl.
In 2018, the Saints bad luck in the dome began when the no-call against the Rams happened in the Saints third NFC Championship Game appearance. The Saints lost in overtime, and the whole world was outraged. The Rams were stifled by the Patriots in the Super Bowl.
In 2019, the Vikings came to the dome and Kirk Cousins beat the Saints in overtime, making it three straight losses on the last play of the game. The Vikings got dispatched by the 49’ers who would go on to lose the Super Bowl to the Chiefs.
Just my opinion, but this year, and the last 3, as well as 2011 and 2012, the Saints had excellent teams that could’ve won the Super Bowl. I’m not saying they would have, but they were talented enough.
This game, with Tom Brady as the latest to overshadow, will be hard to swallow and hard to forget, but Saints fans have lived with a sense of doom for so long, it's just another "coulda."
My hope is that this year the Saints draft a classic dropback quarterback, as I’m still not sold on the running quarterback. Patrick Mahomes and Lamar Jackson ended their playoff games in concussion protocol. Cam Newton is a shell of his former self. The Saints missed Taysom Hill today, out with an injury. It’s tempting to run around like a jackrabbit, but when a 330 pound defender is closing in, sliding is the way to go.
The Saints now slide into an uncertain future, salary cap problems, and the probable loss of the two amazing architects of the extremely successful recent drafts and acquisitions, Jeff Ireland and Terry Fontenot, as well as some of the assistants.
My prediction of Chiefs over the Bucs in the Super Bowl is still in play, but I think I’d rather just spend the next few weeks appreciating the competitor Drew Brees, the fire in his eyes, and even the disappointment on his face as he sat on the bench in the waning minutes of his last game, if he calls it a career. It was a great career, and we were the beneficiaries of his command, his work ethic, his game-saving drives and his community involvement. I bet his next chapter is as productive, and I hope I get to make the trip to Canton to see him inducted into the Hall of Fame..
