Saints Report # 15 - Christmas Eve 2016

The Saints whipped a little Scrooge on the playoff hopeful Tampa Bay Buccaneers on Christmas Eve 31-24, greatly hurting the Bucs advancement chances.

It was the Saints 7^th win of the season and the 100^th Sean Payton coached victory for the Saints, counting 6 playoff wins.  He became the all-time winningest coach of the Saints, which lets be honest – is not saying much given the less than stellar list of coaches the Saints have had. 

The seventh win of a season is only as significant as the month it occurs in.  Get your seventh win in October – terrific, in November – good, in December – not too good, in the holiday season – well not good at all.  December has become a bad habit.

Jarius Byrd was the star of this Christmas Eve show with two interceptions, which in his third season with the Saints means he averages about one every 24 games or so, or about $20 million per.  Maybe the bust has shaken off the rust.  The defense is certainly competitive.  Drew Brees made up for his Tampa debacle with a typical Superdome track meet.  Brees, despite a Pro Bowl snub should go over 5000 yards for the 5^th time.  No other quarterback has done it more than once.  And no quarterback has been more underappreciated by the national media.  What would the Saints be without Brees?  Well, the seventh win wouldn't come until April without him.

So, let’s look at the ifs:

IF the Saints beat Atlanta in the season finale they will finish 8-8, certainly an improvement over the previous consecutive 7-9 seasons, but only the slight improvement you might get in miles per gallon if you never turn on your air conditioner, and about as satisfying.

IF the Saints beat Atlanta they will have split with all their division opponents – a worthwhile effort.

What makes the season baffling is that they scalded the well respected NFC West 4 – 0, but laid a 1-3 egg against the AFC West, and lost to the Lions and Giants to complete the package.

And IF they could have run the ball more – well get a load of this stat.  In the Payton era the Saints are an astounding 42 – 4 when they have 30 rushing attempts in a game.

So, the Saints continue their playoff drought.  Will changes be made?  The fan base is not satisfied with the ghosts of Christmas past.  Is the ownership?  Stay tuned to your twitter feed.