I know, I know Who Dat Nation times are tough. Tougher than they’ve been in years.
Your Saints are banged up, they’re staring straight at a short week and for the first time since 2016, the black and gold have lost three games in a row under Sean Payton (it’s been five years??)
If you’re banking on precedence, 2016 was also the last losing season the Saints have had—but let’s not go down that road “yet.”
When looking at this team, the issues they have are different than the 2016 bunch in that at their core this group is more talented. Sure, they don’t have Drew Brees anymore, but the defense is better and “when healthy” this offense has more playmakers and a better offensive line than it did back in those days.
So…with Thanksgiving upon us, let me deliver my top five reasons you Saints’ fans should still be “thankful” that you’re don’t follow the Jaguars, Jets or Lions. Here goes:
5. HELP IS ON THE WAY:
The main names on the injury report aren’t of the season ending variety– like some teams around the NFL.
Sure, losing Michael Thomas was a dagger but Alvin Kamara will be back and so will the Pro Bowl Bookends of Terron Armstead and Ryan Ramczyk on that Saints o-line and that will make this offense a lot better than the unit you saw in Philadelphia and Nashville.
They still need better play at quarterback, but I’ll get to that in a bit.
4. SEAN PAYTON’S HOLIDAY MOJO:
Sean Payton isn’t perfect except on the holidays. In his career with the Saints he’s a perfect 5-0 whether it’s (2-0) on Halloween, (2-0) on Thanksgiving or (1-0) on Christmas. The Head Saint’s teams have been ready to roll throughout all the holiday seasons. We’ll see if he can keep the streak alive at (6-0) with the Bills coming to town this turkey day.
3. PLAYING UP TO THE COMPETITION:
Speaking of the Bills, they are a good football team, which bodes well for the Saints. You see, while New Orleans has lost to some bad football teams this year in the Falcons, Panthers, Giants and most recently giving the lowly Eagles their first home win of the year, conversely, they have played better against the better teams.
Remember the Titans? Wait… bad example. What I was going for was wins against the Packers, Patriots and those defending Super Bowl Champion Bucs.
When healthy these Saints have showed they can beat anybody!
2. PARITY HELPS:
So, the Saints have lost three straight and have been sitting at five wins for…. almost a month? Big deal—the rest of the league, especially the NFC is a collection of mediocre teams too.
Have we ever seen the NFL this chock full of parity? I don’t think so!
Despite their recent skid, the Saints would be in the playoffs if they kicked off today. Five other teams have better records than New Orleans, but they have beaten two of them (Packers and Bucs.)
If this team can get healthy, I still think they can go on a run against the 2021 competition which hasn’t included an elite team this season.
1. IT’S TAYSOM HILL’S TIME:
Trevor Siemian has been steady but hardly spectacular. This offense needs Kamara, Armstead and Ramczyk back but they also need the energy a healthy Taysom Hill would bring to the huddle.
What a strange year it’s been for the Saints’ Swiss Army knife who lost his preseason battle to Jameis and after Jameis went down, he went down. His concussion and subsequent foot injury have limited his snaps during the Saints’ skid and it’s a big reason why the offense has struggled.
It’s time to give Taysom the keys to the offense. It will give the Saints more options and a better chance down the stretch. We’ve seen what Siemian can do and it’s not going to get better moving forward, Taysom provides needed hope for an offense that surely needs it! He deliver an upside the Saints need to keep their playoff hopes alive.
Happy Thanksgiving everyone! (and remember ham is better than turkey).
