Sweet Baby Jesus, PLease Return Our Saints

The season started, we were up 10-0 on the Falcons, and I was like….

Now I'm like….

I wish I could tell you what happened in between. It has all been a blur. All I know is the Saints are 1-3 with a lone win over a Minnesota in a game Adrian Petersen didn't play in and a game where they lost their starting quarterback. I'm not sure if there is a 'good 1-3', but this certainly is not it. In fact, last night's loss to Dallas was as bad as I have seen a Sean Payton coached team ever look. 2007 and 2008 were mediocre years, but they also had mediocre talent. 2012 saw their head coach suspended for the season. Sure they looked awful against the Seahawks in Seattle last year but who didn't. This was the Dallas Cowboys with a depleted secondary and they made the Saints look like a High School team.

I have seen the Saints absolutely suck defensively; See 2012's abysmal record setting defense. I thought we were done with that. Rob Ryan turned that unit into a top 5 defense last year. If anything, this years group has more talent than last years. My brain has been running around in circles all day and can't comprehend what I watched last night. It's not that they missed tackled, it looked like they weren't even trying to make them. Demarco Murray had more holes to choose from than Channing Tatum at a sorority house. Literally walked into the end zone untouched several times. Sometimes you have those back breaker plays where a player rips through 6 of your defenders for a first down after being bottled up. If memory serves correctly, I believe Dallas has about 160 of them in the first half alone. 

A front line that boasts Pro Bowler Cam Jordan and Junior Galette (24.5  sacks combined last season) has been non existent. Akiem Hicks was poised for a breakout season, now he looks like he's poised for his 3rd run at the buffet line. The secondary was supposed to be stellar. Jaruis Byrd and Kenny Vaccarro were supposed to be one of the best safety tandems in the league. The only person who has been remotely close to covering anyone all season has been Keenan Lewis.

And that's just the defense! The offense has been all but a guarantee since 2006. Continually tops in the league. The Saints put up all of 0 points in the first half. Colston dropped balls. Graham dropped balls. Brees forced a bad interception deep in his own territory and was off a large majority of the night. The only player that looked remotely interested in playing was Khiry Robinson. If you think the Saints run the ball sparingly in close games, just wait until they are down 24 before you can blink. Going off memory alone, the Saints could have had 3 fumbles last night, all by receivers. It got to the point where I would have rather had them slap passes into the grass instead of catching them then instantly turning it over.

I don't even know how to continue. They were bad in every single facet of the game. Sure they had a play here or there, but there is no particular thing they did even satisfactory last night. Those nights happen to teams sometimes. I'm not denying that, but they shouldn't happen to 1-2 teams that were supposed to be primed for a Super Bowl run. It's not that they sucked last night. It's that they looked like they didn't care that they sucked. NO emotion. NO fire. From the head coach on down to the long snapper. Since 2006 I have never been absolutely embarrassed of this team, and last night I 1000% was. 

Watching the second half of that game compares favorably to my Sunday night meals. Sure, I know nothing good is going to come out of that 4th slice of pizza. Sure, I'll inevitably feel terrible. That's how I felt as the second half kickoff happened. I thought, 'I can't believe I am going to watch another 90 minutes of this garbage'. Sure enough, besides some meaningless touchdowns it was just as bad, if not worse. The Saints crawled to within 2 scores before putting Brees on the bench in 4th and 9 and pulling this dead rabbit out of the hat….

No words. Just absolutely no words.

I read the Saints message boards because apparently I hate happiness. They are littered with people blaming Brees, Rob Ryan, the offense, the defense. The fact is the problem starts at the top. Everyone is responsible in their own way, But Sean Payton better get this ship afloat quickly or he might be looking at the unemployment line. The entire team and coaching staff looked disinterested in finishing the game by halftime, and that is simply unacceptable.  I don't expect 19-0, but I do expect a team that wants to win. I still think I am going to wake up and it will be Sunday afternoon. That couldn't have been a real performance.

Figure it out boys, the Who Dat Nation deserves better!

P.S. We're still winning the Super Bowl.

P.P.S. Please wake me up.