I don’t want to go too long with this blog post. Suffice it to say, I was gutted at the way the season ended for these New Orleans Saints. Oh, don’t get me wrong. I loved what this season had. Particularly after the poor 0-2 start and staring at the abyss of irrelevance were so near, the fact that they turned it around and made every Sunday must-watch TV was a minor miracle. The rookie class of Marshon Lattimore, Alvin Kamara, Marcus Williams, Ryan Ramczyk, et al was a revelation. The free agents that were added — Alex Okafor, Ted Ginn Jr, A.J. Klein, Manti Te’o, Larry Warford — fit well into the team and helped the veterans flourish. Cameron Jordan was a Defensive Player of the Year candidate. Mark Ingram ran like a man who could bring down walls if he just had a running start. If Kamara and Lattimore are not the Offensive and Defensive Rookies of the Year, retire the awards. They were that good.
And in the season, there were so many good moments. You had the dominations over the Panthers (three times this season. Count ’em), the shutout of the Dolphins in London, the shootout against the Lions, the tough win against the Bears that I attended, the silly game against Buffalo where the Saints ran and ran and ran, the epic comeback against Washington and the Christmas Eve domination of Atlanta. There were Saints players leaping into the stands. Photos were taken after every major turnover. #BoonkGang entered the lexicon. Everyone went nuts over the rookie third string QB out of Brigham Young when he turned into a special teams hero. I think most of the city has developed a serious addiction to Airheads.
Those are the things I’ll take from this 2017 season. Yes, it ended in a gut punch. But as I tweeted at half time, I would take the loss provided they came back to at least make it fun. I know each Saints fan is taking the time to rank which loss hurt them the most. Personally, after the sports year I’ve had, I couldn’t even put this one in my top 5. If there is one thing the Saints have been good at is finding ways to tear your heart up. Not that it didn’t suck. Had Marcus Williams made the normal tackle, they likely still kick that game winning field goal. And then where would we be if not in our week of ennui and discontent?
Instead, I’ve spent the last few days looking at mock drafts, free agent lists and hoping that training camp was starting next week. Why? Because I’m a sports masochist? Because I want the pain to come back? No. Because I’m an optimist and, having spent much of last offseason wondering if the window of success was closed for Drew Brees, Sean Payton & the best Saints team of my life, to see it creak open this year was fun. And I don’t want it to just close next year again. No, 2018’s Saints will not be 2017’s Saints. But that doesn’t mean they cannot be better. So here’s the questions I’ll be on the lookout for answers this offseason:
More depth along the lines? Obviously, there’ll be interest in adding more playmakers at LB, at WR, in Special Teams. That’s to be expected. Me, I’ll hope that they find a way to help the guys in the trenches. Look, it’s to be expected that players will get hurt and have to play through the pain. But between losing Nick Fairley before the season started due to his enlarged heart, losing Zach Strief since Week 5 due to a knee injury, watching Terron Armstead miss 4 games and play much of the season with a thigh injury praying that he can manage it, losing Andrus Peat in the playoffs against the Panthers, losing Alex Okafor to….I think you get the point. The NFL Season is a game of attrition and while many players stepped up when called upon, more bodies are needed to throw into the grinder. So with all that said, let me get back to messing with mock drafts and looking forward towards the 2018 calendar. This season may not be over but I cannot wait for what next year will bring. WHO DAT!
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