Saints Lose to Lions: The Good, Bad, and UNFORGIVABLE
By Bob Rose
Dec 4, 2016; New Orleans, LA, USA; New Orleans Saints head coach Sean Payton talks with quarterback Drew Brees (9) during the fourth quarter of a game against the Detroit Lions at the Mercedes-Benz Superdome. The Lions defeated the Saints 28-13. Mandatory Credit: Derick E. Hingle-USA TODAY Sports
THE GOOD: THE SAINTS ARE STILL “MATHEMATICALLY ALIVE” FOR THE PLAYOFFS, BUT…..
Math was about the only friend around for New Orleans yesterday, in an otherwise forgettable and somewhat embarrassing performance, given what was at stake for this Saints team.
Atlanta, Washington, and Carolina lost. Coupled with Minnesota’s loss to Dallas on Thursday night, this simply means that the Saints did not LOSE much ground in their uphill climb for a playoff spot.
Arizona, Green Bay, and Tampa Bay’s victories only hurt new Orleans a bit, but for the most part they still control their own fate in a tiebreaker format in that manner. Essentially, the Saints in spite of themselves have “lived to fight another day”.
But let’s not diminish or “sugar coat” what happened here: the New Orleans Saints had a golden opportunity on Sunday, and they simply whithered away from that challenge in an extremely disappointing fashion.
They not only need to win ALL of their remaining games, but need a lot of other things to happen that realistically aren’t going to happen.
The Saints in all likelihood are going to miss the NFL Playoffs for a 3rd consecutive season, and they only have themselves to blame.
Now with that out of the way, let’s take a look at some of the “bad” things — because there were quite a few of them — beginning with this one…..