The 12 Days of New Orleans Saints Christmas
By Bob Rose
Nov 13, 2016; New Orleans, LA, USA; Denver Broncos defensive back Will Parks (34) returns a blocked extra point for two points during the fourth quarter of a game against the New Orleans Saints at the Mercedes-Benz Superdome. The Broncos defeated the Saints 25-23. Mandatory Credit: Derick E. Hingle-USA TODAY Sports
MAYBE ONE DAY, THE SAINTS SPECIAL TEAMS CAN ACTUALLY BE CONSIDERED “SPECIAL” — INSTEAD OF JUST PLAIN BAD
Sean Payton may have finally found himself a kicker whose head won’t be constantly on the chopping block in rookie Wil Lutz, who seems to have finally git his act together after a bit of a rough start that included a couple of blocked kicks.
Merry Christmas, Coach Payton. It was Payton who raved about Lutz after his preseason workout; and after some trepidation, we finally have gotten to “see” what Payton did.
Nevertheless, it could be said that New Orleans has lost four games directly attributable to special teams miscues — FOUR of them.
All of us are capable of calculating what the Saints playoff positioning would be if even 2 of those games had gone a different result.
And when was the last time that the Saints ran back a kickoff or a punt back for a TD? They haven’t had a real legitimate threat in the kick return department since “The Beerman” Michael Lewis retired, unless you count Darren Sproles — who never got to stick long enough to be that thereat before he got traded just 2 years later after he was signed.
The Saints Special Teams overall as a unit has been anything but “special” this season — and hopefully it will be one of their top priorities in the off-season.