Explain how anyone is stopping the Saints from winning it all.

[Reerun_KC]

Originally Posted by 19now11

i know you all saw the alex and drew shootout playoff game that alex had 2 come from behind drives and flung a td to vd with no time remaining. we have better players here. alex will go full mvp on that bitch. alex is in his head!

[SAGA45]

Originally Posted by SAGA45

The Saints have been No. 1 in my rankings for three weeks now and likely a fourth once I'm done processing data from Week 10. ...

A fourth week at No. 1 it is - http://besreport.com/week-10-bes-rankings-2017/

[Pasta Little Brioni]

Chiefs Planet shits their pants at the thought of facing ANY even halfway decent team.

[DaneMcCloud]

Originally Posted by Hammock Parties

Right now I'm taking the Saints over everyone in the AFC, and in an NFCCG, I'll take Brees' experience over Carson Wentz's youth.

The Saints will have to get past the Eagles excellent defense, which will be difficult for them, as the Vikings shut them down, as did New England.

The Saints have beaten a bunch of cupcakes in Green Bay (no Rodgers), the Bills, Bears, Bucs, Dolphins and Lions.

Their only "impressive" win was back in Week 3, when they beat the Panthers.

They still play at the Rams, have Atlanta twice, Carolina and a good Redskins defense ahead.

It's too early to crown their asses.

[O.city]

Originally Posted by DaneMcCloud

The Saints will have to get past the Eagles excellent defense, which will be difficult for them, as the Vikings shut them down, as did New England.

The Saints have beaten a bunch of cupcakes in Green Bay (no Rodgers), the Bills, Bears, Bucs, Dolphins and Lions.

Their only "impressive" win was back in Week 3, when they beat the Panthers.

They still play at the Rams, have Atlanta twice, Carolina and a good Redskins defense ahead.

It's too early to crown their asses.

We could see the same type of threads with the chiefs in it if they chief it up and beat the also rams they're about to play.

7-0 heading into the playoffs? The homer boner here will be rock hard

[DaneMcCloud]

Originally Posted by O.city

We could see the same type of threads with the chiefs in it if they chief it up and beat the also rams they're about to play.

7-0 heading into the playoffs? The homer boner here will be rock hard

Agreed.

The only two teams, IMO, that look like true Super Bowl teams are the Eagles and Patriots.

[O.city]

Originally Posted by DaneMcCloud

Agreed.

The only two teams, IMO, that look like true Super Bowl teams are the Eagles and Patriots.

The eagles for sure.

The pats, I dunno. They have Tom and bill so I get it, but I'm not sure the d can stop a decent offense.

[DaneMcCloud]

Originally Posted by O.city

The eagles for sure.

The pats, I dunno. They have Tom and bill so I get it, but I'm not sure the d can stop a decent offense.

Joe Haden breaking a leg might shift things a bit

[ChiliConCarnage]

I think you've forgot about the Jesuits. They can easily stop this if they want to

[Chiefnj2]

I'm looking forward to watching the NFC playoff games. Eagles, Rams, Saints, and Seahawks all have a legitimate shot of making the Super Bowl. I'm not sold on the Vikings.

[DaneMcCloud]

Originally Posted by Chiefnj2

I'm looking forward to watching the NFC playoff games. Eagles, Rams, Saints, and Seahawks all have a legitimate shot of making the Super Bowl. I'm not sold on the Vikings.

I don't see any way the Seahawks contend for a Super Bowl, especially after losing Richard Sherman for the season.

They have exactly one quality win: October 8th against the Rams.

Their other wins have come against the 49ers, Colts, Texans, Giants and Cardinals.

Not a winning team in the bunch.

They still face Atlanta, Philly, @Dallas, @Jacksonville and the Rams again. That looks like 1-3 at best if not 0-4.

[Saints]

How did the Saints turn it around?

Mostly through the draft and some changes in coaches.

The 2015 draft was mostly ok, with Andrus Peat in the first, who has been great this year at LG and LT when needed. PJ Williams in the third who is now their #3 CB and Tyeler Davison DT, in the fifth who has provided some quality snaps this year.

The 2016 Draft was solid. They only had 4 picks, but hit on all of them.

First Round, Sheldon Rankins DT, might not show up on a stat sheet, but he has been playing great, he takes double teams on almost every snap.

Second Round, Michael Thomas WR, 92 catches for 1137 yards last year as a rookie in a very complicated offense, this year through 9 games, 59 catches for 662 yards. His production made Brandin Cooks "expendable"... more on that later. And Vonn Bell S, who has been VERY solid, started last year and plays a pretty good bit when needed in the nickel and dime packages this year, has lost some playing time to a 2017 rookie.

Fourth Round, David Onyemata DT, who has been a great interior sub player, was VERY raw last year, but has all the makings of a very solid pro.

I forgot, Ken Crawley, UDFA, now a starting CB and playing great. Did not play the first two games of the year.

2017 Draft, quite possibly the best draft in the history of the franchise.

First Round, two picks:

Marshon Lattimore. I won't bore you with things you won't believe, even though they are true, but he's having the best rookie CB season ever and is on pace to have one of the best seasons ever by a CB. Teams don't even throw at him anymore. When playing man coverage, he has more interception return yards than he has given up in coverage. Should be Defensive Rookie of the Year.

Ryan Ramczyk OT, has played at a Pro Bowl level at RT all season. Unbelievable rookie season and had played every snap until Buffalo game, not sure if they took him out in the end. Superb run and pass blocker. (This was the pick from the Bradin Cooks trade, without Ram, the Line would have been in trouble.) Has graded out by PFF every week as no worse than 12th best RT. Extreme consistency.

Second Round:

Marcus Williams S, he has taken nearly every defensive snap and is a starter. Extremely solid player, deep range and incredible ball skills.

Round Three, three picks:

Alvin Kamara RB, amazing talent. Just incredible. Has been Offensive Rookie of the week twice and will be again this week. In the running for Offensive Rookie of the Year. (I know KC has a guy...hahah)

Alex Anzalone LB, he started early in the year and was injured. He looked very good when he played. Injury setback, but a "hit" on the draft pick.

Trey Hendrickson DE, has been really coming on lately.

Sixth Round, Al-Quadin Muhammad DE. Made the team, raw talent who has not seen much of the field because there are too many players ahead of him.

Coaching changes have really helped. I rather not say too much more, they don't need more publicity. We like them!

A few really nice additions in Free Agency have also helped. Ted Ginn Jr., Manti te'o, A.J. Klein and Alex Okafor

And for those who say the Eagles are so much better, consider this (From a fellow member of Saints Report):

Eagles:
8-1 overall
Their opponents record (removing games vs. Eagles): 22-35, .386
Vs. winning teams: 1-1 (Panthers, Chiefs)

Saints:
7-2 overall
Their opponents record (removing games vs. Saints): 42-28, .600
Vs. winning teams: 4-2 (Panthers, Lions, Packers, Bills, Vikings, Patriots)

***************

I have always liked the Chiefs, you are very passionate fans. I don't like the Broncos, the Raiders are punks and the Chargers....hahah, they are the Chargers.

Oh, by the way, in that beat down of the Buffalo Bills, the Saints ran 24 straight running plays in the third and fourth quarters. The Bills KNEW what was coming and could not stop it. They score six rushing TD's and never punted. That hasn't happened in the NFL in decades.

[IronSaint]

Originally Posted by Saints

How did the Saints turn it around?

Mostly through the draft and some changes in coaches.

The 2015 draft was mostly ok, with Andrus Peat in the first, who has been great this year at LG and LT when needed. PJ Williams in the third who is now their #3 CB and Tyeler Davison DT, in the fifth who has provided some quality snaps this year.

The 2016 Draft was solid. They only had 4 picks, but hit on all of them.

First Round, Sheldon Rankins DT, might not show up on a stat sheet, but he has been playing great, he takes double teams on almost every snap.

Second Round, Michael Thomas WR, 92 catches for 1137 yards last year as a rookie in a very complicated offense, this year through 9 games, 59 catches for 662 yards. His production made Brandin Cooks "expendable"... more on that later. And Vonn Bell S, who has been VERY solid, started last year and plays a pretty good bit when needed in the nickel and dime packages this year, has lost some playing time to a 2017 rookie.

Fourth Round, David Onyemata DT, who has been a great interior sub player, was VERY raw last year, but has all the makings of a very solid pro.

I forgot, Ken Crawley, UDFA, now a starting CB and playing great. Did not play the first two games of the year.

2017 Draft, quite possibly the best draft in the history of the franchise.

First Round, two picks:

Marshon Lattimore. I won't bore you with things you won't believe, even though they are true, but he's having the best rookie CB season ever and is on pace to have one of the best seasons ever by a CB. Teams don't even throw at him anymore. When playing man coverage, he has more interception return yards than he has given up in coverage. Should be Defensive Rookie of the Year.

Ryan Ramczyk OT, has played at a Pro Bowl level at RT all season. Unbelievable rookie season and had played every snap until Buffalo game, not sure if they took him out in the end. Superb run and pass blocker. (This was the pick from the Bradin Cooks trade, without Ram, the Line would have been in trouble.) Has graded out by PFF every week as no worse than 12th best RT. Extreme consistency.

Second Round:

Marcus Williams S, he has taken nearly every defensive snap and is a starter. Extremely solid player, deep range and incredible ball skills.

Round Three, three picks:

Alvin Kamara RB, amazing talent. Just incredible. Has been Offensive Rookie of the week twice and will be again this week. In the running for Offensive Rookie of the Year. (I know KC has a guy...hahah)

Alex Anzalone LB, he started early in the year and was injured. He looked very good when he played. Injury setback, but a "hit" on the draft pick.

Trey Hendrickson DE, has been really coming on lately.

Sixth Round, Al-Quadin Muhammad DE. Made the team, raw talent who has not seen much of the field because there are too many players ahead of him.

Coaching changes have really helped. I rather not say too much more, they don't need more publicity. We like them!

A few really nice additions in Free Agency have also helped. Ted Ginn Jr., Manti te'o, A.J. Klein and Alex Okafor

And for those who say the Eagles are so much better, consider this (From a fellow member of Saints Report):

Eagles:
8-1 overall
Their opponents record (removing games vs. Eagles): 22-35, .386
Vs. winning teams: 1-1 (Panthers, Chiefs)

Saints:
7-2 overall
Their opponents record (removing games vs. Saints): 42-28, .600
Vs. winning teams: 4-2 (Panthers, Lions, Packers, Bills, Vikings, Patriots)

***************

I have always liked the Chiefs, you are very passionate fans. I don't like the Broncos, the Raiders are punks and the Chargers....hahah, they are the Chargers.

Oh, by the way, in that beat down of the Buffalo Bills, the Saints ran 24 straight running plays in the third and fourth quarters. The Bills KNEW what was coming and could not stop it. They score six rushing TD's and never punted. That hasn't happened in the NFL in decades.

I'll co-sign on all this. Additionally, the house cleaning of assistant coaches this past offseason can't be understated enough, especially to those outside trying to understand how the team turned it around.

For those that aren't familiar with our coaching staff in New Orleans, a number of our assistant coaches (mostly on the defensive side and the special teams coordinator) were long-tenured and known to be "Payton's boys" and regardless of how inept the performances were by their units on the tape, they seemed untouchable. Instead, the blame was continuously placed only on the shoulders of *insert defensive coordinator's name here* and the hiring and firing carousel spun on in attempts to fix what we were trying to call a "defense" instead of entirely cleaning house and starting from scratch.

Every hire we'd make at DC would be stuck with Payton's minions, which many fans felt was a way of Payton micro-managing the DC after the Williams fiasco. It became obvious when Payton hired Dennis Allen (our former secondary coach from our Super Bowl run before his stints in Denver as DC and Oakland as HC) as a "defensive assistant" which we knew was code for "soon-to-be defensive coordinator as soon as we fire Rob Ryan" which came to fruition a few weeks later after losing to the Redskins, 47-14.

Finally this offseason, whether voluntarily or by way of his own seat warming, Payton bit the bullet and cleaned house on the defensive side the ball and special teams. Joe Vitt (LB's/assistant HC), Bill Johnson (DL), Greg McMahon (STC) and Stan Kwan (assistant ST) were moved out and replaced by Mike Nolan, Ryan Nielsen, Bradford Banta and Kevin O'Dea respectively. From our first preseason game, there was a marked difference in the performances in those units from previous years.

[Lzen]

Originally Posted by IronSaint

I'll co-sign on all this. Additionally, the house cleaning of assistant coaches this past offseason can't be understated enough, especially to those outside trying to understand how the team turned it around.

For those that aren't familiar with our coaching staff in New Orleans, a number of our assistant coaches (mostly on the defensive side and the special teams coordinator) were long-tenured and known to be "Payton's boys" and regardless of how inept the performances were by their units on the tape, they seemed untouchable. Instead, the blame was continuously placed only on the shoulders of *insert defensive coordinator's name here* and the hiring and firing carousel spun on in attempts to fix what we were trying to call a "defense" instead of entirely cleaning house and starting from scratch.

Every hire we'd make at DC would be stuck with Payton's minions, which many fans felt was a way of Payton micro-managing the DC after the Williams fiasco. It became obvious when Payton hired Dennis Allen (our former secondary coach from our Super Bowl run before his stints in Denver as DC and Oakland as HC) as a "defensive assistant" which we knew was code for "soon-to-be defensive coordinator as soon as we fire Rob Ryan" which came to fruition a few weeks later after losing to the Redskins, 47-14.

Finally this offseason, whether voluntarily or by way of his own seat warming, Payton bit the bullet and cleaned house on the defensive side the ball and special teams. Joe Vitt (LB's/assistant HC), Bill Johnson (DL), Greg McMahon (STC) and Stan Kwan (assistant ST) were moved out and replaced by Mike Nolan, Ryan Nielsen, Bradford Banta and Kevin O'Dea respectively. From our first preseason game, there was a marked difference in the performances in those units from previous years.

Somebody needs to send this to Clark Hunt/Brent Veach.

[Amnorix]

The 2007 Patriots told me all I'll ever need to know about banking a championship at any point in the season before it's a done deal.