New Orleans Saints: A small shot of cold water following Cardinals win

It can be exhilarating for fans coming off a win like the Saints’ 48-41 victory over the Arizona Cardinals. It’s especially heady seeing an offensive explosion from Sean Payton’s squad following two games in which the offense disappeared. But a small dose of reality needs to be taken and things need to be kept in perspective.

Nov 27, 2016; New Orleans, LA, USA; New Orleans Saints wide receiver Brandon Coleman (16) gestures after a touchdown catch against the Los Angeles Rams in the first quarter of the game at the Mercedes-Benz Superdome. Mandatory Credit: Chuck Cook-USA TODAY Sports

That’s not to say that the defenses of the NFC West don’t have a ton of very talented players; but, when these teams match up against each other, six games for each teams’ schedule, it can make the units appear much stronger than they are.

Russell Wilson and Carson Palmer have both had off seasons with horrible offensive line play by each of their teams, and the problems in Los Angeles and San Francisco have been well documented.

The Los Angeles Rams have the worst offense in the NFL, ranking 32nd in points and total yards and 29th and 31st in pass and rushing yardage respectively.

The San Francisco 49ers are 26th in points, 29th in yards, 32nd in pass yards, and 4th in rushing though that last stat still hasn’t made them competitive.

The Seattle Seahawks are 22nd in points, 14th in yards, 13th in pass yards and 20th in rushing and won the division.

Dec 18, 2016; Glendale, AZ, USA; New Orleans Saints wide receiver Brandin Cooks (10) celebrates after scoring a second quarter touchdown against the Arizona Cardinals at University of Phoenix Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Mark J. Rebilas-USA TODAY Sports

The premier offense in the NFC West is the Arizona Cardinals. Furthermore, what they did against the Saints’ defense shows why, given the comparatively poor showing this season by Carson Palmer. Much of their success has come due to the air and ground attack of fantasy darling running back David Johnson.

But the point here is that when any of these teams’ defenses has been exposed to better offenses, they’ve taken their lumps and none of these teams would be considered serious playoff contenders other than Seattle. Seattle has one of the worst offensive lines in the NFL according to much of the ranking done this season by Pro Football Focus.

The Saints’ future

Does this mean that the Saints don’t have potential and some strong building blocks for the future? No. But it does mean that some perspective needs to be applied when looking at the Saints going forward.

When the Saints go up against strong teams they have typically faired poorly. The defense still has a number of gaping holes and the offense has struggled when facing legitimately strong defenses like Detroit, Kansas City and Tampa Bay.

Dec 4, 2016; New Orleans, LA, USA; New Orleans Saints head coach Sean Payton against the Detroit Lions during the second half of a game at the Mercedes-Benz Superdome. The Lions defeated the Saints 28-13. Mandatory Credit: Derick E. Hingle-USA TODAY Sports

The Saints need a good shot of either fresh coaching faces or fresh coaching ideas, another solid draft and some luck on pick ups in free agency to become contenders again. They’re not far off if things fall their way. However, as we’ve seen with busts in free agency and the draft and unpredictable injuries, things don’t always work out like that.

Against Arizona and Los Angeles, the Who Dat Nation got to see the kind of team Super Bowl dreams are made of, but that team has only appeared in spurts in 2016 and against opponents who are, frankly, just not very good.