Pieces in place?
Despite 2011 success, Saints strive for more
As the New Orleans Saints raced through the second half of their schedule on a lengthy winning streak, gaining more and more confidence with each game, the question came up almost weekly in their locker room:
Were these Saints better than a team that two years earlier won its first 13 games en route to claiming the title in Super Bowl XLIV?
The 2011 Saints certainly looked the part with an offense that was on its way to setting a slew of club and NFL records, a defense that gave up yards but made big stops when it had to, and an improved special teams unit.
But as far as coach Sean Payton is concerned, it’s all about wins and losses, and the Saints provided the ultimate answer with a 36-32 loss to the San Francisco 49ers in the NFC Divisional playoffs a week ago.
“That 2009 team won a Super Bowl … and this team didn’t,” Payton said during his end-of-the-season news conference last week. “I don’t think we need two weeks or four weeks to reflect on that.”
Make no mistake, however, Payton was proud of what this year’s team accomplished.
In breaking some significant records, the Saints went 13-3 in the regular season in claiming a third NFC South Division title in Payton’s six-year tenure. In doing so, they won eight straight games — the fourth-longest streak in club history — and cruised to a victory in their playoff opener.
But the dream of making a deeper run in the playoff, possibly to a second Super Bowl appearance in just three seasons, were dashed by the 49ers with two late touchdowns after Drew Brees engineered two scoring drives in the final four-plus minutes.
For Brees, who put together an MVP-type season with NFL single-season records of 5,476 passing yards and a 71.2 completion percentage to go with a club-record 46 touchdowns, it was an ending he didn’t see coming.
“I felt like we had all the pieces in place and we were playing very well,” he said. “You saw all the pieces come together and we felt like we were playing some of our best football as the year went on — especially in November and December, which is when we want to be playing our best.
“I felt like the way we were playing, continuing to get better each week and getting healthy, that this was our opportunity to make a run.”
The fact that they made a run to the Super Bowl two years ago, Brees said, should have served them well. But they did the thing they didn’t do in that 2009 journey to the title game: They turned the ball over five times after losing it 21 times in their first 17 games.
While the 49ers turned the takeaways into just 13 points, thanks to the Saints defense stiffening, it proved to be too much to overcome in a road playoff game.
The Saints motored through the second half of their schedule unbeaten, winning eight games by an average of 17.1 points and scoring at least 40 points four times behind an offense dubbed the new “Greatest Show on Turf.”
As Brees zeroed in on Dan Marino’s 27-year-old single-season passing record of 5,084 yards, the Saints offense piled up the yardage — finishing with 7,474 yards to easily break the NFL mark of 7,075 by the 2000 St. Louis Rams.
Working behind a retooled offensive line that included three Pro Bowl selections in guards Jahri Evans and Carl Nicks, who were also named first-team All-Pro picks, and tackle Jermon Bushrod, Brees distributed the ball to an array of weapons.
The most productive were running back Darren Sproles and tight end Jimmy Graham, two players who weren’t a part of that 2009 Super Bowl team.
Sproles was one of the best free-agent signings in the league as he finished with an NFL-record 2,696 all-purpose yards and 10 scores while Graham, a third-round draft pick in 2010, shattered all of the team’s tight end records with 99 receptions, 1,310 yards and 11 TDs.
Brees and Graham are also headed to the Pro Bowl. They weren’t the only difference-makers, however.
Wide receivers Marques Colston, Lance Moore, Robert Meachem and Devery Henderson combined for 204 catches, 2,893 yards and 24 TDs with Colston leading the way with 80 receptions for 1,143 yards and eight scores.
Pierre Thomas, Chris Ivory and rookie Mark Ingram, before he was injured and lost for the season, combined with Sproles to help the Saints rank sixth in rushing — 22 spots higher than a year ago — with 132.9 yards per game.
That foursome combined for 2,013 yards and a 5.1 average with 13 TDs.
Defensively, the Saints finished 24th in total yards allowed in giving up 368.4 yards per game. They were 12th against the run (108.6), but were 30th against the pass (259.8) — which got them in the end at San Francisco.
The 49ers drove 80 and 85 yards to TDs on their final two possessions after the offense gave the Saints the lead twice.
The Saints will take a long look at that side of the ball in the offseason, partly because former Rams coach Steve Spagnuolo will take over from defensive coordinator Gregg Williams after he took the same job with old friend and new Rams coach Jeff Fisher.
Payton also has three other positions to fill after wide receivers coach Curtis Johnson left to become Tulane’s head coach and secondary coach Tony Oden and assistant special teams coach John Bonamego took jobs with the Jacksonville Jaguars.
Spagnuolo inherits a unit that hasn’t rushed the passer effectively enough with the front four as most of Williams’ pressure the past three years came from the linebackers and secondary. But he does have some young, talented players in linebackers Jonathan Casillas and Martez Wilson, cornerbacks Jabari Greer and Patrick Robinson, and safeties Roman Harper and Malcolm Jenkins.
While the final numbers and the last two times on the field against the 49ers weren’t great, the Saints did some memorable things.
They held the Atlanta Falcons on two key plays in overtime that led to a game-winning field goal for the Saints, and they stopped the Tennessee Titans inside the Saints’ 10 on the game’s final play to secure a win.
“One of the reasons we won 14 games this year is we did a lot of good things on defense,” Payton said. “Certainly, from a statistical standpoint, there are things that jump out offensively. But what we accomplished, we accomplished as a team. It wasn’t just one side of the ball or the other.”
Indeed, the Saints also had a solid season on special teams.
Punter Thomas Morstead broke club records for gross punting (48.3 yards) and net punting (43.1) average and also led the NFL with 68 touchbacks on kickoffs, while John Kasay was 28-of-34 on field-goal tries in setting a club scoring mark with 147 points.
Sproles averaged 10.1 yards per punt return and 27.2 yards on kickoffs with long returns of 72 and 92 yards, respectively.
In wrapping up the just-completed season with player evaluations, the Saints will also start addressing a list of 16 potential unrestricted free agents that’s headed by Brees, Nicks, Colston, Meachem and cornerback Tracy Porter.
“We’ll look closely at it … and try to be objective and remove ourselves a little bit here for a few weeks,” Payton said, “kind of get rid of a little bit of the emotion of the last loss and look closely at what we can do to get better.
“The next season comes and it’s a different season; it’s a different journey. You just try to hopefully learn from the things that set you back. There were a lot of great things accomplished this year.”