Revisiting Saints Biggest What-Ifs Of The 2024 Season

The Saints are absolutely not a playoff team, but these What-If moments could have reversed an otherwise disastrous season.

New Orleans Saints safety Tyrann Mathieu (32) reacts after intercepting a pass by Philadelphia Eagles quarterback Jalen Hurts / Stephen Lew-Imagn Images

There has been a ton of negativity around the performance of the New Orleans Saints this season. With good reason. A once championship-level team has sunk to the lower depths of the NFL and has now missed the playoffs for the fourth straight year.

Having said that, the 2024-25 season could very well have gone much different for the Saints. Yes, this has been an incredibly flawed team from the start, with subpar play from their expected top players and poor coaching causing the year to unravel. A seemingly unending string of injuries to key players also crippled the offense and further exposed these flaws.

Despite all that, the fortunes of the 2024 Saints would look far different than the current 5-10 version if just a few end of game moments had gone differently.

WEEK 3 - Eagles at Saints

New Orleans Saints defensive tackle Bryan Bresee (90) sacks Philadelphia Eagles quarterback Jalen Hurts (1) / Stephen Lew-Imagn Images

Philadelphia is currently 12-3 and the second-seeded team in the NFC. Yet, New Orleans matched them blow-for-blow during their rugged Week 3 matchup. The Saints sacked Eagles QB Jalen Hurts four times and forced two turnovers while holding a 3-0 lead after three quarters.

After lighting up Carolina and Dallas for 91 points in the first two weeks, the Saints offense was stagnant through most of this game outside of 127 yards from Alvin Kamara.

The Eagles countered with their own dynamic running back, as Saquon Barkley had 147 yards on the ground. Barkley's 65-yard touchdown sprint to open the fourth quarter gave the visitors a 7-3 lead.

New Orleans cut that lead to one with a Blake Grupe field goal, then took a 12-7 lead on a Derek Carr scoring toss to Chris Olave at the two-minute warning. The Saints had played good defense all afternoon and looked like they'd stymie the Eagles again to start their year with a 3-0 record.

The game looked all but clinched after DT Bryan Bresee sacked Hurts to help put the Eagles in a 3rd and 16 with just 1:16 remaining. However, Hurts found TE Dallas Goedert for a 61-yard gain on a blown coverage by the Saints.

On the next play, Barkley ran in for a 4-yard score then converted the ensuing two-point play for a 15-12 Philadelphia lead with only 1:01 to play on the clock. Carr threw an interception on the second play of the next drive to clinch the Eagles victory.

WEEK 4 - Saints at Falcons

New Orleans Saints running back Alvin Kamara (41) runs the ball against the Atlanta Falcons / Brett Davis-Imagn Images

There have been a ton of weird occurrences in the bitter Saints-Falcons rivalry over the decades. The first meeting between the two teams this year definitely fit that category. Saints WR Rashid Shaheed got the scoring started with a muffed punt at his goal line that was recovered for an Atlanta touchdown.

Later in the first half, the Falcons got another gift touchdown when they returned an errant Derek Carr interception for a score. Atlanta never reached the end zone offensively, as the Saints defense held them to four long-range field goals on the day.

Aside from those two crippling turnovers, New Orleans performed better offensively than they had the prior week against Philadelphia. Taysom Hill scored two first half touchdowns and looked on his way to a monster game before leaving with a second quarter injury. Still, the Saints got 119 yards from Alvin Kamara and a combined 170 receiving yards from Shaheed and Chris Olave.

In a back-and-forth contest, New Orleans took a 24-23 lead with just 1 minute to play on a short Kamara scoring run. Despite controlling the Falcons most of the day, New Orleans had another crucial defensive breakdown when it mattered most.

This time, it was a 30-yard pass interference penalty on CB Paulson Adebo on a deep pass with 30 seconds left. The Falcons didn't gain another yard after Adebo's penalty. However, it was just enough for Younghoe Koo to convert a 58-yard field goal with 7 seconds remaining and a 26-24 Atlanta victory.

WEEK 9 - Saints at Panthers

New Orleans Saints running back Alvin Kamara (41) runs past Carolina Panthers defenders Xavier Woods (25) and Josey Jewell (47) / Bob Donnan-Imagn Images

The late collapses against Philadelphia and Atlanta coupled with a pile of injuries were part of a six-game spiral for the Saints. They were getting QB Derek Carr back and traveling to face lowly Carolina in Week 9. Surely, that would be enough to get them back on the winning track.

Well.....No.

This was obviously a far cry from the Saints team that had demolished the Panthers by a 47-10 score on opening Sunday. New Orleans moved the ball at will early, but settled for two field goals instead of touchdowns. Carolina kept in the game in spite of their own many inadequacies, as the Saints held just a 13-10 lead at the halftime break.

After grabbing an early second half lead, the Panthers held a 17-16 lead after three quarters. This was in spite of a 427-246 total yardage advantage for the Saints on the game. New Orleans got 155 rushing yards and 215 all-purpose yards from Alvin Kamara, both career-bests, yet could not put the game away.

Early in the fourth quarter, a Carr touchdown pass to TE Foster Moreau gave New Orleans a 22-17 lead. Surely, even a bad Saints defense would be able to hold a putrid Panthers offense out of the end zone. Well.....No.

Almost predictably, New Orleans allowed Carolina to put together a 64-yard scoring march late in the fourth quarter. The two biggest plays were a 26-yard completion and a 22-yard interference penalty on LB Demario Davis. Panthers RB Chuba Hubbard tore through the effortless Saints defense for a 16-yard scoring run to give Carolina a 23-22 lead with just 2:18 to play.

The Saints offense could not answer, inching to midfield before giving up the ball on downs for the inexplicable defeat. After the game, the Saints made the long past due decision to fire coach Dennis Allen. The damage was done, however, as the Saints had lost their seventh straight and essentially dug themselves an insurmountable hole in the conference and division.

WEEK 15 - Washington at Saints

Washington receiver Terry McLaurin (17) catches a touchdown between Saints corners Alontae Taylor (1) and Kool-Aid McKinstry (14) / Stephen Lew-Imagn Images

Now in desperation mode for even the slimmest chance of a playoff berth, not much was expected when the Saints hosted explosive 8-5 Washington. With Jake Haener starting in place of an injured Derek Carr and very few offensive weapons, those low expectations seemed completely valid.

When Washington took a 17-0 lead early in the second half, Haener was replaced by rookie QB Spencer Rattler. The Saints battled their way back behind Rattler, Foster Moreau, and RB Kendre Miller. New Orleans also held the Washington offense in check, thanks to several mind-boggling mistakes made by Washington usually reserved for the Saints in key moments of games.

An Alvin Kamara touchdown reception and two Blake Grupe field goals helped the Saints pull to within 20-13 going into the final drive of the game. Starting with 1:55 on the clock, Rattler and Miller spearheaded a 44-yard scoring march. Moreau made the final two plays of the drive with gutsy receptions, including a 1-yard score with no time left on the clock.

Interim coach Darren Rizzi elected to go for two to win the game in regulation rather than settle for overtime. Rattler's two-point pass sailed inches wide, glancing off the hands of TE Juwan Johnson for a 20-19 loss.

Coulda, Woulda, Shoulda?

New Orleans Saints tight end Juwan Johnson (83) can't pull in a winning two-point pass against Washington / Gerald Herbert/Associated Press

Do the Saints deserve to be a playoff team? Absolutely Not! They don't have enough healthy weapons and have a porous offensive line on one side of the ball. Defensively, they are one of the poorest tackling units in the entire league that is awful against the run, prone to coverage breakdowns, and an invisible pass rush.

Yet, these were four games that the Saints absolutely should have won if not for their own miscues in the waning seconds.

Reverse the outcome of those contests, and New Orleans owns a 9-6 record. Even with their latest embarrassing performance against Green Bay, the Saints would have a stranglehold on the NFC South or an inside track to a wild-card spot with a margin for error with two games left.

If you reverse the outcome of even two of these losses, the Saints could control their own fate in the weak NFC South with a 7-8 mark and games against the Raiders and Buccaneers left. Make no mistake, however, New Orleans has earned this 5-10 record. Simply put, even decent teams find a way to finish when they have the advantage in the final seconds of games.

Nevertheless, these four games mark a What-If of a 2024 New Orleans Saints team that has been a disaster.