Saints Draw Parallel to 2021 Squad

The Saints have been in this position before, and it was just two years ago. There's a chance for them to pull this off, but that's also looking at it with a glass half-full view.

The last three years have been tough for the Saints and their fans, and that's probably putting it lightly. At 5-7, New Orleans is on the wrong side of everything, but at the same time still have things in front of them somehow. In other divisions, that wouldn't fly, but the NFC South continues to bring up the rear in the NFL.

The thing is, the Saints have been in this space before entering Week 14. In 2021, New Orleans was 5-7 and was able to get back to .500 after beating the Jets and Bucs in back-to-back weeks before losing a key Monday night game against the Dolphins with all of their players out due to COVID. Yes, that was a Sean Payton team. Yes, the quarterback situation was different, but eerily similar. Yes, there was a ton of differences and similarities.

Most everyone knew the Saints were going to lose the Lions on Sunday. It was the only opponent left on their schedule that was above .500 prior to the Falcons getting there, and they did everything the needed to early to put New Orleans away, so to speak. New Orleans made it interesting, but ended up losing another one-score game at the end of the day. 

What We Learned From the Saints In Week 13

The next two weeks sees the Saints hosting two very 'inferior' opponents on paper in the Panthers (1-11) and Giants (4-8). It's always take one week at a time, but there's really no reason the Saints can't get back to 7-7 to set up a three-game stretch where they could make their final stand against the Rams, Bucs, and Falcons. A lot has to happen between now and then, but with the current 6th and 7th seed teams being 6-6, the Wild Card scenario is actually in play, but New Orleans can't rely on that like they did in 2021. They did what they needed to do in Week 18 only to have it last all of five minutes and get eliminated from the postseason.

Maybe this team gets Michael Thomas and Marshon Lattimore back for that three-game stretch that starts in Week 16 against the Rams on a short week. Although, Thomas' outbursts on social media Sunday certainly made things interesting. Maybe the quarterback position finds some stability. Maybe the defense can find themselves after countless slow starts. Maybe none of it matters and the Saints will continue to disappoint.

The rest of the Saints season is surrounded in a lot of 'what if' and 'maybe' just like it was in 2021. It's ultimately up to Dennis Allen and this squad to deliver. If they lose both or either of these next two games, then there should be a lot of fates sealed with it. Until then, New Orleans hovers around and it's on them to make it happen like it has been all year.