The Saints won their final game of the season in Tampa. It was a victory over a team who only won two games this entire season and will not be a model for what the future holds for the Saints. For the third straight year the Saints finished weak instead of strong loosing 5 of their last 8 games. Last season they lost 4 of their last 7 games. The Saints beat only two teams with a winning record this season, Pittsburgh and Green Bay.
The 7-9 loosing record was the Saints second loosing season in the past three years. The worst part of those three seasons is that the Saints showed no improvement and this season showed a marked decline from last season. Sports writers in New Orleans never saw it coming even though the evidence was there and pointed out on several occasions in "PolitiDose." As this writer mentioned before, the writers lack the objectivity to properly evaluate the Saints because of their relationship with the team, their apple polishing stories and the hype they perpetuate.
All was not well with the Saints before the 2014 season started but sports writer Larry Holder said in a Times Picayune article of 7/23/14, "The expectation of Super Bowl Glory is warranted." Holder and Jeff Duncan were so wrong on their predictions this year concerning the Saints, they finally saw the light later in the season and instead of apologizing to the fans and readers and saying I was wrong used the words WE WERE ALL WRONG. Well WE were not all wrong but they were.
What hapened the last 3 seasons was there for all to see. There were no positive signs of improvement. They were not ready to play and win the games that counted the most. Carolina showed how important that factor was by winning their final 4 games defeating the Saints and Atlanta on the road to win the division title. The Saints had the same opportunity but lost to both Carolina and the Falcons at home in the Superdome. Carolina finished strong and on the road. The Saints finished weak and of all places, finished weak at home.
Holder continued his apple polishing stories the day after the Tampa game in the Times Picayune of 12/29/14 by bragging about Brees personal stats along with the same comments by other Saint players in order to deflect any negative talk about Brees. Well, individual stats do not win championships, playing as a team does that. Peyton Manning and Tom Brady once again did more for their teams than Brees did for his team.
"PolitiDose" in several commentaries after boundy gate was exposed, explored what was going on and even questioned the Saint's future under Payton and Brees and even predicted what the 2011 season would look like without Sean Payton on the sidelines. That same season Saint players said everything would be fine because the players were professionals, they knew their jobs, they had the players and of course the sports writers ran with that hype.
This writer published a commentary in "PolitiDose" dated 7/24/14, months before the season started titled,"Times Picayune Sports Writer Larry Holder and The New Orleans Saints." The last sentence of my commentary was as follows and I quote. DON'T BE SURPRISED IF LAST YEARS FINISH BY THE SAINTS LOOSING 4 OF THEIR LAST 7 GAMES IS A PRELUDE TO HOW THE SAINTS PERFORM THIS SEASON.
And you read it here first in "PolitiDose"
Stay tuned for Part II and read why Bountygate was a prelude to what has taken place with the Saints.
This commentary written by John Lucia.
