Saints 2000 to 2014

keep hope alive

On the other hand, there are good reasons to be pessimistic.

Too many young guys that didnt know how to handle adversity when it reared its ugly head. I dont think Payton and staff accounted for how much players like Jenkins and Harper meant to the younger guys in 13. Hopefully they bounce back and learn from this year and develop some new leaders on that defense.

The Jim Haslett years can be defined as "mediocre" in every sense of the word. The Saints were never terrible under him (The 3-13 Katrina year doesn't count for obvious reasons), and the Saints were never great under him. They were a decent team that had some good moments and equally bad moments. Of course, Haslett led them to their first playoff victory, which was huge. That first year was the only year they made the playoffs under his leadership. They should have made the playoffs in 02' but completely went off course in the last several games.

Since Sean Payton took over in 06', it has been by far the most successful era in Saints history. We won a Super Bowl in 09'. Do y'all truly realize how difficult that is? Look at the teams who have been around forever, played in Super Bowls, but still have no championship to their name in the Super Bowl era ( Vikings, Eagles, Bills, Chargers, Cardinals, Falcons, Bengals), very old teams like the Browns and Lions who have never even played in a Super Bowl, and of course the newer teams like the Texans and Jags who haven't made it there yet

The Saints have reached the highest of highs, but have also known the lowest of lows. This franchise still has a lot of good times to be had in the future, and I hope that they can get back to the promised land very soon!