It’s a new season, but the same start for the New Orleans Saints
By Tony Twillie
We should have seen it coming from the Saints. This isn’t something new. We wished it to be different, but the reality is it’s very much the same.
The New Orleans Saints have not opened a season with consecutive wins since 2013.
Even in these last three playoff seasons, the Saints have opened no better than 1-1. Obviously it’s not that they are a bad team. They just play bad football in the first few weeks of the season.
It’s not unlike any other NFL team – most teams do take a few weeks to hit their stride.
And to say it’s hurt the Saints overall is not completely accurate. While having two wins in the first two weeks last year would have given the Saints a bye in the first round, there’s no guarantee it would have equaled a Super Bowl appearance.
It didn’t kill their chances (honestly, last year the home clunker to the Falcons was the difference-maker in the season).
But this has been the M.O. for the Saints recently. It’s either a poorly played win in week one with an ugly loss in week two, or an ugly loss in week one and a sub-par win in week two. That was the case in each of the last two seasons.
And the 2017 season began with consecutive losses before the Black and Gold reeled off eight consecutive wins.