We have reached a critical point in the New Orleans Saints’ season.
The most challenging stretch of the year has arrived, a four-game gauntlet that has the potential to make or break the Saints’ season.
We should know where the Saints stand after this four-game run, which features games against three potential playoff teams, starting with a road matchup Sunday against the hottest team in the NFL, the 7-2 Tennessee Titans.
After that, it’s another road test in Philadelphia against the Eagles (3-6), where the Saints have lost their last two games and are 4-10 all-time. Then, it’s back-to-back home games against two of the league’s powers: the Buffalo Bills (5-3) and Dallas Cowboys (6-2).
Sunday’s game against the Titans might be the most difficult one of the of all. Tennessee has won five consecutive games. Their last four wins against the Bills, Chiefs, Colts and Rams might be the most impressive four-game stretch of any team in the league.
And the Saints will have to play short-handed. Their offense will be missing five starters: quarterback Jameis Winston, receiver Michael Thomas, running back Alvin Kamara, left tackle Terron Armstead and left guard Andrus Peat.
The New Orleans Saints are back on the road after a two-game homestand that has changed their season. They beat the reigning Super Bowl champi…
The Saints have shown admirable pluck so far. They’re at their best when the odds are stacked against them. They’ve won as underdogs against the Packers, Patriots and Bucs already this season.
“Or mentality is pretty strong,” safety J.T. Gray said. “We have all the excuses in the world to say that failure is an option, but we don't see failure as an option. We do what we have to do, and we go out there and win at all costs.”
At 5-3, the Saints are well positioned for a strong second-half run and fifth consecutive playoff appearance. But it all depends on surviving this grueling stretch. They probably need to go at least 1-3 to keep their postseason hopes alive. A split of the four games would be ideal and leave them in good shape for the final five games. Anything more is lagniappe.
Wins are never assumed in the NFL, but the Saints’ stretch schedule looks manageable. The Jets, Bucs, Dolphins, Panthers and Falcons have a combined record of 19-24.
Even with the expanded playoff format this season, the Saints will need every win possible to keep pace in a crowded, competitive NFC race. Five of the league’s six teams with a 6-2 record or better reside in the NFC.
In beating the Packers, Patriots and Bucs, the Saints have shown they can compete with the league’s elite. In turn, they’ve shown they can also lose to anyone by dropping home games to the Giants and Falcons.
This where those head-scratching losses hurt. Win or one or both of those, and the Saints would have some cushion in the standings for this brutal stretch.
The Falcons loss spoiled a chance for the Saints to pull into a first-place tie with the Bucs in the NFC South. It dropped them back into chase mode and left them little margin for error. They’d have the luxury of dropping a game or two while mending their infirmed for the December stretch run. Now they’re up against it.
“I hear the term margin for error, I don't know who has the margin for error really,” Saints coach Sean Payton said. “I mean does this Buffalo have it? I don't know, they didn't play as well as they would have hoped (in losing to Jacksonville on Sunday), and so in our league, there is a weekly margin for error and I think that the details matter so much that regardless, each week of who the games are, there's really good players on each side of the ball.”
Payton is right about the competitiveness of the league. There are no cupcakes in the NFL. Each week is a challenge. But some weeks are more challenging than others. And the upcoming four-game stretch is going to tell us a lot about the 2021 Saints.
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November 13, 2021 at 09:06PM
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Jeff Duncan: Upcoming four-game stretch could make or break the Saints' season - NOLA.com
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