Week 17 of last season...

[MasterAwesome]

27 minutes ago, Carolina Cajun said:

We started a UDFA rookie QB, who also got hurt in the middle of the game, and benched several vets in favor of unproven bottom roster young guys.  We literally did everything possible to lose, the saints just tried to lose harder.  Here's the difference, their bottom roster guys had nothing to lose as presumably they'll likely still have a job this year whereas our bottom roster guys could be out of football with a bad game.

How did they “try to lose harder”? The single biggest deciding factor of that game was the drastic difference in QB play between Allen and Bridgewater...so are you saying Bridgewater purposely sucked? In a contract year?

And why would you assume that their bottom roster guys are safe lol, as if only losing teams look to improve their depth.

Why is everyone trying to make some big conspiracy out of this win like it was some planned, methodical tank job by the Saints to deliberately sabotage us? How is it inconceivable for people that our backups simply outplayed their backups? People have been calling it a “glorified preseason game”, so do y’all think every preseason game we win is because the other team tanked too? Cool.

[Carolina Cajun]

2 minutes ago, MasterAwesome said:

How did they “try to lose harder”? The single biggest deciding factor of that game was the drastic difference in QB play between Allen and Bridgewater...so are you saying Bridgewater purposely sucked? In a contract year?

And why would you assume that their bottom roster guys are safe lol, as if only losing teams look to improve their depth.

Why is everyone trying to make some big conspiracy out of this win like it was some planned, methodical tank job by the Saints to deliberately sabotage us? How is it inconceivable for people that our backups simply outplayed their backups? People have been calling it a “glorified preseason game”, so do y’all think every preseason game we win is because the other team tanked too? Cool.

Bridgewater being mobile on the field was more important than his accuracy for this years contract, he just had to prove he was healthy.  Their bottom of the roster guys may not stick around there, but bottom roster guys on a 13-3 team have a better case that they were just stuck behind talent than bottom roster guys on whatever dumpster fire we were tossing out there.  and lastly, they didn't intentionally lose to us to screw our draft pick up, they just played their bottom guys who didn't care about winning at all and had zero gameplan for us.

[MasterAwesome]

27 minutes ago, MHS831 said:

We got there by knowingly playing a QB who could not throw 30 yards for half a season.  Ron knows that Cam keeps him employed and did not care about his long-term health, IMO.  Ron  does what is best for  Ron.  His  job was on the line, so  he trounced the  Saints in the Turd Bowl.  They were faking injuries and leaving  the  game,  giving the  appearance they were not tanking the game---the only motivation NO  had  for losing  was to hurt us in the draft.   Ron's stellar victory was to hurt us for 2019 but help  assure he would still be the  coach.

At some  point, when there are no more  assistants to fire and nobody left to take his game day responsibilities, people  will realize what the problem  is.  Cam got us to  a position  to win  a ring or two, RR  kept  us from  it.  Denver out-coached us.  Payton out coaches us.  Sad.

I would have emptied the bench  and  tried to win.  No CMC, no Samuel or Moore.  No Luke, no Bradberry etc.

Yep...cause the only reason they would fake injuries and leave the game would be to purposely tank and hurt us in the draft. Nevermind that they had a postseason to prepare for and wouldn’t want to risk actual injury for a potential Super Bowl run lol. They had MUCH greater incentive to rest their starters beyond “hurting us in the draft”. You’re acting like this isn’t standard practice for a team in the final game who has secured their playoff seeding to rest starters as much as possible, to avoid injury. Anytime a team does that, I guess it’s to hurt their opponent’s draft position right?

Top priority: sabotage Panthers’ draft position.

Secondary priority: Stay healthy for a postseason run.

You for real dude? Were you literally wearing a tin foil hat while you typed that?

[Khyber53]

You never throw a game. It's a disservice to the fans, the players on the team, the league and the history of the sport.

Crappy teams pick high and pick high often. We hit dead middle of the pack in draft picking order this year and that was in what was a terrible year for us. Some teams are picking near the middle of the draft this year after having one of their best years in recent history.

Let that sink in a bit.

The best teams consistently pick near the end of the draft. They also have a lower bust rate on draft picks. There is little to no correlation between higher draft picks and long term winning on the field, in fact the evidence points to just the opposite. Consistently losing franchises throw games for higher draft picks and at best only bubble to the top once in a while. 

[MasterAwesome]

3 minutes ago, Carolina Cajun said:

Bridgewater being mobile on the field was more important than his accuracy for this years contract, he just had to prove he was healthy.  Their bottom of the roster guys may not stick around there, but bottom roster guys on a 13-3 team have a better case that they were just stuck behind talent than bottom roster guys on whatever dumpster fire we were tossing out there.  and lastly, they didn't intentionally lose to us to screw our draft pick up, they just played their bottom guys who didn't care about winning at all and had zero gameplan for us.

What? Are QBs judged by their mobility and not their accuracy now? Did I miss something in the evolution of QB play in the last few years?

You may be right in that the bottom roster guys didn’t put too much care in the end result of the game (W/L), but you are delusional if you think they didn’t care about their individual performances...no offense. Bottom roster guys are literally fighting for their livelihood to stay in the league. These guys don’t have many opportunities to get on the field and showcase what they have in a real-game situation, so to suggest that they go out there all lackadaisical and carefree is silly. This is a potential audition tape for them for future employers once they either get cut or their contracts expire.

[Happy Panther]

13 hours ago, Basbear said:

I bet it doesn't matter that the Atlanta Falcons are picking #14 either according to the win crowd...... It's not like share similar needs or nothing

 

(hint they do)

In fact, I'm alllll for leaping them to #13 if the cost is a 4th rounder. What is draft pick value to a non-believer tho??

 

Yes it matters. If we really want a CB and Atlanta snags a great CB then bummer.

All i am saying is the talent level you get at 9 vs 16 is minimal. Some folks are saying we are missing out on a generational player because we didn't get a higher pick. It's not true.

[Palmetto]

NFL teams don't tank

Gms and Coaches get fired for getting top picks /ending seasons on losing streaks

Ask the Cards

The Panthers wanted to win. the Saints wanted to stay healthy 

[MHS831]

1 hour ago, MasterAwesome said:

Yep...cause the only reason they would fake injuries and leave the game would be to purposely tank and hurt us in the draft. Nevermind that they had a postseason to prepare for and wouldn’t want to risk actual injury for a potential Super Bowl run lol. They had MUCH greater incentive to rest their starters beyond “hurting us in the draft”. You’re acting like this isn’t standard practice for a team in the final game who has secured their playoff seeding to rest starters as much as possible, to avoid injury. Anytime a team does that, I guess it’s to hurt their opponent’s draft position right?

Top priority: sabotage Panthers’ draft position.

Secondary priority: Stay healthy for a postseason run.

You for real dude? Were you literally wearing a tin foil hat while you typed that?

First of all,  I am not "dude."  How old are you? 

Next time you make a personal attack because you think you are smarter  than someone else, dude, get this---you do not know either. If you think you need to mock someone to disagree with them--then you are probably some twat shooting up cyber courage to feed those self-esteem issues.  Now you should probably finish your Waffle House application and keep those fingers crossed!  Paper hats are so much cooler, right, Dude?  AH

 

[ChibCU]

On 3/3/2019 at 11:54 PM, t96 said:

Always play to win. Always, no matter the circumstances. That’s my opinion and I don’t think anyone could convince me otherwise that it’s ever better to lose. That’s a terrible mentality that carries over to when the games really do matter.

It's all good... because you'd be coming into those with a higher quality player to help you win actual games that matter.

[t96]

31 minutes ago, ChibCU said:

It's all good... because you'd be coming into those with a higher quality player to help you win actual games that matter.

Plenty of sports teams have had a ton of talent over the years and not won a thing. And there have been teams with little talent win it all.

[panthers55]

2 hours ago, MHS831 said:

We got there by knowingly playing a QB who could not throw 30 yards for half a season.  Ron knows that Cam keeps him employed and did not care about his long-term health, IMO.  Ron  does what is best for  Ron.  His  job was on the line, so  he trounced the  Saints in the Turd Bowl.  They were faking injuries and leaving  the  game,  giving the  appearance they were not tanking the game---the only motivation NO  had  for losing  was to hurt us in the draft.   Ron's stellar victory was to hurt us for 2019 but help  assure he would still be the  coach.

At some  point, when there are no more  assistants to fire and nobody left to take his game day responsibilities, people  will realize what the problem  is.  Cam got us to  a position  to win  a ring or two, RR  kept  us from  it.  Denver out-coached us.  Payton out coaches us.  Sad.

I would have emptied the bench  and  tried to win.  No CMC, no Samuel or Moore.  No Luke, no Bradberry etc.

So much fail in this post. First of all Cam progressively got worse. He was able to throw the ball earlier in the season but as he took more hits and threw 30-40 times a game his shoulder became more painful so that by week 13 or 14 he couldn't throw more than 30 yards. Secondly, he started off games pretty decently. The more throws in the game the more pain and the more issues it caused.

Third your whole premise the Saints tanked the game or players faked injuries is a figment of your imagination. The Saints were trying to win and it shows you how important Brees is to their team. Without him they are not good at all.

Fourth- Ron was going to be here whether we won or lost so there was no pressure to win. Most every coach not named Belicheck or in their first season has his job on the line. That is why the NFL stands for Not for long.

Fifth, your whole premise that Cam won for us and the coaches lost it proves you have never played sports at a high level or you would know better. It takes a lot of collaboration between players and coaches to prepare for a game. Everyone shares in the success or failure.

Does complaining about the past change anything? Then why do it over and over?

[Mr. Scot]

2 hours ago, Khyber53 said:

You never throw a game. It's a disservice to the fans, the players on the team, the league and the history of the sport.

If you're a guy like Ron Rivera, you never throw a game.

If you're a slimy weasel like Sean Peyton, I'm not so sure.

If you put a gun to my head and asked me whether the Saints deliberately tanked that game I'd probably say no; primarily because of Bridgewater but also because I'm skeptical of tanking scenarios in general.

But if, with that same gun to my head, you asked me whether I believe Sean Payton was capable of doing something sleazy like deliberately losing a game to hurt a rival's draft status, to that you'd hear me say an emphatic "hell yes"

[MHS831]

41 minutes ago, panthers55 said:

Does complaining about the past change anything? Then why do it over and over?

Did you respond to this thread?  Why?  If you are a forward thinking individual, then move on, you visionary you.  Instead, you jumped on this thread to attack others for not thinking as progressively as you do. You do not have to be a dick, it is a choice. Before you analyze others, check that mirror. 

[Sgt Schultz]

I don't think the Saints tanked the game.  The theory they wanted to hurt our draft position is great, with one minor exception: our winning alone would not ensure anything.  The "screw their draft position" theory is too dependent on what too many other teams did, all of which were beyond the Saints' control (or ours).

I do think they went into the game not caring if they won or lost.  They had nothing to gain or lose in the standings/playoff seedings, so they made job one having as many healthy players after the game as they did before it.  If you are the Saints, your chances of getting somebody hurt against a division are not trivial.  Not because the division rivals are such vicious, evil people, but because you tend to bring that out in others.

As others have said, for them it was essentially a pre-season game played in week 17.