It's not always the NFL's best and most successful teams that make it into the postseason. Sometimes it's just the best of the worst.
And after a 2-5 start, that latter description is what the Saints could be saying about themselves in a couple months if they can get players healthy and win some football games.
And as I watched the NFC South continue to ride the NFC struggle bus Sunday afternoon, I stumbled upon a divisive question.
Should the Saints find a way to finish the season 8-9 and division title with a sub.-500 record, would fans consider that a success?
It was a question that generated nearly 300 responses in under 24 hours, and it's certainly a scenario that is looking more and more possible. With the Bucs and Falcons each losing big, here's where the standings sit after 7 games each.
- Bucs: 3-4
- Falcons: 3-4
- Panthers: 2-5
- Saints: 2-5
And the path to an 8-9 division title isn't complicated. It'd take a 6-4 finish from the Saints over their final 10 games, with 5-5 finishes from everybody else. If two of those victories came against the Falcons and Bucs, the math gets pretty easy. Either way, the tiebreaker bridge is one to cross once you get to it.
It's also a scenario that the Saints are familiar with. It was New Orleans who was victimized in the Wild Card Round by a 7-9 Seahawks squad back in the 2010 season. Yes, that was the Marshawn Lynch "beastquake" game, which the now-retired RB was actually in New Orleans taping a segment to apologize for that was aired during the TNF loss to the Cardinals.
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It happened again just two seasons ago, with the Washington Commanders winning the NFC East with a 7-9 record, and losing to the Bucs in the Wild Card round.
But this is less about whether it can happen, and more about whether Saints fans would view it as a successful effort. The responses were split pretty close to even, though they seemed to tilt toward the side of: If the goal is to win a division title, then yes, you do that and you're happy about it.
On the opposite side, people argued that no, backing into the playoffs because the rest of the division simply can't field a .500 team is nothing to be proud of. Being lucky and being successful are two different things.
At the end of the day, and as several others have pointed out, there's one clear reason that a playoff trip should be viewed as a major victory, regardless. It comes in the fact that the Eagles currently hold the Saints' first-rounder, a decision that was made based on the belief that this team could contend for a playoff spot -- ideally in a more traditional way, but I digress.
As of right now, the Saints would be handing over a top-5 selection. Should they make the postseason, that pick is -- at best -- No. 19, exactly where the Saints chose Trevor Penning with the pick they acquired in shipping the No. 23 selection out of town. Even with a Wild Card Round exit, that'd be a win to at least save face and not have to hear about the flub all draft season.
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But it'd raise another question, regardless of how it's viewed overall: Would such a finish send you into the offseason thinking all is well with a roster that simply hasn't achieved at the level expected for it this season? An argument can be made for better health leading to better results, for a Jameis Winston return sparking the team, for a defensive resurgence when you aren't without your top three CBs. But even the staunchest optimist would have to admit this is an aging roster with a few too many holes to be viewed as a legitimate threat to win a Super Bowl.
Still, the whole point of being a fan is to have faith, and the only way to dance in the postseason is to be on the dance floor. It doesn't matter where you stand, it only matters if you win. The Seahawks taught the Saints that lesson the hard way a little more than a decade ago, it'd only feel right for the Saints to return that favor (particularly if it somehow managed to come at the expense of the still-unbeaten Eagles).
No one seems to want to win the NFC South these days. It might as well be the Saints, even if they have to drag themselves there kicking and screaming.
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