This season we’ve used a lot of superlatives to describe the New Orleans Saints’ play. From Week 4 to Week 12 of this season, this team was an unstoppable force. Offensively, they simply over-matched everyone. Defensively, they rose from some horrendous play early on to form a unit reminiscent of the 2009 Saints, getting sacks and takeaways in large numbers. Week 17, not so much.
Sunday against the Carolina Panthers was another story. An ugly story. No superlatives (unless you consider Thomas Morstead punting 5 times in one game a superlative. I do not). No unstoppable forces.