Who is to blame for New Orleans Saints recent lack of playoff success?

The New Orleans Saints have been talented enough to win a Super Bowl but consistently have come up short in the playoffs. Who should shoulder the blame for their shortcomings?

The New Orleans Saints are among the most puzzling teams in the NFL. Despite having a Hall-of-Fame quarterback at the helm, the team never seems to live up to their full potential, namely making it to another Super Bowl. Subsequently, it does bring up a lot of questions about what the future will look like.

It’s only right to address the elephant in the room and that’s Drew Brees. Many of us thought he would hang it up last year but he stuck it out. After another disappointing season in 2020, though, it seems more than likely he’s going to move on.

If Brees does retire, where does that leave the Saints as a team? They still have some dynamic and stellar players but the playoffs are always their downfall. 2020 really felt like the year we’d see the New Orleans Saints in the Super Bowl. Even with Brees’ injury, it was still incredibly close but things simply weren’t meant to be for the team.

With the Saints likely having to move on from Brees, it might mean a rebuild for the team or, at least, New Orleans losing a handful of impact players. With such an uncertain future for the team, it brings up an interesting question: Who is to blame for the Saints’ consistent failures, specifically in the playoffs, over the past few years?

Where does the blame lie for the New Orleans Saints’ recent failures?

Pin-pointing one single answer is tough as there is a lot of blame to be shared when it comes to the New Orleans Saints. However, one place where the Saints seemed to never falter was with their roster. Despite them losing some massive pieces of the puzzle, their roster really never let them down. While some might disagree, it’s worth noting how impressive the Saints played under the likes of Teddy Bridgewater and Taysom Hill.

However, that’s not to say the New Orleans Saints roster is completely blameless. There have definitely been some terrible moments by players, but overall, they usually redeemed themselves at some point.

Nevertheless, there is a fair share of the blame that goes to the coaching staff as their play-calling is frankly incredibly confusing. In particular, they decided to run the ball when it was clear the team should have either been faking it so Brees could complete a pass or having him throw a pass.

Play-calling isn’t easy but it’s worth noting the team really struggled on defense. Against the Buccaneers, the defense looked embarrassing. There was no reason they shouldn’t have made more plays and or allowed the Bucs players so much leeway. Ultimately, it felt like both the players and the coaching staff dropped the ball there. It just felt like we were all watching a completely different team than we’ve watched the entire season.

Moving away from the coaching staff, some blame has to lay on the front office and the decisions they’ve been making. While most of their decisions have been well-received, it’s worth noting that they’re losing one of their biggest assets in Terry Fontenot.

The team also made some wild decisions, including signing Andrus Peat, who didn’t live up to the hype, and the team’s 2020 draft class really failed to live up to the hype.

Ultimately, no one related to the New Orleans Saints is blameless. These past few years have been marred with disappointment and it’s been frustrating. No doubt the team and everyone involved with them is extremely disappointed along with fans.

Overall, the New Orleans Saints had so much potential to become a short-term dynasty but now all we have are “what ifs?” We can only hope that the next decade brings more successes than failures for the Saints.