HANAGRIFF: Suspicious minds

By Charles Hanagriff

Two weeks ago, it would have been difficult to find anyone outside the New Orleans Saints facility that believed the team was capable of a 2-0 start. 

Even fewer believed it would be a pair of blowout wins over Carolina and Dallas. 

A start that included 91 points and 15 consecutive scoring drives for the starting offense, with 11 of those drives producing touchdowns?  Even friends and family would have doubted that. 

Amon-Ra St. Brown, the outstanding receiver for the Detroit Lions, even said it out loud this summer.  He declared to his brother Equanimeous, who made the Saints practice squad, that nobody inside the New Orleans locker room believed they could win the Super Bowl. 

Cam Jordan took him to task over that, but even the longtime Saint couldn’t convince the fan base that this team was going to be strong. 

Not since pre-Katrina had the expectations for the Saints been so low.  Every year that Sean Payton was there, New Orleans felt like they had a chance, because he was an outstanding coach, but also because almost all of those years, the quarterback was Drew Brees. 

In the first year for those two, optimism was high because of their presence, and Reggie Bush was drafted number two overall.  Truthfully, New Orleans was excited before the 2006 season just to have the Saints back in the Superdome.  Twelve months earlier, that was anything but a certainty. 

Even after Brees, and then Payton, left the organization, there was optimism.  Every year since there had been a new coach, a new quarterback, or both.  Those type of changes always inspire hope. 

But in August, there was none of that.  No new head coach, no new quarterback, no top five draft pick coming in to save the day.  It was mostly the same personnel on both sides of the ball, with the Saints taking a relatively passive approach to free agency. 

Dennis Allen and Derek Carr were running short on political capital.  Mickey Loomis didn’t have much more.  The glimmer of light had to come from a new offensive coordinator named Klint Kubiak. 

I was skeptical.   

A fresh start was desperately needed, but even the best coordinators in the NFL are beholden to their talent.  In New England, the scheme looked a lot better with Tom Brady at the controls than Mac Jones. 

The preseason didn’t stoke the fire, and Saints fans went to the opener looking forward to a remodeled Superdome and a lousy opponent. 

They got both, but Carolina is so bad that it was hard to believe the Saints improvement was real.  Then came the Dallas game, and expectations dramatically changed. 

A playoff team a season ago, the Cowboys were about a touchdown favorite over New Orleans.  Jerry’s Boys had won 16 straight regular season games at home.  They had soundly beaten Cleveland, another 2023 playoff team, on the road the week before. 

The Saints rolled over them like an 18-wheel truck over a water balloon.  They scored touchdowns on their first six drives, and the feelings of joy that were there in 2006 came rushing back. 

We didn’t think they were going to be good.  We were certain they wouldn’t be great.  We were wrong on the first one.  It’s possible we’re wrong on the second one, too. 

Kubiak’s offense has been nothing short of spectacular, opening space for the Saints playmakers that previously wasn’t there.  Taliese Fuaga has been outstanding at left tackle, but otherwise this is basically the same group of players that was inconsistent a year ago.  Kubiak has done what all coaches say they want, but only the good ones can do: take the players you have, then adjust your scheme and play calling to get the most out of them. 

New Orleans is still sound on defense and special teams, meaning if the first two weeks aren’t an offensive mirage, this group has a chance to make a run.  When you demolish two professional football teams the way they have, you get everybody’s attention. 

That includes Vegas, where the Saints win total has risen from 7.5 to 10.5. 

With expectations come pressure, and 2-0 doesn’t guarantee anything in the NFL.  Since the merger, 36.3% of the teams that won their first two still missed the playoffs.  Count the 2023 Saints in that number. 

But this feels different, and New Orleans has won over more people in a fortnight than any reasonable person could have expected.  The most overused cliche’ among sports teams is “nobody believed in us,” but this year the Saints can say that one with a straight face. 

Now it’s on to week three, with a little less conversation and a little more action.