Into the Fire: Good Problems to Have

Posted by on in , ,

1037TheGame_ALANMICHAEL_658x370_into-the-fire

The six game winning streak the Saints are taking into Buffalo this week has been one of the truly most awesome things to witness in the NFL this season. This unexpected winning streak has built a new confidence in a team stuck in the muck and mire of mediocrity for far too long. The streak has been dominant at times, with the Saints rolling over opponents with four double sigit vicotries. The six game winning streak has also been historical, with the Saints becoming just the third team in the Super Bowl era to begin a season 0-2 and then go on a six game winning streak. Only the 1993 Dallas Cowboys and the 2007 New York Giants have done what the Saints have done this year, and both of those teams went on to win Super Bowls. This streak has been amazing and hopeful, but the best part about the streak is what it has not been, and that is perfect.

The Saints have rolled over most of these teams on their turnaround, but every game has had a small hole in the ship that needs to be corrected which has kept the players and staff level headed during the whole thing. Ain’t it true there’s room for doubt, even when you’re winning? Maybe some things that you can do without? That’s good! The Saints have a good problem because they have not been perfect over the course of their historic turnaround. When you are winning games by more than a touchdown every time out but you are still working on your own deficiencies constantly, that means that you have yet to reach your peak. It’s a good thing when you are one of the league’s best teams midway through the season and you have not peaked. In fact, I look at the limited history of teams starting 0-2 in a season and following up with six game winning streaks and I would go as far as to say it is a monumental good thing. It is the best problem to have.

The Saints offense is ranked at or near the top in every offensive category that concerns yardage and points, but their one sticking point and flaw that rears it’s ugly head from game to game is their inability to stay on the field on third downs. At just over a 40% conversion rate, the Saints offense has a propensity to stall. Yet they are still as productive as we have expected them to be. Normal teams do not succeed with this issue.

The Saints defense, if you look at it statistically, is the proverbial “bend but don’t break” type of defense. They are not the best at stopping the run game from gashing them for chunks of yards and their pass defense is decent when you look at yards given up. But this defense is being heralded and praised, not because it is seeing a modicum of success after being a laughing stock, but because it is a defense full of budding young stars who disrupt and cause headaches for offensive players leading to big plays in big spots. I would rather have a timely defense that I can rely on when I need a stop as opposed to an defense that looks great on a rankings database. That is what Dennis Allen is cultivating and it has saved the Saints as a team on more than one occasion with big stops and big takeaways at big moments in games.

Sitting around the house watching the Saints on a Sunday afternoon, you will notice that they are not a perfect team. You might notice some flaws here and there that lead you to doubt whether this streak will last, but hidden behind those flaws is something called balance. You might think the wins are lucky because they have faced bad teams or teams with major injury issues, but teams who do what the Saints can do with balance achieve great things. It has happened many many times before in the NFL and even though there are signs of doubt from spectators and prognosticators, any problems the Saints have right now are good.

– Alan Michael