New Orleans Saints Repeat? Troy Aikman Says Too Many Things Need To Go Right

Doubt all about New Orleans now

"I don't know that it's a big deal, but it's more than just a little blip. As good as New Orleans has been all season long, for the last month they've not been good...Now, they've lost two in a row...They must be doubting themselves a little bit as they go into the playoffs."

~Troy Aikman, Sporting News, January 1, 2010 

Only a fool or a donkey tries the same thing over and over again, expecting different results. 

Yet, Troy Aikman is saying once again this year that the Saints are all hat and no cattle. You see, Aikman is a former Cowboy and Cowboys are fond of saying things like that. 

Aikman's first NFL game as starting QB of the Dallas Cowboys was a 28-0 loss to the New Orleans Saints and it seems the Golden Boy has really never gotten over it.

It was such a drubbing that Jimmy Johnson's hair was all out of sorts when the final seconds ticked off the clock.

As the Saints approached the playoffs last January, Aikman was not a big believer in the team's chances to advance, and he assured Dallas Cowboys fans that those Bayou Boys really had no chance at all. He talked about all the games they could've lost and should've lost.  

Aikman sounded like Jim Mora with all that could've, would've, should've talk.

Seems Troy is back to his old ways.

In an August 30, 2010 Sporting News column titled, "A lot of things—maybe too many things—need to go right for the Saints," Aikman begins by offering the obligatory praise that the national media offers before putting the proverbial screws to the Saints.

"I like the Saints, and I think they're going to be really good again this season," writes Aikman. "With Brees at quarterback and most of the supporting cast back, the offense shouldn't lose its edge. It well could be the best offense in the league."

"BUT," adds Aikman, "there are reasons to think returning to the Super Bowl will be no easy task."

Somehow, you just knew Golden Boy Aikman wouldn't view the New Orleans Saints as a team on the rise. With the exception of Jon Gruden and Trent Dilfer, no one in the national media would bet the mortgage payment on the Saints these days.

Aikman sees three reasons why, in his view, the only way the Saints will be at the Super Bowl is with a ticket. First, the former Dallas QB views the New Orleans defense as average at best.

Aikman is another national media guy who believes all those turnovers the Saints generated in 2009 was luck.

Smoke-n-mirrors they say. 

Writes Aikman: "Conventional wisdom would say the Saints had a great defense last season. Coordinator Gregg Williams' aggressive, attacking unit was second in the league in creating turnovers...but a closer inspection shows that the defense was middle of the road—if not below-average—in a lot of areas."

Yeah, it's a damned shame for the Indianapolis Colts that the below-average defense you speak of, Troy, did not show up in Miami last February.

Guess that was a fluke...an aberration...eh, Troy?

Golden Boy Troy also says the NFC South competition will likely be too tough for the Saints, citing that since 2002, "each of the NFC South teams has won the division once, and the last-place team has finished first the following six times."

"Here's something else: We're discussing the chances of New Orleans' repeating as Super Bowl champion, yet no NFC South team has won back-to-back titles," says Aikman in Sporting News.

Perhaps, Troy is a little ticked that BP has looked like a more efficient unit than the Cowboys offense this preseason.

Finally, Aikman thinks the Saints just don't have the hunger anymore after winning it all last season. 

"A lot of things have to go a team's way for it to win a championship, and it seemed like a lot went the Saints' way last season," writes Aikman. "The Saints can't expect that things will fall into place like that again this season."

"More than that is that teams sometimes lose a little bit of their edge after reaching the pinnacle.

"The Saints are about to find out what most of the previous 43 Super Bowl champs learned. Winning is hard. Repeating is harder."

Yeah, and finding the end zone has been so damned hard for your Cowboys lately, Troy.

Who the hell knows?

Jerry Jones may be calling you out of retirement soon.

You and Favre are about the same age, right?

You are coming to the party next Thursday night in the Superdome, aren't you, Troy?

Just wouldn't be the same without you.