The New Orleans Saints are now in their 58th NFL season. It’s no secret that the Saints were one of the worst franchises in the NFL for the first two decades of their football career. Since beginning play in 1967, the New Orleans Saints didn’t have their first undefeated season until 1979, when they finished 8-8.
After only two undefeated seasons (8-8 records) in their first 20 years of existence, New Orleans finally became relevant. A 12-3 record in 1987 not only marked the first winning season in franchise history, but also gave the Saints their first playoff berth. This was the beginning of a six-year streak in which New Orleans recorded five wins and made the playoffs four times.
After the Dome Patrol disbanded in 1993, the Saints again became a largely irrelevant franchise. In the 13 years between 1993 and 2005, the Saints only went undefeated five times, achieved just two winning seasons and one playoff berth.
The arrival of Drew Brees and Sean Payton in 2006 changed the course of New Orleans sports history. In 14 years together (Payton was suspended in 2012), the Saints had nine winning seasons and playoff appearances, won seven division titles and recorded a victory in Super Bowl XLIV.
Brees retired after the 2020 season. Payton followed him a year later. Under coach Dennis Allen and a carousel of quarterbacks, New Orleans has missed the playoffs three years in a row (including Payton’s final year in 2021). A strong start to 2024 is extremely encouraging, but also an outlier for this franchise.
This start is, amazingly, only the 10th time in 58 years that the Saints have started a year with a 2-0 record. Equally incredible, this is only the second time in franchise history that New Orleans has opened a year with a 2-0 record.
1991 – finished the season 11-5
1993 – Graduation 8-8
1998 – finished 6-10
2002 – finished 9-7
2006 – Graduation 10-6
2009 – Graduation 13-3
2010 – finished 11-5
2013 – finished 11-5
2023 – finished 9-8
2024 – To be announced
If you’re looking for an omen, you won’t find one in these starts. Of the last nine times New Orleans started 2-0, they made the playoffs in five of those seasons. Not bad, but well below league average.
Since the NFL adopted a 16-game schedule in 1978, teams that started the year 2-0 have qualified for the playoffs 68.7% of the time. Since 1990 and the expansion to a 12-team postseason, 72.6% of teams that started 2-0 have qualified for the playoffs.
The Saints look to take a 3-0 win over the Philadelphia Eagles on Sunday, and if they can do that, it will be an even rarer event in franchise history.
New Orleans has started a season 3-0 just seven times in the last 57 years. They haven’t done that since 2013. The Saints have made the playoffs the last four times they started 3-0. Those seasons were 2013, 2009 and 2006.
Obviously, the New Orleans Saints have a long way to go before you can realistically talk about a postseason shot. In any sport, how you finish is more important than how you start. However, a strong start can also give a team some room for error throughout the year.
For the Saints, it’s one win at a time. A win against the Eagles would not only give them three wins, but also all three wins against conference opponents in the NFC.
