It’s hard to see the Saints’ 2019 season as anything short of a failure

Just thinking about how the New Orleans Saints’ season ended so abruptly, so cruelly, makes me want to break out in song with a slightly tweaked rendition of “Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer.’‘

“Rudolph, the six-six tight end, added to their playoff woes

And when you see the replay, you would even say OPI shows ...

Then one fog-free afternoon when the Saints came to play

Rudolph with your arms so long, you clearly pushed away ...’‘

And so on and so forth.

So, as we say farewell to another squandered Super Bowl opportunity and welcome in the 2020 offseason, I have three words (a boorish refrain from Minnesota Vikings quarterback Kirk Cousins no less) for Who Dat Nation:

“You Like That?’‘

And the answer from dejected, disappointed and disgruntled Who Dats everywhere should be a resounding “(fill in the blank) No!”

Finishing 13-4, winning a third straight NFC South title and making it to Wildcard Weekend is nice in and of itself, but it’s not how Saints owner Gayle Benson, General Manager Mickey Loomis, Coach Sean Payton, quarterback Drew Brees and everyone else connected with their organization envisioned this season would play out.

Not even close.

Would they have accepted a Wildcard berth at the start of training camp way back in July? I know the answer to that question. Would you have?

If you answer yes, quit reading my column. You can’t stand the truth.

The Saints had one goal this season and one goal only: It was Super Bowl LIV or Bust.

And they busted, plain and simple.

Winning the Lombardi Trophy is the Saints’ goal every year. At least it should be. But let’s be honest here. If playing for the league title, on the night of Feb. 2, at Hard Rock Stadium in Miami Gardens, FL., with hundreds of millions people watching worldwide, was the ultimate goal, then the Black and Gold came up woefully short.

Losing at home on Wildcard Weekend to a prohibitive underdog is not OK. Nor should it be. Not for a Saints team that is stacked to the 9s with quality players up and down the roster, with backups who could be starting for many teams.

Heck, Loomis and Payton went out and claimed controversial cornerback Janoris Jenkins off waivers in the final days of the regular season to shore up a perceived weakness in the secondary.

Jenkins is due to make $11.2 million next season in the final year of his contract.

They made Michael Thomas the game’s highest paid receiver with a five-year contract just south of $100 million.

They stole tight end Jared Cook away from Bill Belichick and the New England Patriots in free agency and signed running back Latavius Murray to replace free agent casualty Mark Ingram II.

They selected the best collegiate center in Round 2 of the draft, Erik McCoy, to replace unexpected retiree Max Unger.

They convinced Teddy Bridgewater to re-up in New Orleans and made him the highest-paid backup quarterback in the NFL with a base salary of $7.25 million. The Saints brain trust looked like geniuses when Brees went down with a bum right thumb in Week 2 and Bridgewater helped lead them to five straight victories.

Alvin Kamara. Taysom Hill. Cameron Jordan. Marshon Lattimore. Demario Davis. Terron Armstead. Ryan Ramczyk. Wil Lutz. Thomas Morstead. Deonte Harris.

The list goes on.

As tight end Kyle “Red-Nosed’‘ Rudolph and his Minnesota Vikings lost 27-10 to the San Francisco 49ers in Saturday’s divisional round at Levi’s Stadium in Santa Clara, California, all the Saints could do is watch from home while Brees awaited his 41st birthday on Wednesday.

And ponder what might have been.

With cries of “You Like That?’‘ echoing menacingly in his ears.

This story was originally published January 10, 2020 at 9:36 AM.