If it was Super Bowl or bust, does this mean the Saints are broken?

As we say goodbye to the first month of 2021 and hello to the week of Super Bowl LV, my first inclination is to shed a tear for New Orleans Saints quarterback Drew Brees.

If indeed the Covid-’20 season is his last as I suspect it is, then yes, I bleed a little for ol’ No. 9. To think that this sure-fire first ballot Hall of Famer will walk away from a brilliant 20-year NFL career with only one Lombardi Trophy (Super Bowl LXIV) linked to his name is unimaginable.

I think also of the many squandered opportunities that fell through the cracks, especially considering the Super Bowl-caliber teams he has played on the past four seasons, all division winners, including the 2020 version that lost at home to Tom Brady and the eventual NFC champions, Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

2017 (11-5); 2018 (13-3); 2019 (13-3); 2020 (12-4).

In one breath, I say he deserved better. In the next, I say it wasn’t meant to be.

Each team was capable of winning it all, but none did for various reasons. Bad breaks, bad karma, bad play. Only the ‘18 team reached the conference championship and we know what happened at home against the Los Angeles Rams.

If the recent season was “Super Bowl or Bust!’‘ — as many players proclaimed — then the Black and Gold imploded, losing at home to the Buccaneers in the divisional round, 30-20.

Two weeks is sufficient time to move on from the latest close-but-no-cigar moment, so I ask you:

How many Super Bowl championships would Brady or Patrick Mahomes have won under center with those Saints teams the past four seasons? One? Two? Three?

I’ll go one step farther: How many Super Bowl championships would the Saints have won with Bill Belichick or Andy Reid as their coach, and not Sean Payton?

One? Two? Three?

None?

I’d be willing to guess it’d be at least one and possibly more. Whatever your answer, the discussion is warranted.

If Brees and Payton are indeed worthy of comparisons to the game’s greatest, as they so often are, then they must be held to much higher standards.

Individual records are nice.

Division championships are nice.

Playoff appearances are nice.

But ultimately, Brees and Payton will be judged by their record as members of Super Bowl-caliber teams and not their record during the regular season.

If the 2020 Saints team was among the top two or three best rosters in the NFL, as many pundits have proclaimed, then it underachieved. As was the case in ‘17, ‘18 and ‘19.

In the future, if Saints players feel compelled to strike the pose and dub themselves Super Bowl worthy, either put up or shut up.

Enough with the hollow bluster already.

This story was originally published January 29, 2021 at 3:12 PM.