Saints forge ahead after consecutive disappointing ‘miracle’ defeats in playoffs

NEW ORLEANS – Saints defensive end Cameron Jordan has a philosophical take on how the team’s last two seasons ended.

“At some point it feels like it takes a miracle to beat the Saints and I’m OK with that,” Jordan said Monday morning before teeing off in the annual Saints Hall of Fame golf tournament at Bayou Oaks.

The first miracle took place in January of 2018 when safety Marcus Williams whiffed on an attempted tackle as the Minnesota Vikings scored on a 61-yard touchdown pass as time expired to turn a New Orleans victory into a defeat in an NFC Divisional Playoff.

The second miracle took place a year later when the officials missed a blatant pass interference call on the Los Angeles Rams, which almost certainly would have enabled New Orleans to win the NFC Championship. Instead the Rams prevailed in overtime.

Jordan’s philosophical approach, though, doesn’t make either of the losses easier to stomach.

“The miracles keep happening, right?” Jordan said. “At the end of the day you’re sick to your stomach for no less than two months after it happens.”

Nearly four months have passed since the latest miracle and the Saints are beginning preparations for the 2019 season. The first Organized Team Activity takes place Tuesday.

Coach Sean Payton said the team isn’t dwelling on the missed call, which led to an NFL rule change allowing for defensive pass interference to be called on an instant-replay challenge.

“It’s another team and it’s a new challenge,” Payton said. “There’s no secret message to start the spring. As we get a little closer to training camp, we’ll get a little more focused as to how we approach the season.”

Defensive end Marcus Davenport, who’s likely to move into a starter’s position in his second season after the departure of veteran Alex Okafor to Kansas City in free agency, said his focus is on day-to-day improvement individually and collectively.

“Last year we were a play away (from the Super Bowl) and it wasn’t the refs’ fault,” said Davenport, who’s rehabbing from foot surgery. “We shouldn’t have let it get that far. I’m going to try to add a play.

Saints Hall of Fame linebacker Jonathan Vilma, a key member of the Saints’ Super Bowl champions 10 seasons ago, said he doesn’t expect the manner in which last year’s team lost the NFC Championship to have a lingering effect on this year’s team.

“You have to let it go,” Vilma said. “It really depends on the DNA of the team and from what I can see this is a very mentally tough team because if you go back to the year prior to that and the bad beat in Minnesota – you lose that game and then you come back and you make it to the NFC Championship Game the next year.

“So you have a team that’s very mentally tough and resilient so I don’t think they need it for motivation. They’ll be fine. Clearly they have enough talent and they’re good enough to make it back to the playoffs.”