Mike Triplett, ESPN Staff Writer 9y

New Orleans Saints season report card

It's not overstating things to call this the most disappointing season in franchise history.

The New Orleans Saints were a trendy Super Bowl pick to start the year, with a rising young defense and one of the best home-field advantages in sports. Instead, they finished 7-9, their defense was the worst in the NFL by some metrics and they lost their last five games in the Superdome, with the fans routinely showering them with boos.

The defense was the biggest culprit, even before big-ticket free agent Jairus Byrd went down with a season-ending knee injury. But the offense was just as disappointing, with top stars Drew Brees and Jimmy Graham coming up small in too many big moments.

MVPs: Brees and Keenan Lewis. I went with co-MVPs since everyone on the roster was a flawed candidate with too many highs and lows. Brees is by far the Saints' best player, and he gave them their best chance to win. He tied for the NFL lead with 4,952 passing yards, but he just couldn't finish the job consistently enough and had too many costly turnovers in big moments. Lewis, meanwhile, was the best asset on a turbulent defense, despite battling nagging injuries. He also battled inconsistency, but he came up big many times while being matched up against No. 1 receivers such as Dez Bryant, Jordy Nelson, Alshon Jeffery and Kelvin Benjamin.

Best moment: The Saints' 44-23 rout of the Green Bay Packers in Week 8 on a Sunday night was one of those vintage moments when they looked unbeatable in a night game in the Superdome. Brees outdueled Aaron Rodgers, Mark Ingram ran for 172 yards, the defense came up with two interceptions, Graham and Brandin Cooks had big games, and at 3-4, it seemed the Saints had finally started to turn their season around. Instead, they never won another home game all year -- the biggest stunner of all.

Worst moment: The Saints hit rock-bottom with a 41-10 home loss to the Carolina Panthers in Week 14. They had never looked so lethargic at home in the Sean Payton-Brees era. They were down 17-0 in less than 10 minutes, thanks to two early turnovers. They were down 41-3 less than a minute into the fourth quarter. The boos were relentless. Afterward, veteran leaders questioned things such as professionalism and maturity in ways they never had before. Payton made several roster changes the following week to try to salvage the season -- which led to a win at Chicago. But it didn't last. Whatever magic the Saints once had at home had clearly evaporated.

2015 outlook: Optimism is low, given the Saints were loaded up to win this season and flopped. Plus, they're further over the salary cap to start 2015 than any other team, according to ESPN Stats & Information, so a major overhaul is out of the question. However, the talent everyone loved heading into 2014 is still there. The Saints should be able to manage the cap, keep most of their core players and even add one or two pieces in free agency and the draft. Above all, they'll need bigger returns on some of their heftiest investments, such as Brees, Graham, Byrd, Jahri Evans, Cameron Jordan and recent first-round picks Kenny Vaccaro and Cooks (whose promising rookie season ended early due to a thumb injury).

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