Saints season ends with a loss to Tampa. Here’s what we learned, what’s trending and final thoughts

For the third consecutive year, the New Orleans Saints’ season came to an end in the Superdome in January.

This time, there wasn’t the drama that defined the Saints’ heartbreak of recent seasons. This time, it was a divisional foe who dealt the knockout blow. The Tampa Bay Buccaneers beat the Saints 30-20, clinching a spot in next week’s NFC championship game in the process.

Here’s how it happened:

WHAT WE LEARNED

Maybe this Saints offense never actually had enough juice to make a deep playoff run. For much of this season, we’ve framed discussions about the Saints not playing up to what we believed their offensive potential to be around the players who were not there — and yes, they were missing a few key offensive players again Sunday. But they had their most important playmakers on the field Sunday and it wasn’t nearly enough. New Orleans had one play that gained more than 20 yards Sunday. That’s not a championship offense.

TRENDING NOW

Games are not won or lost on single plays, and there were a lot of areas where if the Saints hit on something here or there the outcome could have been different. But the clear turning point in this game was Jared Cook’s fumble to end a promising Saints drive in the third quarter. New Orleans opened the second half with an assertive touchdown drive, and looked to be on their way to another one when Antoine Winfield punched the ball out of Cook’s hands. New Orleans was outscored 17-0 after that play.

FINAL THOUGHTS

Was this the final chapter of Drew Brees’ legendary career? Brees has not publicly announced whether he will return for a 21st NFL season in 2021, sticking to his usual policy that he will evaluate his options after the season, but it seems like everyone (and maybe even Brees) has been operating under the understanding that this year was it for him. If indeed it was the last time we’ll see Brees in a Saints uniform, it was an unfortunate note to go out on, with Brees throwing three interceptions in a losing effort.

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