The Saints continue to suffer bizarre, soul-crushing losses

This hurts.

If it feels like an eternity since the New Orleans Saints won a Super Bowl, that’s actually true.

It was the 2009 season in which the franchise won its first Lombardi Trophy, and with Drew Brees at the helm, it seemed like more rings were in store for Who Dat Nation.

Yet since then — and especially in recent years — the Saints have continually been on the wrong end of some questionable calls, unlikely plays and soul-crushing losses.

Saints die-hards, you may want to avert your eyes here, but for everyone else, here’s a look back at what’s happened to New Orleans in recent years.

1. 2010: The Beast Quake

The Seattle Seahawks entered the postseason as a division winner with a 7-9 record (ugh). But thanks in part to Marshawn Lynch running through the Saints defense for a legendary 67-yard touchdown, the Seahawks moved on.

2. 2011: The Catch III

The Saints were up 32-29 on the road in their NFC divisional playoff matchup with 14 seconds to go and defending a 3rd-and-3 from their 14-yard line. But Alex Smith completed a touchdown to Vernon Davis to bounce the Saints from the postseason again.

3. 2017: The Minneapolis Miracle

The Saints were up one on the Minnesota Vikings with the clock ticking down. There were 10 seconds left and New Orleans was out of timeouts. All the secondary had to do was to keep the Vikings in front of them and hope to tackle a ball-carrier in bounds. But rookie safety Marcus Williams went for a game-ending tackle on Stefon Diggs and whiffed completely. Diggs completed one of the unlikeliest touchdowns in NFL history, a 61-yarder for the ages.

4. 2018: The non-call on pass interference

All that was on the line was a trip to the Super Bowl. The Saints and Rams were tied at 20 with under two minutes to play in the NFC Championship game. Brees stepped back to throw to Tommylee Lewis, but it appeared Nickell Robey-Coleman hit the receiver before the ball arrived. But there was no flag on the play. The Rams would eventually win the contest.

5. 2019: “Foot Locker” ref negates touchdown

That’s what Cameron Jordan said about the refs who blew dead his 89-yard fumble return against the Rams in Week 2 that should have counted.

6. 2019: The fake punt PI and the facemask

The Saints’ loss to the 49ers had TWO wild plays. The first: refs made no pass interference or holding call on a fake punt pass attempt because PI can’t be called on those plays.

The second, which is a little more straightforward: George Kittle made an incredible catch-and-run with under 40 seconds to ply and the Niners down by a point, and a facemask penalty by Williams added 15 yards on to the play. The 49ers would eventually end up with the victory thanks to those extra yards and the foot of Robbie Gould.

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