Saints played the 5-12 Panthers and the 7-10 Falcons. twice each. Also played the 3-14 Jags, 4-13 Giants, 7-10 WFT, 4-13 Jets and 7-10 Seahawks.
Going 9-8 with that schedule is no great feat, Dallas played a similar schedule and went 12-5. Hill is no top NFL quarterback, Kamara, for as much love as he gets, has never had a 1,000 yard rushing season, has played every game only once in his years in the league. And he's pretty much their entire offense these days.
You might be right, unless Payton does coach the Cowboys we'll never know but I'm not convinced he'd be an instant winner in Dallas...
still they were 9-8. and you can pretty much go through and do the same for almost all the playoff teams.....
as you said we played Giants, WFT twice, Atlanata, carolina, vikings,
GB played, Detroit twice, vikings twice, chicago twice, and the seahawks and if saints aren't that good, then they also played the saints should we say 13-3 whoopdie doo?
rams played chicago, giants, seahawks twice, detroit, vikings...I guess we shouldn't be impressed
bengals played Jax, chicago, vikings, lions, and over rated browns twice.
its the NFL. almost no game is a given and coming up with a winning record at the other end is tough and good