Has the Saints' Super Bowl window officially closed?

Although the annual conclusions of the Jim Harbaugh 49ers should not be overlooked, the late-1980s Cleveland Browns are probably the defining example of playoff near-misses spoiling an era.

They of two “the” games — a year after blowing an 18-point lead in a divisional playoff — Marty Schottenheimer’s Browns have a permanent spot on the NFL’s condensed-agony corner. Their losses to the Broncos in those oft-replayed AFC title games represent a brutal elimination string in NFL history.

Those defeats overshadow the post-Jim Brown accomplishments of a franchise that never recovered before morphing into the Ravens. For long-term regret, what the Saints have endured does not match up. They won a Super Bowl with the head coach and quarterback they currently employ. 

However, the uniquely cruel ways that New Orleans’ past two seasons have ended surpass what the '80s Browns experienced.

The Minneapolis Miracle preceding the name-pending non-call in the Superdome had a massive impact on the NFL the past two seasons. And those two fluky sequences may end up costing the Saints their best chances at winning another championship before Drew Brees retires.

A strong Saints core is due back next season, but will the team really have a better opportunity to win a Super Bowl than this year’s edition possessed?

Had the Browns managed to stop John Elway’s 98-yard drive or seen Earnest Byner score a game-tying touchdown a year later, they were still almost certainly going to lose to superior Giants and Redskins teams in the Super Bowl. The Saints’ incomprehensible endings brought higher stakes. They would have been a Super Bowl favorite at least once.

The Rams' vintage uniforms gracing American sports' biggest stage again will be fun, but the Saints, not the Rams, should be preparing to face one of the lower-end Patriots Super Bowl teams. Last season’s Saints, undone by Marcus Williams’ gaffe, would have been favored to beat the Eagles in the NFC championship game. While the Eagles showed they were considerably more dangerous than their playoff point spreads indicated, that was still a Brees-led team they would have needed to vanquish. A New England outfit more vulnerable than some of the franchise's other 2010s iterations would have awaited.

A breakdown of this magnitude is a lot to process, as evidenced by the reactions from Saints players denied a near-lock victory — which would have been the third-biggest win in a 52-year-old franchise’s history — and an explanation. The Rams’ accomplishments, whether they end up with one trophy or two, will be connected to it.

The Saints improved their roster after the stunning loss to the Vikings. Coming back from a somehow-worse defeat will be more difficult.

Mark Ingram and P.J. Williams being their top two free agents, the Saints are not expected to lose much off a talented roster. They will still have Brees and a defensive core that over the past two years gave the future Hall of Fame quarterback support he lacked during some wasted mid-2010s seasons.  

New Orleans made no secret of its pot-committed blueprint, trading 2019 first-, third- and fourth-round picks for Marcus Davenport, Teddy Bridgewater and Eli Apple, respectively. The Saints were down Patrick Robinson for most of the year and Sheldon Rankins in the Rams rematch. Ted Ginn Jr. missed much of the regular season, while injuries limited Davenport and Terron Armstead as well. But Sunday, most Saints starters were available.

New Orleans' plan worked. An inexcusable error foiled it.

But the difference between these Saints and many other teams that have experienced catastrophic conclusions: They are close to the end of their run, and their offseason actions revealed that.

Brees should have a couple of years left, but at 40 it is obviously fair to wonder if this was his final elite season. (Although, upgrades at wide receiver and/or tight end will strengthen the chances of another prime Brees year commencing.)

Roster augmentation will not be easy. The Saints’ $19.4 million in projected salary cap space sits 24th, and there are not many places for cap-casualty cuts. Restructures can certainly help a team not as concerned with its long-term future, but the Saints will be outgunned on the market. And their 2018 trades leave them only one pick in this draft's first 156 selections. They are not expected to land a compensatory choice.

Modern teams have rebounded from repeat playoff failures, but there are not obvious precedents for what happened to the Saints. 

Tony Dungy’s Buccaneers lost four playoff games in five years before Jon Gruden helped Dungy’s holdovers win Super Bowl XXXVII. Dungy’s Colts broke through after several 2000s shortcomings. Elway revamped the Broncos defense to help the franchise capture the 2015 title after the three previous Peyton Manning-led teams fell short. 

Some nuclei never recovered, with unfortunate January and February days defining eras. Those Browns saw multiple quarterback injuries torpedo their 1988 season. They won nine games in '89, and though they still advanced to the AFC championship game (losing again in Denver), that was the end.

The Music City Miracle began a 17-season Bills playoff drought. Gruden regularly admits he will never get over the “Tuck Rule” game. Even though the Bill Callahan-led Raiders regrouped, Gruden’s Bucs destroyed an aging team. Oakland's franchise never recovered. Minnesota saw two prime modern windows — cresting in 1998 and 2009 — slam shut, the latter featuring late, controversial calls that aided the Saints' previous Super Bowl berth. The Falcons and Steelers may be in the process of seeing this happen, with Pittsburgh's best championship route in years closing because of a since-changed catch rule and the ensuing dysfunction likely triggering a seismic divorce.

Brees and Sean Payton are too skilled to let a major descent occur, but the odds will be against the Saints recreating this favorable of a Super Bowl path.

Prior to the debacle-turned-Greg Zuerlein showcase, the Brees-Payton alliance held a 6-0 Superdome playoff record. That duo is 1-5 in postseason assignments outside Louisiana. In the past 14 seasons, only one NFC franchise, the 2013-14 Seahawks, held home-field advantage in back-to-back years.

A Saints comeback story a year from now would represent remarkable perseverance. It would add to Brees’ legacy as one of the all-time greats, and it would enhance Payton’s status.

But the more likely scenario will be this historic snafu/missed opportunity becoming the legacy for the Saints’ late-Brees teams.