Tyrann Mathieu and the New Orleans Saints entered last season as the favorites to win the NFC South, and they ended up missing the playoffs entirely.
The Saints didn’t miss the postseason by much, either.
New Orleans finished 9-8 on the year, tied with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers for the best record in the division. However, the Buccaneers captured the NFC South crown by way of the tiebreaker, and the Saints were left sitting home.
That’s why Mathieu isn’t paying attention to any expectations for New Orleans going into 2024.
“Our motto this year is to keep our head down and work,” Mathieu said during a recent appearance on the Ross Tucker Football Podcast. “Don’t even cater or give in to expectations, if there are any. … We don’t even need anybody to talk about us. We just need to work hard.”
Mathieu added that all the Saints needed to do the last couple of years was steal a couple of games here or there, and they would have been a playoff team.
The star safety also said that he felt 10 or 11 wins would be enough to win the division next season, and based on how the NFC South has played out the last couple of years, he is probably right.
Mathieu is coming off of a 2023 campaign in which he played every game and registered 75 tackles, four interceptions, nine passes defended and a defensive touchdown.
The 31-year-old, who played his collegiate football at LSU, was originally selected by the Arizona Cardinals in the third round of the 2013 NFL Draft.
He spent his first five seasons with the Cardinals, making a Pro Bowl appearance while also earning a First-Team All-Pro selection in 2015 after racking up 89 tackles, a sack, five picks, a forced fumble, 17 passes defended and a defensive touchdown.
Mathieu then proceeded to link up with the Houston Texans for one year before making his way to the Kansas City Chiefs, where he spent three seasons. During that time, he made a couple of trips to the Pro Bowl while also notching First-Team All-Pro honors for a second time. Most importantly, he helped the Chiefs win a Super Bowl during the 2019-20 campaign.
The New Orleans native joined his hometown Saints in 2022 and recorded 91 tackles, a sack, three interceptions and eight passes defended during his debut season with the club.
We’ll see if Tyrann Mathieu can help take New Orleans back to the playoffs in 2024.
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