The Saints were just 10 seconds away from being one game away from the Super Bowl. Then the Minneapolis Miracle happened.

You know what happened next: The Eagles steamrolled the Vikings and went on to beat the Patriots in Super Bowl LII. According to Saints RB Alvin Kamara that second part would have never happened if New Orleans managed to prevent that miraculous Stefon Diggs touchdown.

Via Bleacher Report:

“I couldn’t even be mad. I was mad, of course, but it was like how does that even happen? That’s not even real. It’s almost not realistic, like what the ?” “We’d beat the out of cause we was rolling,” Kamara says. “If we won , I knew nobody was gonna stop us cause we came all the way back.” “We know what the standard is,” Kamara says before pausing for a few seconds. “So, yeah, Minnesota.”

Kamara certainly sounds salty but that doesn’t necessarily mean he’s wrong. The Saints did match up well with the Super Bowl champs. Like the Patriots, who gave that Philly defense all sorts of problems, New Orleans has a quarterback who gets the ball out of his hands quickly, which mitigates the Eagles’ biggest defensive strength: Their pass rush.

The Saints also had a defense that was capable of matching up with Philadelphia in man coverage. The Patriots did not, and we saw the result with Nick Foles throwing for 373 yards and three touchdowns.

Unfortunately, we’ll never know which team would have prevailed. But Kamara and the Saints will have a shot to prove they are the better team on Nov. 18 when they take on the Eagles in Week 11. They’ll also get a shot at the Vikings three weeks earlier.