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I'm just not so sure about that. We go into the bye 4-0 then we know what we have. But 3 road games, and a date with the champs doesn't mean that anything less is by definition a bust.

Every season has 6 division games, 12 conference games (6 division, 4 outside NFC division (NFC North this year), and 2 record placement (LA Rams,Washington)), and 4 AFC outside division (AFC East) games each year. Priority never changes because of tiebreakers. Specifically in order:

0. Overall record
1. Head to head
2. Division games
3. Common opponents
4. Conference games

So the 10 critical games each season are the 6 conference games, and the 4 outside NFC division games as the 6 division games affect every category, and the other 4 affect every category except division games. So let's look at the first 4 games:

@Minnesota (outside NFC division)
New England (AFC)
@Carolina (Division)
@Miami (AFC)

The two AFC games only affect categories 0 and 3. Minnesota affects all but 2. Carolina affects all 5 categories. So Carolina is the must win, Minnesota nearly so, and the two AFC games not so much.

Point is that 3-1 or even 2-2 may not be too damaging depending on the mix of wins and losses.

The Saints season is the final 7 games. 4 division, 6 conference, 5 common opponents. That's winning time.

SFIAH

K Major

Side note - Bryan Braman (guy who was signed from Philly) looked really good on special teams. I know it's a long shot that he cracks the final 53, but he was making plays vs the Texans.

K Major

BUMP ...

2017 Saints pre season defensive stats worth mentioning :

#2 in rushing yards allowed per game at 64.7
#5 in passing yards allowed per game at 174.0
#2 in overall yards allowed per game at 238.7

I know it's still pre season but those numbers are nothing to take lightly. As this young defensive group starts to "gel", it's almost impossible for me not to be encouraged.

Bring it.

ScottF

People always say "it's only preseason, but..."
Here's the thing: we have sucked badly in preseason for three years, and that has carried over into the regular season.
So, yes, being positive this year is probably warranted

The Dude

I totally wouldn't have guessed we were that good against the run. I've been so focused on other areas of play. I saw them let Houston get a couple of good runs against them but come to think of it that's it.
Most of those passing yards were

|Mitch|

vpheughan

When the team wins it's "It's only preseason" when they lose " They need to win in preseason"

Rugby Saint II

Let's keep this momentum going into the regular season......oh yes, we still have one more game in preseason.

Tobias-Reiper

It beats the hell out of having 30-32nd ranks and saying "it's still preseason".

SmashMouth