Last in the South
 

Well, with the Panthers picking up Stephen Davis and Jake Delhomme, we are now in the position where we either sign some defensive talent, or end up last in the South. Bye bye Haslett.

Last in the South
 

whodat, u have to have faith, last year no one thought we would have the \"solid\' year we had, if u can call it that, and everyone thought that this year would be our year, so Y are u doubting them now? i think we have done a good job, we havent lost much talent besides sammy and we will be getting some upgrades at postions we were hurting last year, i think we will be even better, u just have to have faith.

on a side note, since u call me Yoda, does that mean i have to talk like him to? lol

Last in the South
 

Talk? Act like him you must, hhmm.....

Pak, in 2000 \"everyone\" thought we would stink. We won the division and our first ever playoff game. In 2001, up until December we were still considered by many to be a \"legitimate\" Super Bowl contender. We finished 7-9. Last year, we were picked to finish second in a division that stunk. We finished third in possibly the best division in football. So why, oh why, when \"everyone\" is saying this is going to be our year, do you think the outcome will be anything but the opposite?

Last in the South
 

think it will, i do. reasons...no team in the NFC south has really upgraded except for the panthers and it will take more then what they have to make them more successful, they have a solid D but are still spotty on O. the falcons only big splash was for peerless price, who i think is overrated, yea he had an awesome year last year, but his qb was drew bledsoe and he was playing with eric moulds, who is one of the top 5 receivers in the game today and is definetly underrated, and the bucs havent made any additions that i have heard of that were worth mentioning, but the saints, the saints have added a probowl caliber LT a solid middle linebacker, a solid CB, persuing trading turley, ridding them of his tirades, persuing Tebucky jones, we have 2 first rounders which to play around with, i think the saints are having a solid offseason, even tho we havent made a play for the big tymers we have made some solid key acquisitons, an it will pay off for us next season.

crazy you are for doubting our saints. faith, you must have.

Last in the South
 

doubt leads to fear, fear leads to anger, anger leads to hate, hate leads to Atlanta.

Hey Pak, I\'m hopeful, but not very optimistic. The Bucs played their best football after they played us. Sure we seemed to have their number last year, but their offense started firing on all cylinders and with the Saints (a division rival) making up 50% of all of their losses from last year, who do you think their going to focus on beating the most next year. Now, who can prepare for a game better? Chucky or Haslett, Venturi, and McCarthy? Don\'t even anwser that one it\'s rhetorical.

The dirty birds beat us twice - they improved their defense with Hall and resigning Brookings was huge. With Vick, Price, and the possibility of Anderson coming back (not that it matters Dunn ran all over us last year) - why won\'t they beat us twice?

Carolina has upgraded their talent significantly on both sides of the ball. With Delhomme and Stephen Davis (and they\'re still looking for a big-time receiver a la Conway) they\'ve got what they need to beat us. These games are almost always decided in the last 2:00, and usually include us driving to score and come from behind. Not next year.

Hey man, I wish I could be excited. When the season starts and we get that opening day win, I will be. But right now, I\'m being realistic - and I do not see a lot of reason to think this team will improve enough. Ruff could be the solution. He could be Charlie Clemons, or he could get hurt in training camp and never take the field. Point is, our defense hasn\'t improved very much, and until I see it do that, I won\'t be singing the Saints praises.

Last in the South
 

hate leads to ATL eh....lol, that was pretty funny

but seriously, we shoulda beat atl last year both times, we didnt b/c our d let vick run all over us, i dont see it happening again this year, the bucs, i think they were the most over rated team out there, yea, sure they won the super bowl but i just dont think they are that \"great\", im sure they will be out to beat us down b/c we beat them 2 times last year, but they were always out to beat G.B. when they were in the same division, and look how that turned out. carolina will be better but i dont they have super improved, my best guess for them would be 6-10, i dont see them making a huge improvement just by adding delhomme and stephen davis, its not enough, they dont have any wr, besides mushin muhammed, davis is a brusing back, not a speed burner, and we love to go against the brusing backs ( we wont have to run fast to catch him)

my prediction for the saints, will be 11-5, win the division, and be superbowl champs.

Last in the South
 

Pak, how do you figure that Carolina will be a game worse next year when they have added as much talent as the Saints? But we\'ll get two games better? We ended the season dropping three in a row. They ended the season winning 4 out of their last 5.

Tampa is not a GREAT team, but they played great down the stretch. That\'s how you win a Super Bowl. None of the teams in at least the last three Super Bowls have been great. You win by playing great. They did that last year they can do that again.

Atlanta is adding speed on both sides of the ball. That\'s bad news for us considering they ran all over us last year (and I\'m not just talking about Vick - Dunn, Gay-ass (lor), and even Alge Crumpler ran around at will).

Last in the South
 

Panthers had no where to go but up on Offense. Sooooo what did you expect? They cut Sean Gilbert and Wesley Walls. I\'m guessing they\'re gonna throw to someone other than Muhammad. They\'ll be better but not THAT much better. Not enough to have a better record I\'m thinking. Ok ok...maybe even a better record..say 8-8.

Falcons have basically stayed the same with the exception of Price. Who is at best a #2 WR. Vick\'s free ride will be over soon. The kid can\'t run forever. (well maybe THIS kid can...but you get my drift)..

Bucs well....good thing they signed Shane Matthews..uhhh yeah right.

All of this leaves me with these questions WhoDat....what will the records be next year? And what will the division records be and why the W or L on each game? Handicapp\'em for me man.

Last in the South
 

the bengals in 2001 won 6 of their last 7 games, and look where they ended up last year...... i know, i know, the bengals are an exception, but it can happen...

i just dont see the saints losing like they did last year, we should have been at least 12-4 last year but we had the late season skid, im going to blame most of it on injuries..(deuce, brooks) and the rest of the blame will be on the coaches, but enough of blame, i think we will be better on D and the O will have had a year to gel and learn more about each other and we will be more potent on Offense and faster on D, with our super special teams we will be the best in the south like we were last year, even tho our record didnt show it

Last in the South
 

Pak - I hope you\'re right. I just can\'t remember a time since the late 80\'s when people expected the Saints to be good and they actually lived up to those expectations.

Last in the South
 

it just saddens me to see you giving up on the season already....
no one ever won a championship on paper

Last in the South
 

I am NOT giving up. I\'m conditioning myself. Expect the worst, hope for the best. I want to see this team win the Super Bowl next year. Realistically, 10-6 or 11-5 and a wild card seems reasonable. However, 8-8 or even 7-9 in our division with the off-season moves we\'ve made does not seem insane to me. That\'s all I\'m saying.

I guarantee you this. When the season starts, I\'ll scream just as loud, I\'ll hope against all odds like I do every year, and I\'ll pull for this team with everything I\'ve got. Deal?

Last in the South
 

ohhhh i c, its just all this negativity is bringing me down...lol yea right, i always have great expectations for the saints, but i said 11-5 last year, and we had a shot to be there and make a splash in the playoffs, and im sayin 11-5 this year

here is my offseason prediction for the nfc south

1. saints 11-5
2. falcons 10-6
3. bucs 8-8
4. panthers 6-10

i know ur bout to trash me for sayin bucs 8-8 but they are wildly over rated and there hard schedlue will show it next year

Last in the South
 

I agree with you ...Pak. The Bucs are overrated & I want be surprised if they become last in our conference. Saints should watch out for the panthers cuz of Davis

Last in the South
 

You\'re CRAZY!!!

Here you go:

1. The F$&%ing Falcons 11-5
2. Bucs 10-6
3. Saints 9-7
4. Panthers 9-7

We win the tie-breaker against Carolina by division record since we split with them.

The Falcons and Eagles get byes. We travel to Green Bay as the 2nd wild card and have to play in 2 degree weather while the Bucs get to stay at home and beat the crap out of the 49ers. Then the Bucs go to Philly while Green Bay travels to Hotlanta. Philly gets their revenge on the Bucs and Hotlanta beats up on Green Bay on a day when Favre has another 3 INT game. Hotlanta/Philly is too tough to call. I lean towards Philly.

Last in the South
 

i knew u would say that...

Last in the South
 

the reason i think we will be better or just as good as the year before is b/c even tho we havent made that many \"upgrades\" we also havent had any \"downgrades\" except for maybe the loss of sammy, i think our team will be the class of the NFC, not only the NFC south

Last in the South
 

We can score people. We can score on ANYbody. The problem last year was ANYbody could score on us. If you follow the KISS rule and reduce it to just that, then you simply MUST be positive about the Saints prospects for next season. Sammy was a ball hawk and he\'ll be missed and Jake Delhomme, our security blanket, will be too, but as a whole we\'ve upgraded this offseason and we still have the draft.

If our offense scores this coming season like it did last year, and if what why tried to call a defense last year actually becomes one, and I think it will, then we\'ve got as good a shot at it as anybody.

Last in the South
 

Hey man - I love that we haven\'t lost anyone we can\'t live without (except maybe Sammy - only time will tell on that one). However, neither have our division rivals. The Bucs lost Quarles and Dexter Jackson. Jackson is average, playing in a great system, with incredible players around him. Whoever takes his place won\'t be any worse. Quarles was a loss, but not a huge one. I can\'t remember who they have been grooming behind Quarles but the Tampa staff is pretty upbeat on whoever it is, if I remember correctly.

Atlanta and Carolina have basically lost no one. So in a division that is already good that is experiencing little turnover, it\'s not who you\'re keeping (b/c everyone is keeping their important players), it\'s who you\'re adding.

That\'s just my opinion.

Last in the South
 

C\'mon - no I\'m not. So far this off-season has been OK. I would like to see them give Horn an offer. I don\'t understand why they haven\'t made a move for Woodson, or at least leaked information to the press as to why they haven\'t. The Tebuckey Jones talk is great. He would help our defense out a lot in the talent category. I\'m not so sure that he is much better than Knight, but he\'s better than what we\'ve got now.

I am disappointed that they didn\'t take a shot at a big-name MLB, but so what. They could be managing the cap a little better (Hand, Williams), but maybe they have something on the burner with those two. Right now I\'m in a wait-and-see kind of mode. I think that they better add some impact players though. Whether it\'s through the draft or FA, they need some defensive players who can change a game with their play. Otherwise, I don\'t see our defense getting much better. If our defense doesn\'t get better, I don\'t know how much better this team gets.

Aaron and Deuce staying healthy all season probably would have made the difference last year. If they can do it this year they should make the playoffs. Still, to be a legitimate Super Bowl contender, something needs to happen with this defense. We\'ve got a shot... I\'m just interested to see what happens next.

Last in the South
 

i always focus on the good things (football, sex, food) thats about all i can come up with, lmao but seriously i really wish the saints would have at least made an offer to knight, i think he is a very solid player who was playing out of his position last year he was always the 8th man in the box an got burned b/c he had to help the linebackers, but as to losing anyone else, turley included, get da heII out n dont let da door hit u in da a$$, i think that if hand isnt in shape by june 1st( veteran cut day) then he will be released, the draft is on the way, an lately we have had very solid drafts

Last in the South
 

Ok give or take 2 games this is basically the way I see our season shaking out next year. Even if you give Atl both games and Tenn a W...it still leaves us 10-6. There\'s no reason why this team can\'t and shouldn\'t go 12-4 or 11-5 with this schedule. Can ya put up a reallistic arguement against it? Seriously?


W ATLANTA
W CAROLINA
L TAMPA BAY
W DALLAS
W HOUSTON
W INDIANAPOLIS
W n.Y. GIANTS
W CHICAGO
L at Atlanta
W at Carolina
W at Jacksonville
L at Philadelphia
W at Seattle
L at Tampa Bay
W at Tennessee
W at Washington

Last in the South
 

i seriously think that the saints can win every single one of those games, not saying they will but i think they can i think the toughest game the saints will play in will be philly and the 2 atl games other then those 3 no team really stands out to me to be a real challenge IF WE PLAY UP TO POTENTIAL

Last in the South
 

Hey guys, I always think the Saints can be 12-4. But you know what? They never are.

Last year was the first time I can remember in my life that when I said that we had the talent to play with any team, and I actually believed it. They proved me right too. We did have the talent. Yet somehow we still managed to squander it. The fact that our schedule is weak this year is good or bad, depending how you look at it. If we play up EVERY game, it\'s great. If we play down, like we did last year and most every other year I can remember, then we\'re looking at a lossing record.

There\'s no reason this team shouldn\'t be 12-4. That is what I expect of them... but I think that once again I will be let down. I really really hope that I\'m wrong. Just like I hope that I turn out to be wrong about Delhomme and Brooks.