smooth sailing for the saints?
 

Not sure...

i think atl should be number 1 on this list...vick will be suspended atleast 3 games-imo-and will probably go to jail for a few years....they traded away shaub...a team with no qb...a lot of turmoil!

...it's been smooth sailing for the Saints because the Saints finally have people of character from top to bottom. And it will be smooth sailing for a while.

Quite frankly, I am a little wary of all of this off-season positive publicity. I liked it better when we were below the radar, especially with our schedule.

Our first month's schedule is tough. The Saints may be America's new adopted team now, but the NFL is still sticking it to us.

lol me too. but we are doing fine, just because teams expect us to be good, doesnt mean they will beat us. its not like we went out and got those big name players, going to get the solid, high character players is what the analysts are liking

I wish they would jump of our band wagon. I liked it better under the radar too.
All the teams in the south scare me. Carolina will be back in top form, as will Tampa and well Atlanta is Atlanta you never know what team will show up each week.
Sweeping the NFC South is the first step.

"Under the radar" is relative. Not because the media doesn't talk (or doesn't talk ill ) about the Saints is cause for the teams the Saints play to ignore the Saints. Other teams' coaches don't look to ESPN for scouting reports.

In any case, there is no "under ethe radar" this year. When you think of the coach the Saints have, the QB they have, the RBs they have, the WRs they have, the lnes they have, the performance of the entire team last year, this year, expectations have to be high, and everyone is going to know when the Saints are coming to town.

Agreed-
The point I made was primarily about our players reading their own headlines. Last year they were hungry, overachieving. Once we would get on a roll, though, we stumbled- Baltimore, Washington & Cincy were all bad, unfocused losses.

This is one of the reasons I hope Patten makes it- we need that veteran come-back-to-earth presence in the locker room.

Good point. Patten - even if he's not an impact player on the field - can be am impact on the locker room. I hope he brings rings in and tells the guys what it takes to get there.

You took the words straight out of my mouth! I wish they would just quit putting us up on that pedestal. It just makes young players and rookies mentally off.

It's all necessary to keep people pumped and to sell tickets.

Ok. I didn't think of that angle. I see your point point now.

AMEN! You smacked the nail on the head!

However, we cannot forget the joker in the deck: injuries. Everything should be fine this season as long as the team stays relatively healthy.

SFIAH

"Under the radar" is relative. Not because the media doesn't talk (or doesn't talk ill ) about the Saints is cause for the teams the Saints play to ignore the Saints. Other teams' coaches don't look to ESPN for scouting reports.-- Tobias

Where has "under the radar" gotten the Saints in the past? A handful of surprise seasons?

I think that the under the radar bit is created in our minds and is basically every Saints fans mindset; keep your expectations low. With this thinking if the Saints do poorly it was expected. If they do well then they've exceeded our expectations and we are optimistic until CRASH! our hopes are dashed once again. --Sorry, I had to that. Years of fandom does that.

However, this year is different. And it all starts with Coach Payton. The Saints have never had a coach like this. Their last good coach was Mora and judging by last year I'd much rather have Payton.

Barring injuries this team is bound to return to the play-offs. The tease of last years season has my expectations higher than ever before. Even higher than the Billy Joe and Billy Joe years.

uh huh and why would we be one bit of afraid? carolina gets praise every single year since making it to the SB, and what happens? they suck and disappoint. i cant wait for people to just realize they arent that good. falcons sucks, as well as the baby toy vick. and the bucs can suprise a team, but geesh, where do they have a chance to go? we are in great shape to take down any team