blacksaint

Team looks to improve vs. Bucs

Posted on Tue, Sep. 11, 2007
By LARRY HOLDER

At least the New Orleans Saints had a couple extra days to swallow and digest their embarrassing and troubling loss to the Indianapolis Colts last week.

Saints cornerback Mike McKenzie understood the hype surrounding the team's first game. But he did warn that it was only one game. He said he wouldn't get too high if they had won, or too low if they hadn't.

Well, everyone saw one way or another how the Saints opened up their season as a Super Bowl favorite.

Saints coach Sean Payton gave the team the weekend off and brought it back for a "bonus" practice Monday afternoon, where the Saints took to the team's outdoor practice fields.

Payton said there are two things the Saints have to do to prevent a hangover.

"We have to get on to the next game, and secondly and more importantly, we have to learn and make the corrections and improve from Week 1 to Week 2," Payton said. "I think we have the players in the locker room that understand that, and they'll do that.

"As coaches, as players - all of us - we have to hunker down and get ready to play Tampa Bay. You can't carry any of the lingering effects of a loss like this into the next week, and I'd tell you the same thing if we had won (Thursday)."

Before the rest of the NFL took their first snaps, opening up the season with a 41-10 defeat on a national level left the rest of the NFC wondering if the Saints have been completely over-hyped. Now looking at what happened to the other favorites in the NFC, there's only one assessment that could be made.

The NFC stinks.

Chicago fell to another Super Bowl contender as the Bears lost in San Diego. Philadelphia looked pedestrian against Green Bay. While Seattle knocked off the Buccaneers, the Seahawks didn't light the world on fire.

Carolina, Dallas and (gasp) Detroit were the only teams in the NFC to make a favorable impression in Week 1. The Panthers are the only team in the NFC South to pick up a win this week.

Although we're jumping leagues, Houston of all teams is 1-0.

The Saints weren't going to win every game this season. Beginning the season 0-1 doesn't mean the season is over.

Buffalo hammered New England 31-0 to kickoff the 2003 season. All the Patriots did was beat Carolina in the Super Bowl. Tampa Bay lost to the Saints to start off its 2002 campaign. The Bucs then rattled off five consecutive wins and crushed Oakland in the Super Bowl.

"It's a loss and you move on to Week 2, and nine weeks from now, you're just going to look at the record," Payton said. "You're not going to look at the margin of the record."

That's true but only if the Saints break off a string of victories.

SunHerald.com : Saints want to avoid hangover

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