MorningWood

To me this is the biggest factor -- defensively we got over the hump from last year, but the margin for error is thin. We just are not good enough to lose our starting cornerbacks, play with less than all our starting LB's and lose our best DT and remain potent on D.

Hopefully we will be healthy by the divisional round. Too bad the media is too lazy to discuss this.

foreverfan

I think it's great. We're 13-3 and flying under radar again.

darstep

Best place for this team to be is under the radar. I hope none of the analyst pick the Saints. I hope we get the best-of-the-worst seed in the Dome in two weeks. I hope the Saints are firing on all cylinders and Sean Payton can get all of the returning pieces to gel as they did early in the season, with a reminder that you don't get second chances in the playoffs. I hope Payton just takes what we are given, and runs up 40+ in round 2. I hope we are + 2or3 on the turnover scale and get a defensive/special teams score. I would love to hear silence on the Fox desk when we dismantle the W/C winner in the 2nd round. That one might be too much to hope for...something like that would get them back on our bandwagon.

**SaintSince67**

UK_WhoDat

Respect cannot be learned, purchased or acquired - it can only be earned
Let's do it

MorningWood

It can also be manufactured by the media.

st thomas

exactly

SmashMouth

Yes indeed ... I wonder where you got this idea from?

http://blackandgold.com/saints/23460...ants-them.html

Rugby Saint II

We can dismiss the three game skid to injuries and resting players in the third game. After a week off we should have no excuses.

G504

True. We blew it against, Dallas, though. That was a very winnable game. Just took too long to turn it on. And there isn't a Cowboy lovin' analyst out there that didn't think Drew was about to do it again (last minute comeback after a missed field goal). Tampa? No excuse. We stopped playing. Obviously that won't happen in the playoffs, but still no excuse. Of course that last game doesn't count at all. It would have been nice to win, but how would that have been the big momentum swinging win everybody claimed we needed? All that would have proven is our back-ups can beat a non-playoff team's back-ups in a meaningless game. And in none of those 3 games did we get blown out like Minny in 2 of their 3 late season loses.

Like I said several times in the chat room, I'm tired of analyst quoting that stat that no team ending 0-3 has ever won the Super Bowl without quoting the counter-stat: no number 1 seed has ever ended a season 0-3 either. So all those 3 game skid teams that faltered in the playoffs were lower seeds. Record-wise and statistic wise, we're still the best team in the NFC and the second best in the league. But I agree with what everybody else has been saying, let them down play us. I want Philly/AZ/GB to come into the Dome feeling like the favorite. With stars in your eyes, you can't see Darren Sharper dropping back into coverage, or Vilma blitzing, or Meachem streaking up the slide line, or Bush faking the double reverse.

http://www.darrylbercegeay.com/wsmith1.jpg

strato

Lets duct tape Romo and Ware together and hide them in dumpster till after the game...lol