GumboBC

It's football eve. You know, the day before the first preseason game. Let's talk some football.

Preseason disclaimer: I do not think preseason games mean a whole lot. Some teams use preseason as a tryout for young players more than other teams. Some teams use them more as a warm-up to the regular season. So, it skews the results a lot of times. However, it will NOT be a good sign to see the Saints perform as badly as last year!!

Now, on to the game. All eyes will be on the defense. The startesr probably won't play but a few series. But, it should provide a LITTLE insight on how far along the defense is. I'm going to be looking for how the defense stops the run right up the gut. And how they defend screen passes and the little dink and dunk passess.... The ones the linebackers are responsible for covering.

I'm also going to be looking at our defensive backfield. Chad Pennington should provide a good test for them. Pennington gets rid of the ball quickly in thier dink and dunk offense. I don't think we'll get many, if any, sacks while he's in the game. But, we should be able to get some pressure on him.

Most of all I'll be looking at how the defense plays as a unit. I don't want to see blown assignments, presnap penalties, ect, ect..

I'm sure some folks will get too high on what they see tomorrow. And some guys will get too low. Just keep in mind that it's only one preseason game and we'll know more about our Saints this year, but it's going to take some time before we really know much.

Boccal

Yeah Billy this is just like when I was a kid on Christmas Eve. I\'m leaving work early tomorrow to make it to the game. I can\'t wait to see the team if only for a few series. I think that we will be able to tell a lot by the game. For instance... to see if Jim\'s tuff love is really working, and to see how disciplined they are and like you said to see how well they play as a unit.

CheramieIII

I think they will probably use the preseason games this year as a warm up for the regular season. I think Haz already know\'s who he wants and where he want\'s them and they will start tomorrow night, if only for the first two series.

Don\'t be surprised if you see the starting lineup from tomorrow, as the same on opening day barring injury to those players and excluding Brooks, who Haz says won\'t play.

WhoDat

PRESEASON IS REAL, REAL IMPORTANT...

... to the Saints this year, IMO. I think they need to build some momentum and get rolling this year in preseason. The offense needs to come out and click and look like they\'re in mid-season form by the end of the month.

Likewise, the defense needs to come out and just be nasty. Those guys also need to gell, but not like the offense. More than anything, they need to prove to themselves that they can be a force, so that they can go into the season ready to put the smack down.

\"Excuses, excuses, excuses. That’s all anyone ever makes for the New Orleans Saints’ organization.\" - Eric Narcisse


\"Being a Saints fan is almost like being addicted to crack,\" he said.[i]\"You know you should stop, but you just can\'t.\"