saintfan

I was coming here to type the same. We were 9 point favs against the bucs too iirc.

AsylumGuido

9.5, actually. Big difference is that the Bucs are a division rival that had all preseason to plan for this one game.

SaintFanInATLHELL

Guido,

As much as I hate to say it, the Saints knew that the Bucs were week 1 on a schedule, are a divisional rival, and had all offseason to prep for a crucial division matchup on home turf. The result didn't look like that prep was serious. So what exactly does that say about our squad, especially the coaching?

SFIAH

AsylumGuido

Not sure. But one game does not tell the story. As Pat Kirwan said about the game on NFL Radio's Moving the Chains when talking about the game, if this game would have happened midseason all the talk would be about "one bad game", "it can happen", "on any given Sunday", but because it happens to have been game one there would be loads of overreaction. He said his positive opinion of the Saints has not changed. That was echoed by co-host Jim Miller.

The Saints took a punch in the mouth from the Bucs early and that young defense looked rattled. Hopefully it is a learning experience. There is better overall talent on this year's defense than what was on last year's.

Making season long judgments based upon one game is futile. I will continue to look for and hope for the best. Don't forget, many of the same people destroying the Saints on the forum today are the same ones lambasting them after each of the first two games last season claiming they had no chance to better the 7-9's of the past.

“The pessimist sees difficulty in every opportunity. The optimist sees the opportunity in every difficulty.” — Winston Churchill