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  • October 04, 2007 08:37 PM ET

NFL Fan Club: Over/under: 5.5 wins for the Saints

Steelercooz (53-12-2) vs CavaBearDians: What Happened? (34-10-3)
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The Saints ain't straight, I'll give ya that. But five wins or less, you must be crazy.

I'll take the "over," and hold any BS Reggie Bush Is Overrated sauce, please.

Does Drew Brees suck right now? Yeah, absolutely, but probably not as much as any QB with an orange 'C' on his helmet. How long can this guy possibly stay down? Winning in the NFL is all about rhythm. It's about timing. It's easy to sit in our Armchair Quarterback position and talk now about how New Orleans overachieved last season, but player for player, it is real tough to count out a team with this many offensive weapons.

Yes, I know their defense is about as soft as Michael Vick's alibi, but hey, this is a division that currently has David Carr, Jeff Garcia and Joey Harrington as the opposing QBs. If Brees can catch a cold hand, how long is it going to be until those guys start playing like they know how?

They have five more games against the NFC South. How tough can that be?


I'm gonna have to take the under. The Saints are a sorry group, as shown by their fast 0-3 start. Their defense can't play a lick, and his receivers aren't very good (Marques Colston was a hot rookie, but that's all he'll be). Reggie Bush is very good, but still overrated. The Homies can't even run anymore, as Deuce McAllister is out, and Reggie Bush stands to see a drop in his production. The QB production has been offensive, and it doesn't seem to be improving much.

Let's see the games the Saints WILL win.

Week 8 @ SF

Week 11 @ HOU

The games they have a good chance of winning

Week 7 vs ATL

Week 9 vs JAX

GIve or take a win or two, you see that the Saints get a max of 5 wins. The Saints play some relatively easy teams, but most of them have high powered offense. I said all along when the pundits were picking the Saints to win the NFC that they were going to be a bust and were extremely overrated coming into the season. The Saints will be face huge defecits with their cupcake D, and their offense still hasn't caught on.


(By the way, don't mess with my Bears.)


Between Colston, Brees and Bush, you have more talent at three important positions than several other teams have. I said it last year, let's not make Colston out to be the second coming of Torry Holt, but he has size, runs precise routes and has excellent hands. The media can make a WR very overrated very quickly, but the skills he has won't allow him to stay down for long. If he's getting open, the rhythm Brees has had his entire career is bound to come back.

Bush is the key to this, and I think, if Sean Payton uses him right, McAllister's absence can be a blessing more than a curse. That rhythm I was mentioning, it applies to Bush too. They've relied on him to excel in spots in three different positions, RB, WR and return man. The loss of Deuce gets him back to where he???s supposed to be, behind Brees. He's quick, he's tough, get him the ball 20 times in a game off handoffs, not a 20 combined worth of slip screens, flanker bubble screens and kick returns, you will see this team pick up after a slow start.

More on the defense in a minute.

(by the way, Your Bears have plenty more people than me messing with them)


Yes, Colston, Brees and Bush are awfully talented, though only one of them has truly proven himself over his career (the other two are too new).

-Their offense has yet to play well enough to win a game. Their offense, the only significant part of their team, has been helping the other team more than anything else. Their QB has yet to get his act together (252 yards, INT as of now). Yards are good, but TDs are what count. Colston may be great, we don't know. The success of Brees and Colston are mutually contingent, so we'll have to see what happens. Bush benefited so much from having Deuce alongside him in the back field, akin to how much Cedric Benson benefitted from having Thomas Jones last year. Now with TJ gone, Benson is just average (or worse), and I think Bush will experience a similar fate.

-Their defense will be overpowered by most teams they face, if not all, as any average offense will put up points against the Saints, and most of the offenses they'll face are well above just average.

The offense hasn't been able to get anything going, and even if they do, that still may not be enough given the porous defense.


Look at Sunday???s loss vs. Carolina. A ball deflects off Henderson's open hands, and into a backbreaking interception. Olindo Mare, an 11 year NFL veteran, missed a gimmie field goal. A touchdown got wiped out on a lame penalty. And the Panthers STILL needed a 52 yard field goal to beat them at the buzzer.

These are all mental mistakes. Granted, those mistakes were enough to cost them the game, but they dominated in every aspect except the score. What's more likely for the rest of the year? They play well enough to win, and lose, or they play well enough to win, and...win?

It will not take much for this team to play .500 ball the rest of the way, and that would give them six wins.

Is Drew Brees the worst quarterback in football? Absolutely not. He currently has the lowest rating of any starter, though. Is Reggie Bush going to average 2.9 yards per carry all year? Is Devery Henderson going to average 19 yards a catch and not score?

SD exploded for 41 points and a win. Busted out of their rut quite impressively. That???s all New Orleans needs. A little bit of confidence goes a long way.


The Saints will eventually come out of their offensive slump--we know that. When it will happen, we'll see--they haven't shown much life as of yet. Brees is not the worst QB--I know that. I think it'll be another week or two before he gets his act together. Meanwhile, the RB situation looks bad, as Reggie B will not be able to handle the load alone.

And let's say the Saints DO come out of their slump and start playing the way they're capable of on offense. They still won't be winning a lot of games, as their defense is as weak as Mike Tyson's brain. It's a two-hit combo. The defense will allow too many points for the offense to overcome, and the offense won't score enough points for the defense to protect.

The Saints will win a maximum of 5 games this year.

Good TD.

Comments (20) Add A Comment

October 4, 2007  08:38 PM ET
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Please don't vote until both sides have made an argument. In the meantime, feel free to flood both inboxes with comment notifications like it was raining spam.

October 4, 2007  08:58 PM ET
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your right on target

October 4, 2007  08:59 PM ET
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What you think about my Eagles you think there done

October 4, 2007  09:45 PM ET
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Eagles will come back. I don't think they'll win the division but with the Bears playing bad along with the Rams, they'll get the wildcard.

October 4, 2007  10:06 PM ET
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I don't know how great the Eagles are necessarily, but I'll bet they could beat the Phillies best three-of-five.

Ouch, sorry.

The Eagles will be fine. Even if they got mauled by the Giants, ya gotta look at two things: 1. Winston Justice is not their starting tackle. Thomas does not get beat like that. Just a bizarre game. 2. Playing on the road on Sunday Night is not an easy game to win, so add that with the fact the NFC is far from top-heavy, I would say any team has a chance at this point.

October 4, 2007  10:07 PM ET
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LMAO @ "I don't know how great the Eagles are necessarily, but I'll bet they could beat the Phillies best three-of-five.

Ouch, sorry."

LOL

October 4, 2007  10:12 PM ET
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I agree I don't think there done if they were in the AFC maybe but the NFC pretty much sucks

October 4, 2007  11:34 PM ET
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The Saints suck monkey ballz right now but they are still my team. I think they still have a good shot at winning most of their remaining games, they have only lost 1 divisional game so far. Hey at least they didn't lose this week (lol had to do it). I don't see how the same 5 offensive linemen that protected their QB last year can be so horrible. So I don't think it's all Brees' fault that he's playin so poorly, he just has no time at all to make his reads. It doesn't help that he starts forcing throws when he is being chased around like a daughter running from her father in Kentucky. Last year they had their TE's helping in pass protection and this year they are using Johnson in the passing game because he's not a blocker. If they would just start putting someone in who can block at TE I think that would help most of their problems. And as far as the running game they need to see what Pierre Thomas can do, in the preseason he looked pretty damn tough.

October 4, 2007  11:42 PM ET
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Dawkins your Eagles don't have anything to worry about. Have you seen the NFC lately? They will not win their division due to the Cowboys playing like they are but the Redskins and the Giants aren't much to worry about. The Eagles will fight it out with the Lions for a Wild Card and should get in the playoffs as long as Westbrook stays healthy.

October 5, 2007  05:25 PM ET
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I'm here--kill the clock

October 6, 2007  12:57 PM ET
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Ugh, sorry dude, my modem went to ****, but I'm up and running now. Whenever you want to argue is ok with me...

October 6, 2007  04:35 PM ET
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P.S. thought it was great that I was losing 5-4 before my opponent even laid down an argument...

October 6, 2007  04:45 PM ET
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It sucks, I know

Annoys me when the votes are based on the topic rather than the argument

October 6, 2007  04:47 PM ET
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I understand why people do it, but everyone should really know not to do it, especially in a tournament. It's not like we have control over the topic.

October 6, 2007  07:52 PM ET
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5.5 Wins???

October 6, 2007  07:55 PM ET
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More than 5 or five and less.

I am saying they will win six games or more. Cava is saying they will win five games or less.

October 7, 2007  03:54 PM ET
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I'll put up an argument sometime today.

October 7, 2007  07:39 PM ET
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Cava, if you don't respond by tomorrow, you will have to forfeit this TD for the NFL Fan Club TD League.

October 8, 2007  12:34 AM ET
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Sorry guys, I was in Chicago all day.

 
October 9, 2007  06:05 PM ET
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I don't understand how you have Jacksonville in there as a team they have a good chance at beating while leaving St. Louis completely off the list.

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