A little Bush anti-intellectualism there for humor. Looks pretty dumb. But the truth is actually haven’t read her books. Or seen the movies. No brag, just fact.

If Brunell were the quarterback (how about going with our actual roster?), we’d probably be somewhere around 4-8. Maybe 5-7.

Maybe [gasp] 6-6. If Payton balanced his offense better, instead of always relying on Superman to save the day, that’s a real possibility. We do actually have a running game; Pierre Thomas is racking up yards at a 4.6 yard clip this season. In the second half of the Bucs game he averaged 4.0. When running up the middle—which everyone but Payton seems to know is the proper way to challenge a defense built on speed— he averaged 5.5. Deuce didn’t do too badly, either: 4.3 on three carries. It’s that “three carries” part that’s the problem—coupled with trying to run Reggie Bush at all, and insisting on end-arounds in short yardage situations (I bet the Bucs lost a pound apiece laughing at Payton for that). The problem isn’t that Drew is our only hope, but is after all only human; the problem is that Payton is our only playcaller, and is after all a nitwit.

As for the Saints defense, you profess to be unmoved by the fact that they “held” the Bucs to their average score. But think what that means: of all the teams that played the Bucs, half did a better job, half did worse. (Actually, the Saints were one of those teams that did better.) That’s the definition not of a bad defense, but an average one. You want the details on a bad one?

Detroit is 32nd in points allowed. 32nd in rushing yards allowed. 31st in total yards allowed. Opposing quarterbacks have a combined 110.2 passer rating. The Lions have 2 interceptions on the year. They have more defensive penalties than 24 other teams. They played the Bucs, and blew a 17-point lead to lose 38-20. THAT is a bad team…a team not even Brees could save. They are, in fact, the Detroit of the NFL.

With the 2 minutes remaining on their own 27, Payton and Brees could have patiently moved downfield with short yardage plays to set up for the win or the tie. They chose to go for bigger plays and it cost them the game.

With Brunell, they’d be 4-8. So Drew Brees is only 2 games better? No. The team is underperforming. They should be at least 9-3. But they aren’t, because of the coaching. This team hasn’t played over its head (won games they should not have won) since… I don’t know. None in the Payton era. Somebody correct me. M-E? When has this team exceeded reasonable, rational expectations?

This team is a lot better than they are being allowed to demonstrate. I believe that 100%.

We would not have won 4 games with our backups. Brees has won us at least 3 games himself. Thats why hes SuperBrees.

Our defense blows batman sized chunks as a whole. Injuries have factored into that but cannot be used as an excuse. We all know that to win you have to score more then you get scored on.. I mean even Madden can tell you that. But be honest with yourself everyone… you KNOW we have to score 30 to win and even if up 3 scores we get nervous.

Our defense the last game played very well… for their level. If you put a bunch of high schoolers on the field and let TB move the ball at will all game long you would look at the fact they are high schoolers and say they played well but just didnt have the skills to stop them. Thats our D. They play well enough to be average, on a good day. Most days they suck.

Brees … love him, but he tanked this last game. He played poorly ( i still hope he had the flu and just didnt admit it ), he cost us a comeback with his bad play.

Factor in that we claim he is the reason we win games… you have to balance that and asdmit he can lose a game too.