both thought they were going to roll over the Bucs Green Bay paid for their mistake and Miami (after their fans all predicted a huge blowout) barely got away with a win. Will the Saints also make the mistake of taking this team too lightly?

AC,
  All things considered, you bring up some very salient points, however, I respectfully disagree for several reasons:
1 – Our philosophys must be consistent. Both Sean Payton as Well as Greg Williams has stated on several occasions when asked about preparation for other teams that they are less (“not”) concerned about what other teams do, but what we need to do. So the points about the circumstances surrounding each team we’ve played & how they calculate into an unexpected, less than stellar outcome for an ELITE team, becomes somewhat irrelevant (again from a consistent philosophical standpoint).
2 – Both Sean Payton and Drew Brees have both touted the defense for picking up the slack in the past 240 minutes of play. I’m a big believer in defense, but my problem is, the offense is not showing up to play against teams that are not on their level. Either our offense is NOT what we are making it out to be OR we are not showing up on the job which leaves the defense no choice. Don’t get me wrong, I’m all for balance, but my point is the offense is NOT doing the job I know it can do. I’m not seeing an aggressive offense here, and yes I understand perfectly we cannot expect to do against Miami what we did against Oakland (??) at the beginning of the season.
Bottom line: Sean Payton needs to stop sounding complacent about getting the “W” despite mistakes and start sounding a bit more resolved about correcting the mistakes. We have exposed our weaknesses at the worst part of the season – the time when other teams are getting better and have had 240 minutes of tape to figure out how to beat us.

\\SIGNED\\ the only guy in the DC area with Saints Accessories

and I would rather win a Super Bowl with the flat out ugliest performance ever than lose with all the pretty stats and highlights. But, what’s more is, as you say, we are taking everyone’s best shot with a patchwork defensive secondary and our 2 best runstoppers not in the game. The only thing I really would like to see is GW make the changes on defense that he has been making at halftime a little earlier like in the 2nd qtr. I also think Pressley should start (or come in earlier) and Jenkins should get more time, and I am thinking that will happen this game.

Well done fellow Saints fan, you make good points and I’m in agreement!
GGM, Voodoo MD

When putting up 28 points in a game is considered a slow day, I’d say your team is having a damn good season. The Rams game was the closest game of the season, and they had to throw a hail mary to have a shot at winning. There are 30 other teams in the league that wish they could be in the position the Saints are. They’re just fine, and the only reason for the close games is that there’s a HUGE star next to the Saints on every team’s schedule that we play from here on out. Let’s face it, we’re everyone’s Superbowl this year.

I think we are so used to losing the close games and after our convincing wins in week 1 – 4 the last games where we the other team has been ‘in the game’ even though we won we thing there is something wrong! Well sure I would rather see us get back to the way we were playing in the first 4 games BUT…… we are winning the games every other year we would have LOST! I guess the “Wait till next year” mentality and the Monday mornings of how did we blow that have gotten to be a habit…. the team is breaking so many of it’s old habits and patterns… we need to get coached up on how to handle all this success, I mean would we be happy if we had lost those last 4 games… NO so maybe we do need some coaching in how to handle success, even when it’s not some convincing blowout!
Saintsational, you teach any classes like, “How To Root For A Winning Team” ? We are short on experience but long on willingness to learn…lol