"This is the year!" Open Thread

I am ready to forget and start over. Little to the left there .. Ahhh sweet forgetfulness.

Go Saints!

You be cautious…

Our defense better not be. Aggressive, hard hitting, AWARE of the ball. That is what I want out defense to be and …. could it be possible they will be?.

Our offense is the best. Brees can throw to anyone that will commit to catching it. So those bum errr less then stellar catchers out there need to work on that and they too can have season like Moore.

Our kickers showed they could be solid. A repeat of their performance last year, well the end of it only PLEASE!, would remove a lot of fear of game endings.

All in all.. I feel that the only way the Saints cannot challenge for the Super Bowl is… if they remove themselves from the game… as they have done year after year.

if they remove themselves from the game… as they have done year after year.

Ain’t it the truth?

Yes, I will also be cautiously optimistic. I’ve already decided not to say “I really think the Saints can win it all this year— Super Bowl!!” to my Cowboys fan boss. In August. That was dumb. I probably jinxed it for us all. Sorry about that. Zippin’ it. Tic a lock.

Did they want to, you know, wait until you guys at least get through your draft before they declare that? Not that you guys won’t improve and can’t deserve that ranking, but this early? Color me perplexed (which I believe is a shade of blue).

while there’s obviously no concrete evidence to support where the Saints and the Falcons end up relative to each other, I can think of plenty of reasons why the Falcons might not repeat the past year’s success. Most notably, Michael Turner’s ridiculous burden in the running game could easily spell an injury (Deuce fans should know), thanks to the inexplicable minimizing of Jerious Norwood. Should the wideouts not overperform for Ryan again next year, it could be the Roddy White show, which, like the Marques Colston show of the 2007 Saints season, will only take you so far.

Defensively, Milloy and Brooking both look to be on their last legs, and however unquantifiable emotional leadership is, it’s a good thing to have. John Abraham’s production will probably get a little more sporadic, also. Hopefully for y’all Lofton’s as good a leader as he is a player.

The Saints, meanwhile, really only need to upgrade their pass rush and their secondary; just improving to mediocre could easily result in a repeat of 2006’s success.

On the other hand, the Falcons could be even better than last year. If you guys pick up a receiving tight end like Chase Coffman, keep Turner healthy, and start using Norwood more, you could have one of the most dynamic offenses in the NFL. Your defense, meanwhile, has some great young talent (Curtis Lofton’s a star, and the trade for Foxworth was one of the most underrated of the year) and could be on the top tier with a more consistent pass rush.

Basically what I’m saying is that it’s all a crapshoot. Naturally, though, I hope you guys lose every game.

are only a reflection of how Vegas thinks people will bet—not how they’re predicting the season will actually go. They couldn’t give a rat’s ass who wins…they’re just trying to limit their liability at this stage. So many people are betting on New England and (for some reason that God alone knows) Dallas that one dollar will get you only 8 or 9. More people are betting on the Saints than on Atlanta—that’s why we’re listed above you. It’s just the betting public making stupid decisions, like they always do.

Me, I’m going with Detroit. They fell so hard I think they’ll bounce.