Yasinskas...."Saints should be able to beat both the Bucs and Falcons twice."

[michael89156]

Saints in commanding position?

 October, 11, 2011    10:16 AM ET

 Source:   ESPN
By Pat Yasinskas
 


New Orleans coach Sean Payton was asked Monday if the Saints would be in a commanding position in the NFC South if they defeat the Tampa Bay Buccaneers on Sunday.
 
"I don't think there's anything commanding at Week 5 of the regular season because you have 11 games left,’’ Payton said. “But I think we certainly try to place a value and understand the importance of games in the NFC and more importantly games in your own division. There's still no light at the end of the tunnel, there really can't be. I think that begins to take shape at the latter part of the season for the whole league."
 
Payton’s right. It’s a little premature to start talking like that. But not by much. The Saints are 4-1. The Buccaneers are 3-2, the Falcons are 2-3 and the Panthers are 1-4.
 
A win against Tampa Bay would give the Saints a two-game lead in the division. If that happens, I’m thinking the chances of New Orleans running away with the division are pretty good.
 
I’m looking at the Saints’ schedule and they’ve already played the hardest portion of it. If Tampa Bay and Atlanta continue playing like they have recently, the Saints should be able to beat them both twice.
 
Other than that, the only game on the schedule that looks really tough is a Dec. 4 contest with Detroit. But that is in the Mercedes-Benz Superdome, which could make things a little easier for the Saints.
 
There was a time when I thought the NFC South title would come down to the Dec. 26 game between the Falcons and Saints. That still could happen, but it would require the Saints stumbling a bit and the Falcons suddenly finding themselves and go on a roll.
 
If things continue going the way they are, the Saints will win the NFC South with ease.

[BucNY]

Well it's hard to argue with that. My only hope is that we have split with the saints in the last 2 years when they should have been able to beat us twice as well.

We're going to need a lot of several things, pass rush in the most important IMO.

[jerseybucsfan]

He's already written the Bucs off while he's still talking about the Falcons having a chance. Proves he's biased and a jerk. Falcons are a game behind us. Yeah, if we keep playing badly the Saints will run away with it. Heck, we won't win another game. I can easily see a scenario in which the Falcons finish ahead of us. But he's already making out like it's happened already, almost like he's rooting for the Saints to run away with it.
Everything he writes has a negative Bucs slant. It's bad enough getting that from the local guys, but he represents the national scene and the division. He does a lot of harm to us as a fanbase and the Bucs as a brand being in the position he's in.

[Morgan]

Hard to believe that we opened up as a 5 point underdog (now 4.5) for this weekend's game. Guess no one knows that Blount is out, that we practically have no worthy backup running game and we got our asses handed to us by the Niners. Now we're playing arguably the NFL second best team.

This could get ugly.

[alldaway]

I don't see how the Saints sweep both teams.  To me, the Saints are very vulnerable given the amount of points they surrender.

[jerseybucsfan]

Agreed, alldaway. But it's interesting what the national perception is after last week. It's still all over the map. Sando on espn.com is my favorite, though. He has us four spots below the Falcons, below even the Seahawks and ranked 20th. A bit extreme, but for Buc haters it's a feeding frenzy.

[Hate]

Hard to believe that we opened up as a 5 point underdog (now 4.5) for this weekend's game. Guess no one knows that Blount is out, that we practically have no worthy backup running game and we got our asses handed to us by the Niners. Now we're playing arguably the NFL second best team.

This could get ugly.

As much as I "Hate" to agree with you, I have to. No Blount = no chance.

[Benchwarmer#1]

I wouldn't have believed that before the 49ers blowout, but now I think it's a major problem.

Freeman has already been off.
Rah is allowing Olsen to call whatever lackluster plays he wants.
They won't spread the oppositions defense.
Blount, Graham, McCoy, Price, Stocker, and K2 are all hurt in one form or another.
IF they thought Gore was fast, wait until they see Sproles.
If Alex slapped massive yards down, what makes anyone think our CB's or LB's are stopping Brees?

Seriously, when people said that last game would make or break the Bucs, it was true. Because the rest of the season they're going to be reelling. Not to say they can't overcome, but let's face it, it sure is an uphill climb now no matter what the 5 game record is. Not only do they have to get over the mental aspects of getting trounced, they also have to be better than what they showed in San Fran against a playoff caliber team in the Saints, then later the Falcons.

[MiltonMack21]

Saints are going to beat this sorry team like a drum both times. Better players, better coach.

[Benchwarmer#1]

Saints are going to beat this sorry team like a drum both times. Better players, better coach.

You know Blount is out and Graham is questionable, right? An that Lumpkin will probably be starting? K2 and McCoy might be out also. Price and Benn might be starting, but they're both in pain.

...I mean, sure, their HC has more experience, along with the rest of their team, but let's not go overboard and give credit were credit isn't due. They haven't played yet. As of right now, per your attitude towards this game, yeah, they're getting whooped this go around, I agree. There are just to many bad things happening all at once for them to succeed atm. Basically a "perfect storm" if you will.

If you want to blame anyone, blame the Glazer sons. I'm exhausted from hearing all this whining about Rah and Dom. Fact is, Dom has to have the ok of the owners to spend, and Rah, you can't blame him for taking a job that pays 300,000 per year, when he was previously paid 60,000 a year. In both cases, if you don't like Rah or Dom, you should be looking farther up the totem pole.

[MiltonMack21]

Benchwarmer. They will beat the Yucs like a drum. The end is near (hopefully) for Raheem and Dum.

[The Anti-Java]

Benchwarmer. They will beat the Yucs like a drum. The end is near (hopefully) for Raheem and Dum.

The Bucs beat the Saints last year without McCoy.  Hopefully they can repeat that .

[Spoolios]

Is Blount definitely out?

"If Tampa Bay and Atlanta continue playing like they have recently, the Saints should be able to beat them both twice."

I can't imagine how anyone, including everyone in the Bucs organization, would disagree with this.

[JavaRay]

Blount being out is no big deal if you ask me.   

[GrimmReaper]

It just doesn't work this way in the NFL. Just because SF beat us 48,000-0 doesn't mean we can't beat the Saints. First off we are at home and we match up much better vs. the Saints than we did vs. SF. We can run the ball on the Saints. That will open up play action. Even our anemic offense can pick up yards against NO's defense. Freeman just can't be a turnover machine.

I'm actually more concerned about our defense right now. The loss of Gerald McCoy is going to be huge. We need Roy Miller and Frank Okam to step it up and we need our LB's to stop the run. If we can't stop the run we have no chance against NO. If we need to stack the box, Brees will clean up. Obviously, our secondary needs to play better this week, and I think they will. We should have a legit shot at winning this game as long as we don't lose the turnover battle.