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Bucs should be favored in NFC South

Posted Jul 15, 2008 by Ira Kaufman

Updated Jul 16, 2008 at 12:53 PM

The Saints appear to be the trendy pick to win the NFC South this fall, but there are real concerns in New Orleans about whether Sean Payton’s club can recapture its magical 2006 form.

An 0-4 start doomed New Orleans to a 7-9 finish last year and the defense was awful, yielding at least 31 points six times. The defense wasn’t very good in 2006 either, but the NFL’s No. 1 offense routinely bailed out the Saints as they reached the NFC title game at Soldier Field.

The Saints have made some significant defensive pickups, signing free agent LB Jonathan Vilma and drafting DT Sedrick Ellis, but the secondary is still lousy. DE Charles Grant, who underperformed last year, is facing legal woes and the retirement of free agent LB Dan Morgan doesn’t help.

Compounding the problem in New Orleans is the uncertainty surrounding RB Deuce McAllister, who was the offensive hammer in ‘06. While flashy Reggie Bush was more exciting, it was McAllister who provided the tough inside yards that opened things up for Bush and WR Marques Colston. McAllister is still recovering from a devastating knee injury that ripped the guts from Payton’s playbook in 2007.

Bush has already proven he is not a stellar No. 1 back, so if McAllister struggles, the burden will be heavy once again for Drew Brees, who led the league with 652 pass attempts. The defection of C Jeff Faine to Tampa hurts up front, where the Saints do an outstanding job protecting Brees.

Payton’s a sharp coach, but the Saints have some huge question marks, particularly on defense.

The Bucs boast the best defense in the division, by far, and Tampa Bay has done a nice job of retooling on the fly. The only returning defensive starters from 2006 are DT Chris Hovan, OLB Derrick Brooks, CB Ronde Barber and S Jermaine Phillips. That’s quite an overhaul in a short period of time for Monte Kiffin’s proud unit.

While the Falcons rebuild under a new coach and GM, Carolina faces a season of desperation.

Coach John Fox and GM Marty Hurney survived a second straight disappointing season and the Panthers gambled in the draft by trading a future No. 1 pick to move up for T Jeff Otah. The Panthers have been a conservative organization, so the draft-day deal illustrates a new sense of urgency in Charlotte.

If QB Jake Delhomme returns fully from elbow surgery, the passing game should improve markedly, but the Panthers still don’t run effectively and a once-feared pass rush has withered away. DE Julius Peppers went AWOL, frustrating owner Jerry Richardson, who had hoped Peppers would embrace a more visible leadership role.

Add it all up and the Bucs have fewer issues than their division peers as they seek to become the first NFC South champion to repeat.

—Ira Kaufman
 

Reader Comments

Por (Charels Fiske) on July 22, 2008 (Suggest removal)

also we weren’t hopelessly hanging on to a 9-7.  If we were to start all of our players and play them we would have finished 11-5.  Don’t hate on us cause you all sucked so bad that we could rest our players and coast the last 2 games.  If you all were any good last year and gave us some competition we would have finishe 11-5.

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Por (Shawn Golan) on July 22, 2008 (Suggest removal)

Jesse…what’s with you and “franchise guys?”  Who cares about having a big name guy…its not necessary.  The most important thing is having a TEAM!  See, when the Saints lost Deuce, they basically wrote off the whole season.  For all the “franchise guys” you claim to have, none of them could save you last season.  So, where are all your “franchise” players now?

As opposed to that, Tampa lost a “franchise” RB and LT, but kept winning.  We don’t depend on one guy.  We lose Caddy and in comes the 3rd string guy to rush for 900 yards and 10 TDs.  That’s how you build a football team.

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Por (todd) on July 22, 2008 (Suggest removal)

Jesse,
You guys are right, you guys had to make all kinds of moves and break the bank just to get a starting corp. Us in the other hand we have Depth in all possitions on O and on D that can come in and get the job done “thanks to what we done this offseason”. Do you know what Depth means ? I really don’t think you do. And we have all kinds of money left.
If any of your starters go down YOU HAVE NOBODY !! SAD BUT TRUE. I understand your frustation, we had to go through the same thing before. What we have now we can still come in Whoop some more ##### and win another division title.

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Por (todd) on July 22, 2008 (Suggest removal)

Next season we will have an abscure amount of money. We have all kinds of draft picks next season where the talent at WR and QB will be so much better than this season “this season was all about lineman”. Sorry to hear that you guys gave up half of your picks for Shockey. What a bust !! Also I hear from the “COMENTATORS ON ESPN” lol that the Free Agentcy at WR will be outragous. And we will have a boat load of money.

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Por (todd) on July 22, 2008 (Suggest removal)

ref813,

You left out our rookie LB that is going to make an impact in this league and he is only 20 yrs.old “Little Derrick” Geno Hayes.
  THE SAINTS ARE TOAST !! AND EVERYBODY ELSE THAT IS IN OUR DIVISION !!

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Por (Bucsrule) on July 22, 2008 (Suggest removal)

Jesse, Dude, you are the dumbest person to ever post on this website. Hey dit for brains, don’t go to the bathroom. You run your big mouth, about another city’s team & your stupid. The Bucs beat your team 2 times. Carolina finished ahead of the Saints. Walk the walk, then talk the talk. Right now you haven’t proved anything but how big your mouth is.  Picks & predictions don’t mean a thing

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Por (Bucsrule) on July 22, 2008 (Suggest removal)

Jesse, people would not single you out & make fun of you if you weren’t so stupid & full of it. I read posts here all the time & rarely say a thing, but I couldn’t help it this time. You Saints fans are dilusional. You lost twice. Jesse, you need to get a Plasectomy. Surgery to put a piece of plexiglass in your stomach so you can see where you are going because your head is so far up your #####.

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Por (CaliSaint) on July 22, 2008 (Suggest removal)

Ref813, is your first line of prodding directed at me a question or a comment? It looks like a comment followed with a ?...Who didnt go to College here? The point about Talib was that he was told after a dirty test that he couldn’t test dirty again for the year and he tested again only two months later. Lucily this League doasnt care about what players do as long as they perform. After two more dirty test, the first being within 6 months, then you will know what I am referring to.

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Por (todd) on July 22, 2008 (Suggest removal)

I just took a glance at the Saints schedule and my prediction is that you guys will improve this season to 8-8.
After we pounce you in week 1.  The Redskins and Broncos are going to pounce you all after we do. You better hope your starters are going to be healthy after the first three games. I’m not “selling dreams like you Saint fans are” I’m being realistic. You will start off 0-3.  The Packers,Chargers,and the Vikings are going to crush you also.  Week 4 you better watch out for the 49ers also Frank Gore is a brusing RB that can hurt you or anybody.

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Por (Shawn Golan) on July 22, 2008 (Suggest removal)

CaliSaint…why are you so wrapped up with Talib’s dirty test.  I couldn’t care less about what the kid likes to do for a good time.  I wish the league felt the same way.  That said, he’s been clean for about a year and has pledged to stay that way.  If he screws up…fine…we’ll deal with it.  Besides, for now, he is just the nickel corner, so I’m sure we can survive without him.

That said…he’d easily be a starter on your defense, if not the #1.  The kid is a rare talent, and would have been a lottery pick if not for some “character” issues.  Let the nonsense go…this is for football talk, not who smokes what.

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Por (CaliSaint) on July 22, 2008 (Suggest removal)

All this talk about predictions. Dr. Z from SI predicted the Vikings would win the SB this year. Fact is predictions are worth less than the paper they are written on. Lets all be honest, the answer is only 6 weeks away. After the Saints crush the Clucks on the 7th I dont want any home/away or the first game of the year excuses….....Also I read something along the lines of the Clucks TE position is more solid than ours even with Shockey? Come the eff on. That is just Downs Syndrome…

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Por (CaliSaint) on July 22, 2008 (Suggest removal)

Can anyone go into any more detail about another great young Clucks player that just got tasered this morning? Fantastic character from the front office shining brightly once again. Goes to show that your owner is more concerned with the European Premier League than the NFL.

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Por (Bucsrule) on July 22, 2008 (Suggest removal)

Shockey v. Alex Smith. Smith is younger, smarter, faster, stronger, catches & blocks better. Complete team player and not a big complainer. Troupe, better all around. Gilmore better blocker. Stevens, the man who sealed your fate in Week 13. All you sc#mbags make sure to come back now after your Aints Week 1 loss. Nobody sucks like N.O. Sucked so hard for so long. The champions of sucking. The alltime basement of the NFL. Aints are like 1 for 40 on the winning season column.

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Por (CaliSaint) on July 22, 2008 (Suggest removal)

Even this homer Ira Kaufman thinks the bucs arent in the top tier of teams in the league. He’s got NO and TB in the 2nd teir catagory. Trailing the Vikings? I dont care how good the Vikes D is, they still have TJack as their QB. Even this guy thinks that it takes more than a great D and running game to get all the way. So more for football experts huh?
http://www2.tbo.com/content/2008/jul/20/sp-super-bowl-xliii-whos-got-a-shot-whos-dreaming/?sports

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Por (Bucsrule) on July 22, 2008 (Suggest removal)

Caliscum, you are referring to third string safety, bottom of the depth chart, might not even make the 53 man roster, and better than every player in your secondary, Nicholson. He was trying to help a friend, made a mistake, first time offender. Relevance?????????????????? Sean Peyton would kill to have him. Gone Fishin

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Por (CaliSaint) on July 22, 2008 (Suggest removal)

When Alex Smith makes the 4 Pro Bowls then you can boast that comment guy. Ben Troupe was so good that he was jettsioned out of Tennessee although he was suppost to be the safety net for VY, yeah he’s real good…..J. Stevens was so good he dropped 3 easy first downs and a TD in the SB when he was with Seattle, thats why hes notthere anymore after being a first round pick. Not to mention his checkered past…....The other guys are nobody squared

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Por (Shawn Golan) on July 22, 2008 (Suggest removal)

CaliSaint, before you start harping about the Bucs having guys with bad character, I’d take a look at your team first.  Didn’t one of your defensive linemen just get indicted for manslaughter?  Oh yeah…Charles Grant.  You must not have heard about that or you wouldn’t have even thought about trying to talk character.  Putz!

Just so you know, I’ll take a pot-smoking CB and one rowdy Safety over a killed any day…and twice on Sunday.

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Por (CaliSaint) on July 22, 2008 (Suggest removal)

Shawn Golan, before you go spouting off at the lip try reading some of my earlier posts where I brought that to light in great detail. Do some research huh? Maybe read all of my posts before you go blowing air about the most recent. Go take a look and let me know. How bout it chief!

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Por (CaliSaint) on July 22, 2008 (Suggest removal)

Still no mention of Steven’s past? Why not? Your management was so wise in its infinite wisdom that it offered a contract to Stevens just two days after the Seatle Times printed a very lenghty article about Jeremy and his college antics…..Just two days! Learn to read into something prior to commenting. I attended Washington and was there while Jermey was there. Not a stand up guy

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Por (ref813) on July 22, 2008 (Suggest removal)

Jesse, I would say that Ruud, June, Phillips, Jackson, White and/or Haye, Faine, Sears, Trueblood, Joseph and Graham are all franchise players.  If you really kept up with the Bucs, you would agree.  We could use a few more franchise players at “skill” positions, but I think we’ll be fine with the O we have.
By the way, Jesse, everyone picked the Saints last year, too.

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Por (ref813) on July 22, 2008 (Suggest removal)

Calisaint, are you retarded?  This league cares nothing about failed tests and minor arrests?  That’s not the case since Goodell took over.  Who hasn’t been to college?  I doubt your fellow supporter Jesse has and you and several others are certainly possibilities.  Any sentence ending in a question mark written by me is either a question or a restatement of a ridiculous comment posted by someone else.  I can’t put a period after such statements since they don’t deserve such a punctuation.  Keep enjoying our site.  I still haven’t found any reason to go checking out the sites covering your team.

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Por (ref813) on July 22, 2008 (Suggest removal)

I don’t care if our players are stand-up guys.  We signed Stevens because we pay him little and he is good.  This is the NFL, not church.  I never liked the player misconduct.  Then, Goodell stepped in and started suspending all sorts of people who had been in trouble more than once, even for minor offenses.  Now, I’d rather let players play and role models be role models instead of forcing both roles upon players.  Some are both.  Some aren’t.  Let them play.  I can’t stand Goodell.  I hope he’s having an affair or something so that we can soon find out that he’s a hypocrite.

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Por (CaliSaint) on July 22, 2008 (Suggest removal)

Here we go again Ref, read my posts. I ATTENDED WASHINGTON THE SAME TIME AS JEREMY STEVENS! A Collgege grad who cant read? Must have stayed home to go to school…...Dont worry Ref,  you will see a post from me following Sep. 7th. he question is what lame duck excuses you will be coming up with….You and BigCokFan and Tood PSJ. Can hardly wait broseph

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Por (CaliSaint) on July 22, 2008 (Suggest removal)

Ref you’re too funny. Faine a franchise guy huh? So clutch we let you give him 40+mm. Haye? As in “Haye, who the eff is this nobody?” Then saying you dont care about character guys. You should apply for the Clucks GM job…...

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Por (BigBucfan) on July 22, 2008 (Suggest removal)

Cali, you’re a lucky guy. You live so far away and can talk so much trash with no consequence. You throw guys under the bus for weed, which at least 2/3 of our population has smoked at least a time or two. Then you post my name in reference to Coke. Are you a coke head hypocrite or is it Co_k you like and you live in SF & take it in the backslide. I don’t know, but you keep referring to it. Please don’t discrace that populace with your self indulgence. They are all far better people than you, that don’t go into other peoples houses & pick fights. It’s just a good thing you aren’t here punk. Keep talkin bigmouth or should I say cokmouth that you like so much. Hey perv, didn’t I see you on that Dateline preditor roundup.

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