32 Teams in 30-Some Days - New Orleans Saints

The New Orleans Saints

Mr. Big: Is THIS the stupid mother who tailed you uptown?
James Bond: There seems to be some mistake. My name is...
Mr. Big: Names is for tombstones, baby! Y'all take this honkey out and WASTE HIM! NOW!
- Live and Let Die

Last year, amid high hopes and coming off an appearance in the NFC Championship game, the Saints had given New Orleans a new spirit and some hope for the future. However, after and 0-4 start their playoff chances sunk faster than the 9th Ward – ok, even I feel bad about writing that.

However, that was last year.

The Verdict
This year I love the Saints... love them. Which of course means they're going to go 4-12. But I do think they'll be back to where they were two years ago, and probably better than that. The Saints made some big improvements on defence, which was a huge problem for them last year.

The question this year is going to be the running game. NFL rule prohibit Duece McAllister from getting robotic knees, so he may be ineffective - if he's even available at all - after coming off about 18 knee surgeries in the last 3 years. That means the burden is going to fall on Reggie Bush again - and so far in his career he has show that he's really not up to that challenge. I think this is the make or break year for Reggie Bush - and he'll be out to prove he's not a glorified third-down back.

This was the closest Bush came to making a meaningful impact last year: