2008 New Orleans Saints Over Under 8.5 wins?

Current line at THEGREEK:
<TABLE borderColor=#000000 cellSpacing=0 width=620 border=0><TBODY><TR bgColor=#003366><TD vAlign=top width=120>9/7/2008 12:00 PM</TD><TD vAlign=top width=500>New Orleans Saints regular season wins Team listed must play all 16 regular season games for action.</TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE><TABLE borderColor=#000000 cellSpacing=0 width=620 border=0><TBODY><TR><TD align=middle width=55>739</TD><TD width=300>Over 8½ reg season wins </TD><TD width=65> -140 </TD><TD width=200></TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE><TABLE borderColor=#000000 cellSpacing=0 width=620 border=0><TBODY><TR><TD align=middle width=55>740</TD><TD width=300>Under 8½ reg season wins </TD><TD width=65> +120 </TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>




Currently favored to win the division, I would assime over 8 wins if that happens, which would = a winner.

<TABLE borderColor=#000000 cellSpacing=0 width=620 border=0><TBODY><TR bgColor=#003366><TD vAlign=top width=120>8/14/2008 12:00 PM</TD><TD vAlign=top width=500>Team to win the 2008 NFC South Division</TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE><TABLE borderColor=#000000 cellSpacing=0 width=620 border=0><TBODY><TR><TD align=middle width=55>1375</TD><TD width=300>New Orleans Saints </TD><TD width=65> +115 </TD><TD width=200></TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE><TABLE borderColor=#000000 cellSpacing=0 width=620 border=0><TBODY><TR><TD align=middle width=55>1376</TD><TD width=300>Carolina Panthers </TD><TD width=65> +285 </TD><TD width=200></TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE><TABLE borderColor=#000000 cellSpacing=0 width=620 border=0><TBODY><TR><TD align=middle width=55>1377</TD><TD width=300>Atlanta Falcons </TD><TD width=65> +1485 </TD><TD width=200></TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE><TABLE borderColor=#000000 cellSpacing=0 width=620 border=0><TBODY><TR><TD align=middle width=55>1378</TD><TD width=300>Tampa Bay Buccaneers </TD><TD width=65> +165 </TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>

That's my favorite futures play of this year.I love the over. I figure them at 10-6 at worst.

They are much improved!

9-7

Nobody can say at the moment if the Saints will even come up with 4 starting def backs from the group they have now. Injuries and just plain doubts about players abilities make this a HUGE question mark and certainly 1 which decides this bet..
My best source at camp says he's VERY worried about the secondary and noone has impressed him so far except for new addition Porter who is already on the sidelines injured.
They cant outscore everybody, sooner or later you have to stop the long ball and there is no sign yet the saints can do that...

If Brees has a season ending injury in preseason and they sign Favre, this team could win 12 games or more.

7-9 or 8-8. I have them as the most overrated team in the league. There just isn't much about this team to like. Average WR's at best, a good, but not dominating QB, average running until Bush proves he can be an RB in the NFL and a terrible defense.

Over

I just voted under...>Drew Brees is the most over-rated QB in the league right now.

shdw01 said:

I just voted under...>Drew Brees is the most over-rated QB in the league right now.

Click to expand...

No way. That title goes to a guy name Carson Palmer.

Fishhead said:

If Brees has a season ending injury in preseason and they sign Favre, this team could win 12 games or more.

Click to expand...

So Farve is that much better then Brees huh?

over !:toast:

Going over if you put a gun to my head...real sleeper in Pierre Thomas RB...

this is the easiest wins total on the board...

1-1,

Saints offense not efficient against Washington

Posted by [URL="http://blog.nola.com/jeffduncan/about.html"]Jeff Duncan, The Times-Picayune[/URL] September 15, 2008 6:08AM

Categories: Saints

The Associated PressSaints quarterback Drew Brees is sacked by Jason Taylor of the Redskins.
LANDOVER, MD. -- The tendency is to blame the defense when a team allows 455 yards and squanders a nine-point lead in the final six minutes as the Saints did Sunday.
But that's too easy, too superficial.
The New Orleans Saints' offense is as responsible for the 29-24 loss to the Washington Redskins as its beleaguered defense, if not more so.
For most of the game, the Saints' offense sputtered and bumbled around FedEx Field like a broken-down Yugo. They produced more turnovers (three) than sustained drives (two) and a week after unleashing three "explosive" big plays on the Tampa Bay Buccaneers managed just one play of more than 20 yards.
If not for two big special teams plays -- Troy Evans' fumble recovery on a second-quarter punt return and Reggie Bush's punt return for a touchdown in the third quarter -- the offense would've produced only 10 points.
That's not good enough, especially from a unit that's considered one of the most diversified, talented and high-powered in the NFL.
You could almost forgive the defense for its failures. After all, the unit was missing three regulars and fielded three rookies in its starting unit.
When Aaron Glenn went down with an ankle injury in the third quarter, the Saints finished the game with three rookies and seldom-used second-year corner Usama Young on the field.
To expect this collection of newbies to hold the fort for four quarters on an afternoon where the heat index climbed to triple figures on the field was unrealistic.
No, the undermanned defense needed all the help it could get Sunday and received woefully little.
"Turnovers and rushing yardage told the tale today," Saints Coach Sean Payton said.
Ted Jackson/The Times-PicayuneThe tandem of Reggie Bush, Pierre Thomas and Deuce McAllister gained 55 yards on 19 carries.
The Saints managed 55 yards rushing on 19 carries. Among Reggie Bush, Pierre Thomas and Deuce McAllister, they produced just two gains of more than 5 yards.
A strong rushing attack was critical to the Saints' chances of success. With veteran defensive starters Scott Fujita, Randall Gay and Roman Harper sidelined with injuries, the Saints' best defense figured to be its offense. Instead, their offense was their defense's worst enemy.
The offense sustained only two drives of merit: a seven-play, 59-yard drive for a field goal just before halftime and an 11-play, 80-yard touchdown march to open the second half.
They gained one or zero first downs on their final four drives after the opening series of the second half.
That left the defense on the field way too much. Mercilessly outfitted in black jerseys and down to just 20 healthy bodies, the defense eventually wore down in the fourth quarter. The Redskins gained 186 yards, seven first downs and held the ball for 9:15 of the final 15 minutes.
Asked to explain the most disappointing part of the come-from-ahead loss, tight end Jeremy Shockey didn't hesitate: "Just how we put our defense in the situations that we did. They played a great game and worked hard. We didn't keep them off the field."
In all, the Saints' defense was on the field for 15 more plays and 8 1/2 more minutes than their Redskins counterparts. No wonder the Washington defenders had enough energy to jump and dance at the line of scrimmage and energize the crowd on the Saints' final offensive possession.
"It's disappointing," quarterback Drew Brees said. "We've got a lot of work to do offensively."
Afterward, Bush said the Saints might have been guilty of being too conservative down the stretch, but it wasn't the play-calling or the scheme that did them in. It was the execution.
Nowhere were the failures more acute than in the fourth quarter, when the Saints' gained 44 yards on 12 plays over three series. Those drives ended like this: punt, punt, interception.
The final play in each drive was a killer.
An incomplete pass to David Patten on third-and-5.
A no gain on third-and-1.
And an interception on a tip.
As Payton wisely pointed out, those failed conversions cost the Saints potentially six minutes in time of possession, enough, maybe, to re-energize the defense for a big stop down the stretch.
"That's important, especially on a hot day like today," Brees said. "Guys were cramping up, and without a lot of depth (on defense), we didn't sustain drives and play that complementary game that we talk about."
And after a couple of questions about play-calling options and personnel groupings on that critical third-and-1, Payton cut to the chase: "If we can't line up and get third-and-1, then we're going to struggle this year."
And they're unquestionably going to struggle if they make as many turnovers as they did Sunday.
The Saints are 1-8 under Payton when they commit three or more turnovers, as they did against Washington's aggressive defense.
This team, with its injury-riddled, youth-laden defense, simply can't afford for the offense to make those kinds of mistakes and expect to survive.
Until Tracy Porter and Sedrick Ellis mature and Fujita, Gay, Harper and Mike McKenzie return to full health, the Saints must rely on their offense to lead the way.
They're going to have to outscore teams to win, starting with the Broncos next Sunday.
There's simply no other option.
Joe Johnson, La'Roi Glover and Sam Mills and Rickey Jackson aren't walking through that door any time soon.
. . . . . . .
Jeff Duncan can be reached at jduncan@timespicayune.com or 504.826.3404