When you gave the Saints schedule a glance before the season started, which games did you circle as, you know, “the scary games”? Eagles? Sure. Giants? Definitely! Falcons? But of course. Panthers? Always! We survived the first three of that group unscathed. But the fact that Carolina’s team is 3-4 and we’ll face them as one of two unbeatens in the league only makes this Sunday’s match-up even scarier. We’ve got a bulls eye on our back people!

In games like this, it’s record-schmecord. The Panthers seem to have some sort of black cat magic when it comes to us. Jake Delhomme has never lost a game in the Superdome and he’s 8-2 against the Saints. The Panthers have also won 6 of the last 8 meetings. Oh yeah, someone’s got our number. Even though the Ragin Cajun is showing the accuracy of Stevie Wonder in the pocket this season, we have to anticipate that this is the game he’ll try to use to launch a winning streak for his team. After all, they’re fresh off a whooping against last year’s NFC Champs, the Arizona Cardinals.

It’s not just Jake who gives me the shakes. That damn Steve Smith always knows how to spoil a perfectly good Sunday afternoon. He hasn’t been getting the ball as often as he’d like this year and he’s made that known. But when he does get his hands on hit, he is dangerous and explosive. He’s just the kind of player primed to put our “Saintsational” secondary to the test. From my talks with the folks at the Panthers blog Cat Crave earlier this week, it seems obvious that they’re confident their team can win. Based on history alone, I can’t really blame them for feeling that way.

Sean Payton has done a stellar job of instilling in his team a “one game at a time” mentality. But with the media hype reaching a fever pitch, you gotta think it’s getting tougher to keep his message from getting lost in the shuffle. I mean, Jon Gruden practically proposed to Drew Brees after Monday Night’s game. We have become the team to beat. Our NFC South rival knows that all too well.

So how do we break this hold the Panthers seem to have on us? How do we escape their clammy claws unblemished? It’s quite simple, you see. We attack them not like they’re a 3-4 weakling in our division. We play them with the same intensity we brought to the Giants. We bring that “battle of the unbeatens” swagger to the dome.

Although Sunday’s matchup has “trap game” written all over it, no one denies that that Saints are by far the better team. This will be a mental exercise for them more than anything and the Saints have proven this season that they are resilient, aggressive and hungry. This isn’t about the quest for the perfect regular season. Perfect regular seasons don’t win Super Bowls. Ain’t that right Tom Brady? This is about mental toughness, about not drinking your own Kool-Aid and getting lulled into a high fructose corn syrupy coma.

When we chant “Who Dat” this season, we’re not so much saying we can’t be beaten. We’re saying that we have what it takes to not beat ourselves. That’s how championship caliber teams operate. The Saints will prove they’re in that number come Sunday.

Sorry Jake, but your Cajun voodoo won’t outshine our Drew-Doo. Not this time around.

Saints 31
Panthers 20