Slow starts, multiple interceptions, an anemic offense and a much too giving run defense: they all stop here. This Sunday against the Bucs, the Saints will remind us all why they deserve to be at the top of the list of Super Bowl contenders, since apparently the undefeated record isn’t enough. They’ll get back to playing “2009 dominant Saints football” instead of that “I’m about to have a heart attack/stab myself in the eye” other brand of Saints football we’ve seen, well, all our lives. And it won’t be because the Bucs are an inferior team. It’ll be because they’re sick of all the doubt, speculation, and crap talk from the past couple weeks.

Not that they didn’t deserve it.

The Saints have played opponents with losing records in back to back weeks and have struggled early against each. Sure they pulled off the win in both but it’s how they won that had a lot of folks wondering if perhaps our Saints had hit a slump. Well, they can shut everybody up and prove everybody wrong by coming out strong against the battered, beat down Buccaneers….a team that literally puts the “uc” in “suck.” No more of this, “let’s wait until the second half to get our heads out of our butts” game plan. I’m talking up 20 by halftime. (Saints up 20 by halftime, just to be clear.)

Since those scurvy Bucs are hungry for a win and they were denied in heartbreaking fashion last week, the Saints won’t be able to get by with their “C” game. They need to be aggressive, focused and “undumb” if you will. They need to play like the undefeated, NFC powerhouse that they are. I refuse to let a division rival be the first to blemish our record, no matter how much I like the name “Raheem.”

Prediction:
Saints 34
Bucs 13