Emotion is a powerful thing in sports. It can carry you past a more talented opponent or it can lead you to make a penalty or mental mistake that hurts your team because you are a bit too keyed up. It can also cause you to show off a bit too much and a bit too loud, rousing a sleeping giant in the process. The New Orleans Saints experienced all three last season. They played at a fever pitch in a Superdome filled with Katrina survivors and flew to the NFC Championship Game with the NFL's best offense. It was in that game that they got bitten by the other two emotional outbursts. They turned the ball over five times and committed seven penalties, falling behind 16-0 before Reggie Bush electrified the team with another spectacular play. He punctuated an 88-yard touchdown with a somersault and we'll never know if that turned a potential Saints win into a loss but a 16-14 Bears lead became a 39-14 whalloping and New Orleans was done.
How much did the Saints learn from their emotional season? They came from nowhere last year but won't have the same benefit this year. Everyone knows who Marques Colston is and knows Bush can play at this level and they know that a trip to the Crescent City won't be the cakewalk it was in recent years. They got every break to go their way from that first Monday Night matchup that returned them to New Orleans to the win over the Eagles in the playoffs. Did it run out for good in Chicago or will the Saints pick up where they left off?
Elsewhere in the division, the Panthers disappointed after being a trendy pick for the Super Bowl before the season began. That disparity was blamed on Jake Delhomme and he'll need to play better if the Panthers are to return to the playoffs this season. The Buccaneers are no more certain about their quarterback play. Jeff Garcia was excellent as Donovan McNabb's replacement but on a team with less overall talent than the Eagles will he soar as high? Atlanta would love to have either of those problems at quarterback instead of the one that they do have.
1. New Orleans - They probably won't get quite as many breaks this time around but they also might not need quite as many. Year Two of the Reggie Bush era has football fans drooling in anticipation of the things he might pull out of his back pocket. Deuce McCallister remains in the backfield to keep defenses honest and Drew Brees will use that to make the most of Colston and the rest of a talented if unheralded receiving corps. Defense remains a trouble spot. They forced the second fewest turnovers last season and didn't upgrade their playmaking all that much. What they lack in fireworks, though, they make up for in reliability. The offense has enough fireworks anyway.
2. Carolina - Steve Smith is a dynamic receiver, Julius Peppers a ferocious pass rusher and the running back tandem of DeShaun Foster and DeAngelo Williams is DeFinitely something to rely on. Otherwise, however, the Panthers are a pretty ordinary club. Defensively they are sound enough, if not terribly exciting, but the offense is trying to make some big changes. The run blocking scheme is different, the second and third receivers don't inspire. Worst of all, Delhomme makes too many bad decisions for a player as experienced as he is and seems to make a back-breaking mistake every week. New backup David Carr is better than Chris Weinke but that backhanded compliment doesn't mean he's the man to lead them back to the postseason. The problem is that Delhomme isn't that guy either.
3. Tampa Bay - If Jeff Garcia becomes another Rich Gannon; If Cadillac Williams returns to 2005 form; If free agents Luke Petitgout, Kevin Carter and Cato June are the missing links; If Derrick Brooks can stop the backsliding of age then the Bucs will be men my son. That's a lot of ifs. Jon Gruden remains committed to plugging in free agents instead of developing talent, a fool's errand that presupposes that the Bucs are on the brink of something big when they are actually more than a few parts away from a working race car. The truth is that they've gotten old around the field and are missing the kinds of gamebreakers that will enable them to run the passing game they need to get Williams back on track.
4. Atlanta - The last time a college coach stepped up to the NFL with a playbook crammed full of inventive offensive schemes he returned to South Carolina with his tail between his legs two years later. Bobby Petrino will try to better Steve Spurrier, something that actually seemed possible with Michael Vick running his wide-open Louisville offense. You probably heard that he won't be around this season or potentially the next which leaves Joey Harrington, an old Warrick Dunn and overrated players like DeAngelo Hall and John Abraham in a position where they need to excel. Even if they do, that's probably going to be worth four or five wins at best. If Atlanta's not the worst team in the league they'll be damned close.
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