First let me say that I know you have to play the games. Speculation is worth zip—unless you're good enough to sell your picks online. My point is that nobody knows better than a Saints fan that anybody can win or lose on any given Sunday!
Now, that being said, you Buc fans are going to have to explain why you're feeling so superior to the Saints. What measuring stick are you using? Last year...well, that was last year, if that counts, let's count the year before, and then you'd have to shut up.
Here are a few facts and figures from NOW. They are only a compilation of various professionals' opinions, but they are unbiased and informed, so let's see what we got.
Fantasy Values
Now, as most of us know, FF projects values for each team down to each player for the season. It's not written in stone, but it ends up being pretty darn accurate each year, barring injury or arrest.
Offense
I took the top-10 offensive players for each team off of Fox's FF site. I added up each player's fantasy value for these 10 players, and here's what I got:
- B/R Ticket Guide
New Orleans Saints' top-10 offensive players value is.....1117.14 pts
Tampa Bay's top-10 offensive players value is.................908.75 pts
Gee, it looks like Fox's experts and computers say we're 208.39 points better...no reason for feeling superior here TB!
Defense
A bit of a surprise here, the Buc's have taken a huge drop in FF value here from last year. Last year, their D was valued at around 117 points...not so much this year. Let's see:
New Orleans Saints' Defense and Special Teams' value is.....73.61 pts
Tampa Bay's Defense and Special Teams' value is.................71.41 pts
Dammm, you guys have lost stock and are beneath us...again.
OK, now lets look at the real world.
Las Vegas oddsmakers are setting the following lines at this time:
Next week's game between Saints and Buc's.....Saints by 3 to 3.5 pts....ouch
Odds to win NFC South this year....... Saints are 6/5 Buc's are 7/5....damm we got ya here
Odds to win NFC Championship......... Saints are 8/1 Buc's are 12/1....ohhh that's gotta hurt
Odds to win Super Bowl.................. Saints are 18/1 Buc's are 25/1....pow! ouch again guys
Now, I know...we have to play the games, but the purpose of this blog is...WHERE DO THE BUCANEERS GET THE IDEA THAT THEY ARE THE BETTER TEAM...NO ONE ELSE THINKS SO!
The Buc's do have an easier schedule, playing only four playoff teams this year, while the Saints are playing five playoff teams...I don't care...every intelligent analyst says the Saints are the better team!
Now, they said that last year, too, and I will admit, the proof is in the pudding. The first game of the season is gonna set the tone, although it doesn't really matter until we see the final record and who moves on deepest in the playoff's.
That's all I really care about...anyway, I like our chances to be playing football this postseason, while the Buc's are trying to surf on those little waves off of Treasure Island.
GGM ready for action, sir! Stay Frosty, boyze, the Saints are coming to a theatre near you!
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2 months ago
It want be long, and we find out if the Saints are ready to march back in.
2 months ago
The Saints were a better team last year, they just had a down year and the Bucs took advantage.
2 months ago
You can throw all that FF stuff out the window. The Bucs have the deepest team in their history. They have three RB's that can start, three QB's that can start, four WR's, 4 TE's, so much Defensive line strength that they're trading it away. Three starting CB's, Four starting safeties, must I go on. The Saints are one or two injuries away from sub-500 again. It's a team game and we have a team.
from 2 months ago
Depth at quarterback means nothing when you are facing Drew Brees. Sorry Bucs fans, but New Orleans is really the better team.
2 months ago
The FF point value system is solid. If you played you would know that. The odds makers in Las Vegas are solid, their decisions are not blinded by Fan Faith.
Your QB's are all 2nd string types, Jeff Garcia is not 100% and if he was he's still no Bree's, look at his numbers last year, he won't even repeat those this year.
Your running backs after Graham are not all that. Stecker and Thomas are better than any two you guys have...and they are backups.
Wide recievers...lol I can't believe you even brought that compaison up, after Porter you guys get weak fast.
Your D is good, I have them on my FF team. Ours will be much better even if not as good but they are not going to win as many games for you as our O will for us.
We will have the better record, we will split at best with you if not sweep you guys.
Bottom line I'm sure you think that you know better than the experts but you guys are not picked to win the Division, longer shot to make it to the Super Bowl, all you guys have is Fan Fantasy that your a great team...your not. I am not saying we are going to be great this year but we will win the Division and we will see from there.
Dream On Buc's....
GGM out
2 months ago
Hey, guess what these Fantasy points are based on....predictions. All of these points are about as meaningful as last season's results.
Porter? The Bucs haven't got a guy called Porter. If you are thinking of Jerry Porter, he plays for the Jaguars. We have a guy called Joey Galloway, he always likes going over 100 yards against that Saints secondary.
And, in real life, as in NOT fantasy projections, the Saints don't have a better defense than the Bucs.
How have the Bucs "lost stock" when they haven't lost anybody? If anything, they should be even better this year. Vilma, Gay, and drafting Dorsey won't make New Orleans at top-10 unit from day one.
The Saints seem to think they have this year wrapped up after a few guys on ESPN ranked them to pip the Bucs. I'm pretty sure they said that last year.
Don't get me wrong, New Orleans have a strong offense. They will win games this year. But don't count Tampa out.
from 2 months ago
*sorry. not Glenn Dorsey. I meant Sedrick Ellis.
Apologies.
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