Today the Saints added a three time pro bowler to their roster in Chris McAlister. A former 10th overall pick by the Ravens in 1999, McAlister has been apart of many good defenses constructed by the Ravens’ coaching staff, is a very physical defensive back, has a super bowl ring to his resume, and fills a big need the Saints have right now with BOTH Jabari Greer and Tracy Porter out with injuries. McAlister isn’t a ball-hawk like his counter in Baltimore Ed Reed is, and now current teammate Darren Sharper, so do not expect a lot of interceptions (only 26 in his 10 year career with the Ravens) but McAlister is going to get a lot of Pass Deflections with his physical style of play which should fit in well with defensive coordinator Gregg Williams’ planning and play calling. The only concern is that McAlister has had issues with his knees for the past couple of years but I am…and I am sure the Saints are too…banking on his time away from the grid iron have let his body heal while McAlister still maintained peak physical conditioning, with the mindset that an opportunity may come along during the season to be picked up by a team that needed an added boost in the secondary. Well, I assure you, a healthy Chris McAlister will do that and more for the Saints’ organization.

Welcome to New Orleans Chris!!!

Next, I want to dive into this weeks match up against the Tampa Bay Bucs. This is the second game the Saints are on the road. I know the Bucs are 1-8 this year, but this is a divisional game, the Saints are on the road and like it or not the Bucs have been playing very competitively the past two weekends (since making the switch to Josh Freeman as their starting quarterback).

The Bucs do not need any more motivation for this game…yes, I know their record is only 1-8, but the last two games they are 1-1 and they were so close to be 2-0 during that time. This team has developed a short term memory, which makes them very difficult to play against. AND I love it! I want the Saints to win, but come on…who cares is they go 16-0, I want these games against the Rams and Bucs to throw new tricks at them so they are better prepared for the playoffs, because that is when I want the Saints to be undefeated.

If the lowly Rams were able to contend with the Saints 28-23 last weekend, then I really believe…if  the Saints - when they play the Bucs - play the way they did against the Rams, the Saints should be on upset alert. Honestly, the talent level of the Rams, compared to the talent level of  the Saints. The Saints should have smothered them. No excuses.

On the other hand if the Saints play the way they are capable - the way they have shown us against the likes of Philly, Miami amongst other solid performances then I fully believe the Saints will cruise to double digit victories!

I assume that head coach Sean Payton will have his team ready to go and they will NOT look ahead to the Patriots, Falcons, Cowboys, and surging Panthers. The Saints are in need of a complete game, a game were all their running backs play at a high level, where Brees is completely in sync with his receiving options, and the defense plays stout as well as aggressively.

Will the Saints running the table…well I firmly believe the Saints are capable of winning every game remaining on their schedule. But the way they have responded to adversity (example: Sunday, October 25th @ Miami…came back after being down by 21 point) lends me to believe the Saints will be (and are) determined to win every game, even though they may not win every quarter, series, and/or play…as a whole the Saints are special with players every week stepping up to make plays.

Maybe the one aspect I like most about the Saints chances to run the tables as well as win in the playoffs (outside of the fact that they are relatively healthy group of players), is that the Saints are not dependent on the same couple of players to win games,  they have options at different will step given the opportunity.

Predictions:

Saints play like they did against the Rams when they play the Bucs: ….Saints win 23-21

Saints play the way they are capable of: …..Saints Win 34-17