Who Dat?: Saints Unrecognizable In Tampa Bay

Who dat???

It's like a totally different team playing for the New Orleans Saints.

Same players, same coaches...different mindset.

The Saints came into Sunday's game against the Bucs believing they couldn't play any worse than they did against the Colts.

But it happened.

I'm not really sure what's wrong with the Saints, especially on offense. Creativity seems to be a problem—the Saints aren't using Reggie Bush like they did last year, for example.

Coach Sean Payton can say all he wants about Bush being a runner first and a pass-catcher second, but the truth is that Reggie isn't a pure runner like Deuce McAllister or Steven Jackson.

Maybe in the future—but I don't see it as of right now.

As for the defense—we all knew the unit wasn't going to be the Ravens, but come on. The Saints added Jason David to help out in the secondary, but he hasn't played up to par.

On the whole, the Saints should be more competitive on both sides of the ball. They'd do well to go back to the drawing board and get back to the basics.  Maybe they need to go review some tape from last year.

If nothing else, it's clear that the nickel schemes employed by opposing defense have been effective in preventing Drew Brees and Co. from airing out. Have teams figured the Saints out?

I'm not sure, but somethings needs to change.

The Saints face the Titans next Monday night. The Titans are a solid team, and almost pulled an upset against the Colts yesterday.  They'll come in and run the ball—and the Saints have to be up to the challenge.

I believe that Coach Payton will make some adjustments, and maybe some roster changes. The Saints had a lot of expectations going into the season—and as of right now they're failing to live up to them.

Give the Saints some time.  They're too talented on offense to play like this all year.  It's early, and the NFC South isn't that good.

If the offense finds its rhythm and the defense plays a little better, New Orleans will be just fine.