Who Will Play Sinners to New Orleans Saints in 2009?

At last, football season has arrived.

And with it comes the Odd Couple-esque marriage of elation and frustration that so many fans know all too well. 

Anything less and it just wouldn't be football.

New Orleanians have been especailly discouraged as they've watched their talent-laden Saints get in the way of their own success time and time again.

Seventeen players on the injured reserve list, six games lost by five points or less, a flip-flopping kicking game, a defense that could only get off the field when scored on...

And that was just last season.

To their credit, the Saints' front office has been meticulously active in the offseason,  shoring up literally every problem area the team was faced with last year.

If everything we've seen in the preseason is at least a tiny indicator of what's to come, then maybe, just maybe, the Saints' worst enemy will be standing on an opposing sideline, instead of in the mirror.

The team in the NFC South that presents the least amount of competition to the Saints is the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

The team (really, the entire organization) went to great lengths to make sure they regressed as much as possible toward the end of last season, when they knocked themselves out of the playoffs by finishing 0-4.

Super Bowl winning head coach Jon Gruden was replaced replaced with rookie Raheem Morris. 

Jeff Garcia, who gave the Saints fits was replaced with washed-up journeyman, Byron Leftwich.

Monte Kiffin took his vaunted Tampa 2 defense to the University of Tennessee.  And the best outside linebacker of all time, Derrick Brooks, was released.

The Buccaneers offer nothing in terms of competition to anyone in the NFC South, let alone the Saints. 

With the Bucs out of the way, the Atlanta Falcons remain as a serious foe in the South.

The Saints split the series with them last year but Atlanta has improved on offense and should put up better numbers than last year. 

On paper, Atlanta's offense is about as good as any in the NFL. 

Assuming Matt Ryan builds upon his success as the Rookie of the Year, the Falcons could be giving the Saints defense more headaches this year.

Speaking of defense, the Falcons...well...the Falcons, quite simply, have none to speak of outside of John Abraham. 

Jamaal Anderson so far is a bust and newly acquired middle linebacker Mike Peterson might be all but washed up.

Though unproven, Mike Smith is hoping his young pair of cornerbacks, Chris Houston and Chevis Jackson, can be bright spots in the secondary.

If the Falcons can't get at least a little help from the eight draftees they picked in April (eight of which were defensive players) they could be going the way of the 2008 Saints:  All O and no D.

The only team to sweep New Orleans last year, the Carolina Panthers, will once again offer the biggest competition in the Saints' quest for a division title. 

I struggled between the Panthers and the Falcons as to who would present the biggest challenge, but in the end Carolina's coaching and defense proves more problematic.

Julius Peppers reluctantly returns to anchor the defense alongside Jon Beason after a lengthy contract dispute this offseason. 

Carolina isn't as deep in the secondary as they used to be but their front seven will have the defensive backs playing above their potential.

The Saints offense is good enough to overcome what any defense throws at them, but the real test will come when Carolina's offense hits the ground running.

DeAngelo Williams had his breakout season last year while Johnathan Stewart filled in well in a complementary role.

As long as Steve Smith is making defenders stay true to the passing game, the Panthers rushing attack could be even more potent this year.

By the time the Saints play their first game against Carolina in week eight, we should already have an idea of what the Saints' new look defense is capable of. 

The hope is that the Saints can at least show up on that side of that ball against division foes, if against no other team. 

When watching NFC South matchups this year—and not only the games the Saints are in—keep an eye on the play of the tight ends. 

In the past two years, three teams from the NFC South have acquired Pro Bowl tight ends: Jeremy Shockey, Kellen Winslow Jr., and Tony Gonzalez, with the Saints, Buccaneers, and Falcons, respectively.

It will be interesting to see how teams in the division will game plan for these players, both in the run and pass game.

Gonzalez might be the final missing cog to helping Matt Ryan come full circle as a quarterback.

Winslow may very well be the best offensive player on the Bucs. 

Meanwhile, Saints fans are holding their collective breath in anticipation of what should be Shockey's coming out party as a Who Dat.

The 2009 season should be a good one for the Saints. 

Their offseason moves and preseason performance show that they might finally be ready to take the next step to reasserting themselves as Super Bowl contenders.

I have New Orleans finishing in the ballpark of 10-6, 4-2 in the division