I’m running out of lucky shirts.  With each loss this year, I’ve relegated my Manning throwback, my “For Those About To Rock- Saints Tour 09’”, and my long sleeve Saints shirts to the “unlucky” pile.  I’m seriously considering not wearing anything Saints-related until and unless they get on a roll. I’m begging you, please don’t make me wear my Ricky Williams jersey!

What a shellacking. What a disappointment. The Browns? Come on! Give them credit; they had a great game plan, which it seems was very informed by former Saint Scott Fujita’s knowledge of the Saints offense. Their O-line was as tough as the Saints’ was leaky, and when they needed a big play on defense or special teams, they executed.

The Steelers will probably not want or need to reach into their bag of trick plays, but you never know. Now that the Browns succeeded with them, every team down the road will at least think about pulling some shenanigans. Why wouldn’t they? Usually those plays blow up in your face, but yesterday every one of them worked. Oy, now we gotta worry about that?

This next game is potentially the defining moment of the Saints season. I’m not saying that if they lose, the season’s over. Even with a loss, they are still 4-4 with lots of football left. But they better show up ready to play one of the best teams in football. They had better look like a team that believes they can make things happen. The killer instinct has been replaced with tentativeness. The points factory has been converted into a turnover plant. And Brees looks like he’s playing with the weight of the world on his shoulders. If they don’t come to play, they continue to lollygag, they continue to play without a sense of urgency – well, it’s going to be painful to watch them stumble, bumble, and fumble their way to a middling, and out of the playoffs, record.

Brees needs some help. Reggie, Pierre, Greer, Porter, when are you getting better? Shanle, Sharper, Bueller, Bueller, Bueller? Anyone? Alex Brown, when are you and the rest of the D-line going to get to the QB? Receiving corps, when are you going to get open? O-line, when are you going to get mad and start pushing these defenses around? And anybody that knows how to get a GD turnover please step forward. Drew is going to need your help to get out of this funk. This is still a team that is very dangerous and frankly, if you’re going to have a bad stretch, don’t you want it to happen at the beginning rather than the end? The Saints can get on a roll, but it has to be a team effort, and it can’t be all on Breezy. For a team that’s been together for a while now, they still haven’t jelled into a team for whatever reason.  And by “team” I mean that they can win without Brees or even despite him if he has a bad day. The crucible of this last loss and the upcoming Steelers game is where these very talented individuals either come together as a team or start falling apart. Maybe they should all go to Ruth’s Chris and eat a whole cow together? Maybe indulge in a night of team building Karaoke at the Saint on Tuesday? I would personally love to see Payton’s Kenny Chesney impression. Maybe a night at Chuck E. Cheese followed by a sleepover? Fishing expedition?  Whatever it is, it better be soon.

Looking forward to: Halloween, where I can stop obsessing about the Saints plight for even just one day. Oh, the game’s on Halloween?  Never mind.

Not looking forward to: Ah jeez.

Media Prediction: No one in the national media is going to pick the Saints this week.  And rightly so.

Madden Tip: I’m going to have to move up to All Madden to account for all my shitty predictions. So until I figure that out, I predict I will get the Saints’ asses kicked for a while. I also predict that I will probably smash the game or my TV set in while doing it.

Rock Tip: Come see me as Supagroup plays Voodoo this Saturday, 10/30/10, in the Bingo! Parlour at 8 p.m.