I think that’s a great question. I know one thing they have in common with the ’98 Vikings is an issue at kicker. Sure, Anderson made every kick under the sun in ’98, but he missed the biggest of them all. Carney was awful last night and cost me a dead-on pick.

Also, the 1998 Vikings were led by a finesse running back. Robert Smith was nice, but he scored 6 rushing td’s all season. On this Saints team, Reggie Bush and Pierre Thomas already have 5 each. Mike Bell has 4. Anyone of those guys can score on the ground and we know Bush can score through the air. Thomas had a beauty of a TD last night on that flare pass.

I think the 1983 ‘Skins are an interesting comparison. I liked the Raiders in that game because they had the 2 best corners I’ve seen — Michael Haynes and Lester Hayes. They had Marcus Allen and my main man Jim Plunkett. No way I was going with Theismann against that bunch.

So what else is different? Well, Brees is better than Theismann. No contest. The 1983 Redskins had two 30+ running backs. Riggins was a monster, but you knew where they were going once they got in the red zone. That team didn’t have pass-catching tight ends like the Saints. They didn’t have the same depth at wide receiver either. They were nice, but not this nice — and the RULES strongly favored the Raiders because Haynes and Hayes could play bump and run all day long.

This year’s Eagles team playing with those rules would kill people.

As for the ’07 Pats, they didn’t have a power running back like they did when they won it all with Corey Dillon. They relied heavily on Moss and Welker. When the Giants sat on Moss’ head and made Brady wait and wait for Welker to uncover, the game went alot like last night’s game. Sacks, pressure, hurried passes, balls thrown to open spaces with no receivers in sight.

The ’07 Pats were a great offensive team, but they weren’t balanced. The 1998 Vikings could run, but with finesse, not power. The 1983 Redskins could run with power, but they didn’t have comparable size/speed on the outside. Art Monk was no blazer. Charlie Brown may have been fast, but they faced the best corner duo I’ve seen…and Theismann got abused by the Raiders linebackers. They were in the game until Jack Squirek made history.

So — are the Saints a lock? Not a chance…but on balance, I think I am more impressed with what they have than with those other teams (so far). And remember they did all of that last night WITHOUT Reggie Bush and WITHOUT Lance Moore (10 tds in ’08)…and with Jeremy Shockey catching only one ball.

All they did last night was scratch the surface.

I say McNabb keeps the offense on the field more and as a result the defense isn’t as tired chasing around all those bunny rabbits the Saints have…big and little…strong and fast.

If we are gauging history and the Saints are on pace to enter the most points in a season all time discussion, none of those teams has a ring. I’m interested in what makes this team different than the 07 pats, the 98 Vikings and the 83 Skins.

What I said was simply that we cannot say we know for sure how McNabb would have played. There is simply no way to know.

He played really well against the Chargers. I mentioned that too — not just the games vs. Oakland and Dallas. Maybe he would have performed somewhere in the middle.

Bottom line — the defense and special teams bitched up in that game and got handled. And, if Philly handles their business, they’ll get a chance to answer this question. This is the “No Excuses” squad with weapons galore — so it should be an epic battle…and we’ll see.

I already picked Philly once — without McNabb…so

Also, that first professional start stuff doesn’t mean much. Kolb’s start looked a lot like Ryan Fitzpatrick’s start with the Rams back in the day. Sometimes the new guy has an advantage if he’s prepared. Sometimes the defense reads TSF and thinks the new guy sucks. Sometimes they aren’t as intensely focused as they’d be if the king is on the throne. Tom Brady had the Saints attention last night — and veteran guys like Mike McKenzie and Darren Sharper took his lunch money, pimp smacked his ho (Wes Welker) and kidnapped his best friend (Randy Moss).

I’m not dissing McNabb today. I’m just saying we cannot tell the future — although I didn’t do half bad when I said the score of this game would be 41-17 New Orleans.

It’s all good.

So a guy making his FIRST professional start and still put up 391 and 3…also 3 picks…is comparable to McNabb?

Really?

We don’t what Donovan would have done. What did he do against the Oakland Raiders? 22-46, 269 — no tds! What did he do against the Cowboys? 16-30, 227 — 1 td, 2 picks!

No one knows what he would have done. He might have hit ‘em for Fo-Fiddy like he did the Chargers…but I told you — the Saints are not the Chargers. They look like the Chargers, but they’re not cut from the same cloth.

Perhaps McNabb has a masterpiece of a game. All we do know is that as much of a bum as Kolb is (or has the opinion changed?? – LOL), the Eagles were in the game at halftime…then some folks decided to fumble the rock because Malcolm Jenkins hit them some place they didn’t like…then a bunch of guys decided they didn’t want to chase and tackle a mere Saints fullback — so he scored too…and then — it was OVER.

Maybe none of that happens with McNabb — but that game was lost in a flash when the offense wasn’t even on the field.

Philly is going to get their chance. I actually picked the Eagles to win that game because I thought that Samuel, Brown and company matched up really well. I even had Kevin Kolb on my fantasy team (he was kicking ass and taking names). Then I saw Brees get stuck in the chest (I think it was Trent Cole) and still complete a rocket — 30 yards downfield to the sideline and past Sheldon Brown — right on the numbers…and I knew what Bill Belichick knew last night.

“Let’s go boys. This one is OVER.”

The Saints theme song is “10 Million Ways to Die — Chose One.”

We can all speculate based on the present, but we just don’t know.

I think you have the Saints confused with the Chargers or the Cowboys. The Saints aren’t perennial chokers. This isn’t the team that always comes up short.

In Payton’s first year (and Brees’), they took a 3-13 team to the playoffs at 10-6 and beat the Eagles. They lost on the road to a powerful Bears team. The Saints in 2006 didn’t have a great defense. In fact, aside from Jonathan Vilma (who came in 2008), the Saints have hardly had a single defensive player that anyone outside of Louisiana could name.

This year’s addition of Darren Sharper, the outright theft of Brooklyn’s own Anthony Hargrove, the improved health of Will Smith (8.5 sacks, up from 3 in 2008) and Charles Grant (8 games in 2008. 4.5 Sacks this season), and the introduction of Gregg Williams’ schemes have made this team formidable and substantively different from their predecessors.

The Saints have also invested more heavily and more soundly in defense over the past few years. Last year, they took USC dominating DT Sedrick Ellis. He was injured in Miami and won’t play on Monday. They took Ohio State’s Malcolm Jenkins who has delivered stellar special teams performances (He helped turn the tide in the Eagle game by forcing a fumble on a return in the 2nd half.) Another successful draft pick who will miss Monday’s game is 2008 pick Tracy Porter out of Indiana. He’s been balling this season and already had 3 picks, including a TD return and 2 forced fumbles.

The Patriots could win, but it won’t be because they’ve beaten a team full of perpetual chokers. The Saints are a wholly different group than we’ve seen in previous years. If you show up to play the 2008 Saints, you’re going to get your ass kicked. Ask the Eagles and Giants. They’re still trying to get that footprint off their necks.