I think this season has a better chance of resembling 2006 than being a down year

Icon said
Many are just sort of writing it off for the obvious reasons (Brees gone, Thomas out for a while, some suspensions, etc).

But the reality is.....on paper....we've still got a lot of talent and have shown an ability to get by with band aids for a while, at least during the regular seasons.

At this point, I really don't have any major aspirations for the team beyond seeing them get to the playoffs, but I'm also not thinking "immediate rebuild" either.

It took until August.....but I'm finally legitimately interested in seeing if Payton can get Winston turned around this season.

Great post and I am feeling the same way. I think the offense is going to be very good. Let me explain.
I think we are going to start the season as a ground and pound team with 3 very good RBs. One of whom is great. I think we will win games in the beginning 24-20ish. That will get Jameis comfortable. Then teams will try to stack the line and somewhere around game 4 or 5 SP will unleash the full offense.

Defense? Just not sure yet. That’s why I think we will emphasize the running game early on.

Gonna be an interesting year to be sure