I can't keep track of who is injured, who's playing and who's not, let alone who's starting and who isn't.

Let's see...we've got Jenkins, McKenzie, and now McCauley healthy. Gay is still hurt (no?), and McAllister is gone. Porter and Greer are lucky not to be on IR. Torrance is on IR.

Am I forgetting anyone? Is this IT?

St. Rita of the Dome, pray for us fans now and at the hour of our playoffs...

I swear, it wasn't 3 minutes after the game was over when the email from neworleanssaints.com popped into my inbox. It's a handsome cap, too...not black like the 2006 one, though. And only $34! A bargain, if you discount all the sweat and years this game wrung out of me.

I'm getting one, though. Figure to start a collection: NFC South Champs, NFC Champs, and the ultimate prize at the end.

WHO DAT!

Last night, we finally had time to call up NFL Game Rewind and watch the Tampa Bay game. Since my own computer, a Mac, is older than my wife's, a PC, and has a video card that's insufficient, we watch on hers.

We logged into Game Rewind, and Firefox crashed. Never did that before. Logged in again, another crash. Again, another crash. Hours of Googling and tech chat later, and the best they could come up with was, re-install Firefox and Flash. So we trashed Firefox, re-started, and launched IE to download a new Firefox. Big mistake.

"I'm not sure what you're trying to do," says IE.

"We're trying to reach the Internet," says we.

"The Internet? What's that?"

Now we can't get on the web at all. Gone, Kaput. And why? Who knows? It's back to the interminable journey into the heart of darkness, trying to figure out the guts of this Soviet-era technology. After another couple hours of wrestling with it, we finally have our answer: who knows? To quote Jonesy, "Kludge, megakludge to the max!"

So this morning, my wife makes the announcement: "I can't stand this anymore. I want a Mac."

Ah, the blessed freedom of it all! Bless you, boys...you helped break us out of the Gulag! No matter what else happens this season (and you better win the Super Bowl...or there will be consequences), I'll always be grateful for this.

(Now all I gotta do is pay for it...)

Rarely does a sportswriter throw down the gauntlet in such unambiguous terms.

Jason Whitlock, writing for Fox Sports, predicted that neither the Colts nor the Saints would play in the Super Bowl. In fact, he stated he was "almost willing to guarantee" that neither team would make the big game. Not because there are plenty of other worthy teams, but because both Indianapolis and New Orleans are "on borrowed time."

Specifically, his prediction about the Saints reads:

Mark it down, New Orleans is going to lose three of four during their Patriots-Redskins-Falcons-Cowboys stretch.

I like Whitlock. He's willing to say things on matters that other sportswriters won't touch (usually having something to do with race...why are white people so afraid to bring up the subject?). And of course, he could be right.

But if Christmas rolls around with the Saints sitting at better than 11-3, Whitlock needs to hear from a lot of CSC members. A guarantee is a guarantee...and if Whitlock proves to be wrong about this one, I guarantee I'm going to ream him a new one.

There are too many people out there hating on our Saints just because they didn't win pretty! A win is a win! 9-0, baby! Who dat!

All those people who would rather question our boys instead of supporting them like TRUE fans need to find another team to support. All you people wringing your hands and whining that everything isn't okay, you Debbie Downers need to haul ass for some other fan base. People like these:

"We're dodging bullets right now." --Scott Fujita

"Obviously, we're not happy with the turnovers. It's going to get our butts beat pretty soon if we don't fix it." --Drew Brees

"Glaring issues like stopping the run, turnovers, those are things that if we don't get corrected can come back to bite us." --Jonathan Vilma

Who are these guys? Obviously not real fans. Things are great in party city right now, so knock back a few and celebrate! All you haters go someplace else. WHO DAT! WHO DAT!

Everything has gone so well for the Saints this season that most of us have completely spaced out on the Smith and Grant suspensions. Those suspensions were never lifted, simply postponed until the NFL wins its case against the Williamses in Minnesota. And in case you think the league might quietly let the case lapse, think again:

Philadelphia Eagles cornerback Joselio Hanson was suspended four games by the NFL on Wednesday for violating the league's drug policy. Hanson's attorney, David Cornwell, said in a statement that Hanson did not use steroids but tested positive for a diuretic after last year's NFC title game against Arizona. [Source: Sports Illustrated]

Note well: Hanson is serving a suspension during the season's stretch run for something he did last year. The NFL isn't inclined to overlook the use of diuretics, and doesn't accept that the passage of time wipes out sin.

There's no way for us to know how soon the Williams case will be decided, or who will come out on top. But there's a good chance it will be decided before the season is over; that the Williamses—and Smith and Grant—will lose; and that the suspensions will be immediately reinstated. During the stretch run.

There may be several silver linings: if we lose Smith, we'll still have Hargrove to take over (McCray has been pretty much AWOL). Sedrick Ellis may be back by then. Gregg Williams can figure out ways to maximize the impact of anyone who substitutes for our lost starters. And if we lose our pass rush, Minnesota—a likely playoff foe—will lose their rushing defense at the same time.

Maybe it won't turn out to be a disaster. But maybe it will. And it's still out there, waiting...

I don't know about you, but I had a hard time enjoying this game. I expected Atlanta to score first; but I also expected New Orleans to come roaring back, grab the game by the throat, and drag it away kicking and screaming. Then Drew fumbled, Atlanta recaptured the lead, and it became obvious the Falcons were determined to do the exact same thing.

When the Saints went up by two scores at halftime, it seemed the universe had worked out its cramp, come to its senses, returned to its sense of duty...call it what you will. The Saints would take the second-half kickoff, ram the ball down the Falcons' throats, go up by three scores, and coast. Uh uh. Didn't happen; and even when they finally put the game away with Pierre Thomas' Reggie impression, Payton, Mike Bell, David Thomas, and the refs tried their damnedest to hand it right back to the Falcons. Our only hope, Obi-wan Sharper, saved us again (well, he had help), but it was waaaaaaaayyyy too close at the end.

Since that game, I haven't been able to really savor 7-0 because of worry. I'm not usually a worrywart when it comes to things like this; but first the Dolphins game, and then the Falcons game, exposed some flaws in Fate's plan to put Drew Brees on the podium in Miami come February.

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What member of the Saints is 5-11 and 237 lbs? And what member of the Saints is 6-0 and 235 lbs?

If you guessed Kyle Eckel as the answer to the first question, you'd be right. And the answer to the second? Lynell Hamilton. Forgotten Mr. Photo Op.

Eckel gives away an inch and fifteen pounds to Heath Evans. That's a significant amount of mass for a lead blocker not to have. He's played more than Hamilton, so Photo Op's stats are kinda questionable in comparison...but here goes anyway. Eckel, 3.0 per carry. Hamilton, 4.8.

The big question would be, can Hamilton play fullback? Could he take the pounding of being a lead blocker, and can he pass protect? Maybe, maybe not...don't know. But it sure would be interesting to have Thomas (or Bell, or Bush) share the backfield with Hamilton in a T-formation, rather than an I. Who do you key on?

Just thinking out loud...

Check out this story in Sporting News. Forget the undefeated season angle...they're trying to make too much of it. Of course the Saints could go undefeated; so could Colts or the Broncos. So could any team that hasn't been defeated yet. Big deal (unless Reggie has just jinxed us).

No, the interesting part is this:

Bush also addressed the criticism he’s received for not living up to expectations as a pro.

"Once I do win an NFL MVP, once we do win a Super Bowl, once I am in the Pro Bowl, it's going to be that much more special because of the criticism that I had to come through. Because of the work I've put into it, it'll mean that much more to me," Bush told Montemayor.

I must admit, I'm floored. Reggie has been regressing all season. The criticism is all valid. He looks less like a potential MVP than he ever has—and apparently, based on his playing time, Sean Payton agrees.

So what is going on in Reggie's head? Is he really delusional? Or is he just putting up a front, saying what needs to be said to keep those marketing contracts coming?

Because I gotta say, Reggie: it looks more and more like your train left the station long ago. Maybe you should stop pacing and call a cab.