Who dat? Who dat? Wh…

Ah. Still not in the mood, huh?

I couldn’t blame you if you weren’t after Monday night. As a fan, too many times I watch the Saints play in a game like that and think “Ha! We get to steal one at the end for once!” Only to have to fall apart…not every time, but too many times. Equally frustrating is the fact that if for not a few missed kicks here or there, this is a team that could be 4-1 against one of the tougher opening schedules in the league.

The season’s still young, and the Saints do have a trump card that no others in their position can boast – Drew Brees, who more and more people are recognizing as perhaps the NFL’s best quarterback in 2008.

But the losses hurt more because, well, the Saints really could have used a few wins built up. That may always be the case in the NFL, where teams are so evenly matched, but few have suffered through the staggering number of key injuries that this team has.

Before the kickoff of the first game against Tampa, if you knew that early on in the season, this team would be missing for various games: Marques Colston, Jeremy Shockey, Sedrick Ellis, Mike McKenzie, Deuce McAllister, Aaron Glenn, Randall Gay, Tracy Porter (now), Jamar Nesbit, David Patten, Scott Fujita, Hollis Thomas, Antwan Lake, Mark Simoneaux, and Roman Harper – that’s 15 starters or key backups, now – that we’d be 2-3 against the likes of Tampa Bay, Washington, Denver, Minnesota and San Francisco?

I’d probably have taken it. But not if you told me each loss would be a winnable game.

We may never know how hurt Martin Gramatica was or wasn’t during those potential game winning kicks against Denver and Minnesota.

But I do know this: Taylor Mehlhaff is one pressure kick away from being the toast of the town. If only for a week, at least.

• I blinked and the Cubs were eliminated from the postseason. You know what scares me about that? That a team that good in the regular season (their pitchers can even hit!) can fold that quickly…I don’t believe in curses, but that goat may have done a real number on Chicago back in the day.

• Fantasy football bonanza alert! Adrian Peterson had what will probably be the worst game he’ll have all season in the Superdome on Monday night. Who can help him cure what ails him? The Lions! That game…that game could get ugly. I think I’d even start Chester Taylor in my league were I fortunate enough to have him. The third string runner may even get some time.

The Lions are just so…so bad. They’ve been blown out every game this season. Even against Green Bay, when they fell behind 21-3 then took the lead in the fourth quarter. They ended up losing 48-25. They were blown out twice in the same game!

Four losses. Five blowouts.

See that, Saints fans? Could be worse.