The Tampa Bay Buccaneers kick off their 2024 campaign against the Washington Commanders. Overall, Bucs fans are excited for the new season and are hoping the team can repeat as NFC South champs for the fourth consecutive year.
Other teams in the division are not so optimistic though. According to The Athletic's Hope-O-Meter, the New Orleans Saints fanbase was ranked dead last when it comes to how optimistic a fanbase is for the upcoming season. Yes, the Saints are somehow ranked lower than the Panthers, who won a whopping two games in 2023 and the Giants who are... Well, the Giants.
For what it's worth, the Bucs fanbase came in at 15. They were only behind the Falcons in the division who landed at 10. The Panthers and Saints were both in the bottom six with Carolina sitting at 27 and the Saints, as mentioned, coming in at 32 or dead last.
Saints fans are already miserable and Bucs fans are loving it
So why exactly are the Saints miserable? Fortunately, The Athletic was kind enough to give us some insight as to what each fanbase was thinking. The three pessimistic Saints fans included in the column all talk about how underwhelming Dennis Allen is as a head coach and Derek Carr is also mentioned as being a less-than-stellar option at quarterback.
One fan said the Saints would win games but not enough. Another pointed out how bad the salary cap situation is in New Orleans and another said that the team keeps trying to win despite its championship window shutting several years ago. These are all things that nicer Bucs fans would point out when talking about the Saints.
When Drew Brees retired, the Saints should have taken a step back and tried to rebuild. Instead, they kept kicking their salary can problems down the road and here they are. They signed Derek Carr to a dumb contract and now seem shocked that he's not the guy they thought he'd be.
Bucs fans are enjoying the Saints being in disarray and it's quite funny to see the fanbase in shambles before the 2024 season has even begun. Let's hope that the Saints continue to underwhelm and the Bucs can win another division title this season.
That being said, the Saints aren't really the main challenger for Tampa in the NFC South this year. As noted earlier, that would be Atlanta, where fans appear to be drinking the Kool-Aid.
Sorry Saints, better luck next year.