I understand what you are saying and the media circus certainly boosted them quite a bit, but pointing to the 10-6 season is a bit disingenuous to try and prove that they weren't all that good because 2 of their losses were to the Ravens and Bengals, pretty good teams last year. Another loss was AT Pittsburgh, and in our final loss of the regular season, to the Panthers, our starters only played one series. I don't know what the problem with the 'Aints is right now, but I don't think it's just "they were playing over their heads and now it is showing". I still think they are a good team, better than average, but not great. My personal opinion is that Payton tries to be too clever with his play calling. He's a bit of a boy wonder and perhaps it has gone to his head. He has moved away from THE fundamental aspect of offensive football: RUN THE DAMN BALL. It's not like we don't have a good running back; Deuce McAllister is averaging 4.4 ypc this season, but has only been run 20 times!! Compare this to last season when he had 53 rushing attempts in the first 3 games. When you allow Deuce to run the ball, you will have an outstanding chance of controlling the clock, which is something the 'Aints need to do given our crappy defense. Regardless, I think they'll figure it out and given the weakness of the NFC, I think they'll still make the playoffs. Unfortunately, starting out 0-2 strongly negates a good chance at getting homefield throughout.