New Orleans defense was a much-maligned unit throughout 2007 and through the first few games of 2008.

But after Sunday, the Saints’ defense has strung together 11 good quarters of football.

And that includes the four standout quarters in Sundays’ 34-3 win over Oakland.

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“I wouldn’t say it’s our best performance,” New Orleans defensive end Will Smith said. “I’d say it’s a solid performance that we all came out and played good as a team.”

The Saints (3-3) held the now 1-4 Raiders to 226 total yards, and held Oakland’s run game to 85 net rushing yards.

The defense came up with two turnovers, but could have had more – four of Oakland quarterback JaMarcus Russell’s incompletions were dropped interceptions.

“We started now to develop a culture on the defensive side where it’s not good to give up 100 yards rushing, to give up 300 yards passing,” New Orleans middle linebacker Jonathan Vilma said. “We’re trying to be one of the top-tier defenses.”

There’s more. New Orleans held the Raiders to 6-of-16 in third-down conversions while the Saints’ offense went 9-of-14.

“During the beginning of the season, everybody is feeling each other out,” Smith said. “But as the season goes along, you start to gel a little bit better. That’s what’s happening. We’re gelling as a defense.”

Penalties have left the building

For at least one week, New Orleans looked like a franchise filled with good, rule-abiding citizens. The Saints, who have had trouble this season with penalties, committed just four on Sunday.

Two of those came on New Orleans’ second drive, both holds by Jammal Brown that ultimately took the team out of scoring position.

“It starts with coaching,” New Orleans head coach Sean Payton said. “We had a couple of penalties early on that brought us out of scoring position, but other than that, I thought we played very disciplined and played smart.”

Mehlhaff misses before he makes

You had to see this coming – rookie kicker Taylor Mehlhaff missed his first-ever regular season professional kick. This comes after Martin Gramatica missed game-winning kicks in two of the previous three games.

But Mehlhaff settled down, making two kicks – from 44 and 33 – and hit every extra point he was called onto the field for.

After the missed 31-yarder, Payton pull Mehlhaff aside to discuss the situation.

“There are going to be some jitters your first game out,” Payton said. “He settled down and played well for us. I was encouraged with that.”

Injury report

No one left Sunday’s game with an injury, almost assuredly the first time that has happened this season.

WR Marques Colston (thumb), TE Jeremy Shockey (hernia), WR David Patten (groin), CB Aaron Glenn (ankle), S Kevin Kaesviharn (back), DT Antwan Lake (groin) and DT Sedrick Ellis (knee) all were inactive against the Raiders.

Getting back in the hunt

The win over Oakland did more than get New Orleans back to .500 – it got the Saints back in the hunt for more things in the future.

It helps New Orleans keep pace in the NFC South even though the game was against an AFC opponent. Tampa Bay throttled Carolina while Atlanta beat Chicago. The Bucs and Falcons both improved to 4-2 while the Panthers fell to 4-2.

“(It was big) just to win this thing today and get us back to .500 and now have a chance to go and play for the division lead,” linebacker Scott Fujita said. “To be in this position after the past couple of weeks feels good.”