ATLANTA – You can look at New Orleans’ 26-23 win on Sunday and think the Saints are in trouble.
Two weeks in a row two three-point wins over average to poor teams.
A defense that’s allowing more big plays lately than it did in the first six games combined.
An offense that sometimes is failing to get it done in the red zone.
Or, as Jonathan Vilma said following Sunday’s nail-biter in the Georgia Dome, there should be no concern at all.
“No, why would you be concerned?” Vilma said. “We’re 13-0 right now, first-round bye. We locked up at least the two seed right now.”
He added, “You’re not going to get many blowouts in the NFL. It just doesn’t happen that way.”
Vilma’s right, of course. A win is a win and all that stuff, sure.
But there should be some concern.
The secondary was exposed, giving up four pass plays of 20 or more yards.
The offense couldn’t punch the ball into the end zone on one trip inside the red zone and it finished with only 95 yards rushing.
Fourteen weeks into the season, the Saints are beginning to look human and beatable.
Or maybe it’s that New Orleans is getting hit with opponents’ best shots.
That’s at least what Drew Brees believes.
“We just call that battle tested,” Brees said. “We understand they only get harder from here on out. We get everybody’s best game from here on out. There is no easy opponent. Just because we walk in the building, doesn’t guarantee us anything other than the opportunity to play.”
Or it could be that with the way New Orleans played earlier in the season, we’ve A) become accustomed to perfection and B) the team is bored with playing bad opponents.
How else to explain pummeling New England two weeks ago or the Giants in Week 6 or the Jets in Week 4.
What it comes down to, and has for the past two weeks, is that when plays needed to be made, they were.
Against Washington, it was Robert Meachem coming up with several huge plays.
Against Atlanta, Vilma turned the trick, intercepting a pass late, then coming up with a huge stop on fourth-and-two.
And that’s something the team believes in, no matter the situation.
“Somebody is going to make the play and we’re going to win the game,” Brees said.
As long as plays are being made when they have to be, the Saints will continue to win.
With games left at home against Dallas and Tampa Bay and a road game at Carolina, 16-0 is in plain sight.
It won’t be, however, if the Saints don’t clean up their act.
Brees said it himself – the Saints are going to get everyone’s best shot.
