METAIRIE, La. ― For much of the first half of the Saints season, the questions asked more often than not surrounded the belief that the reigning Super Bowl champions were mired in a championship-sized hangover.
But as New Orleans heads into its bye week at 6-3, there’s the sudden realization that the team has taken its Advil, drank its water and finally overcome its sleep-depriving big game party blitz.
The Saints have won three of their past four games by 10 or more points, including two over winning teams and sit just a half-game off the NFC South and conference lead after a less-than-pleasing start to the season.
“The good news is that we’re within striking distance and we’ve hung in there despite not playing some good football early on,” Head Coach Sean Payton said. “We recognize that; certainly I do.”
However, Payton isn’t getting ahead of himself. Two games does not a roll make.
“The Hornets are on a roll with momentum,” Payton said. “We’ve won two games in a row. There’s a difference and we hope to stack some games back to back to back and we know what that feels like.”
That the bye has come when it has is fortunate for a franchise still trying to recover from an inordinate amount of early-season injuries.
Expected back after the week off are running backs Reggie Bush (fibula) and Chris Ivory (separated left shoulder), defensive backs Malcolm Jenkins (stinger right shoulder) and Darren Sharper (left hamstring) while Payton was hopeful that tight end Jeremy Shockey (ribs) and running back Pierre Thomas (right ankle) would return.
“We ended the first half of the season on a high note,” cornerback Tracy Porter said. “We have to relax, take care of our bodies during this bye week, get guys healthy and come back for the second half of the season ready to roll.”
This season, the Saints have had 11 players (Bush, Thomas, Patrick Robinson, Will Smith, Randall Gay, Chris Ivory, Anthony Waters, Jabari Greer, Tracy Porter, Roman Harper, Scott Shanle) miss at least one game with an injury and that’s not including the six games Sharper missed while on the PUP list.
And yet, they’ve persevered, especially on defense, where the unit sits as the third-best in the NFL.
No one is defending the pass better than the Saints (166.3 yards per game) and only two teams are better in total than New Orleans, which is allowing 277 yards per game. And that’s not mentioning the stat that means the most – points allowed per game – where the Saints are 5th in the league (16.8 ppg).
The Saints have held their past six opponents to fewer than 300 yards, including 195 yards by Carolina, 210 by Cleveland, and 194 by Arizona.
“Every yard they get, every touchdown, every point they get goes against our numbers and we keep track of that,” defensive tackle Sedrick Ellis said. “We definitely want to be on top of ever stat, the end of the game included, whether we’re up by 50 or if it’s a tie game.”
Added linebacker Scott Shanle, “We’re not real exotic. We run the same things week in and week out with maybe a little wrinkle here and there. I just think the execution is better right now among all the guys being where they’re supposed to be. You can play great team defense that way. When everybody does their job we’re finding out right now just how good we can be.”
New Orleans won’t get another chance to hold a team to 300 or fewer yards until Nov. 21, its next game. The Saints host the Seahawks (4-4) that day and by then, most of the players should be back. The team won’t even practice against until Monday.
Once back, it’s a seven-week race to the finish. Just don’t ask Payton or anyone else to look that far ahead and at the standing, where there’s a glut of teams at 6-2, 6-3 and 5-3.
“Without getting into a lot of clichés we still have a lot of football to play, a lot in front of us in the way the NFC is shaping up,” Payton said. “The month of November is critical. It always has been in regards to separating teams.”
