NEW ORLEANS -- Six weeks into this season there's a distinct division in the NFL between the have's and the have nots.
As to the have nots, the Saints have been there, been that.? As to the haves, the Saints have never been here, never been this.? Yes, they've been 5-0 before, but never with a team that was this deep, this balanced, this good.
There are 5 unbeatens in the NFL, and 3 always beaten, winless teams.? Never have there been this many unbeaten teams this late in the season.? For the Saints to be one of them is remarkable.? For the way that they've gotten there has convinced many they're invincible - the best of the best.
Less than a third of the way through this season, that's premature speculation that only the unknown future will determine.? But for now, enjoy being a part of the discussion.
The Saints -- wisely -- won't.
This veteran-laden team -- the second oldest in the NFL -- has a wisdom and a maturity about it.? That maturity allowed it to remain focused through a bye week of inactivity, to heal the body without sacrificing the soul of this team's accountability.? It's a team accountable to each other as individuals, to their teammates, to their fans.
They returned to action Sunday, rested and ready with Drew Brees locked and loaded, laser sharp, fitting the football into tight spots, big spots, with no drops from a receiving corps that sliced up the Giants with a clinical precision.
Sunday wasn't the first day a Saints team has come into a "measuring stick" game.? But it might have been the first that it didn't turn into a "dip stick" game for the Saints in which they were found to be a quart low on passion, on performance, on play-calling, on play-executing.
Certainly -- the experts said -- the Giants would provide the litmus test for what the Saints were made of.? Instead it was the Saints who provided such a test for what the Giants were made of.
Brees going after, among others, Giants free agent safety C.C. Brown who suggested on this day at least that "C.C." was short for "can't cover."? But -- as many suggested -- these two teams may see each other again in the post-season.
The goal for the Saints the rest of the way is to insure that if they do meet again, it's here in the toughest environment any visitor in the NFL will encounter.
It's here in the Lou-brees-ee-ana Superdome.
