Editor's Note: Ralph Malbrough is a die hard Saints fan who has been living away from the city since Katrina and living and dying with his team's play. He will contribute articles from the viewpoint of a fan during the season.

It’s so good to have football back in our lives. My favorite thing about preseason games is jumping to conclusions after watching the starters play a quarter and then changing my mind after they play again next week. So, here goes.

The Saints picked up last night right where they left off last December except this time they won the game. In case you are wondering, it’s not a compliment.

Drew Brees was nearly perfect, Reggie Bush was up and down, David Patten was steady, and the defense was nowhere to be found.

The secondary looked as poor as feared, and where was the new and improved pass rush?

All during camp I’ve been reading everywhere about how good the defensive front will be and how great they look in practice.

Maybe it will end up being true. This is what I know: Matt Leinart was 7 of 8 for 91 yards and twice on third and long he hit passes of over 20 yards.

In 2007 the Saints gave up the most passes of more than 20 yards in the entire league.

They seem in midseason form.

Matt Leinart had so much time in the pocket I think he called Paris Hilton and did something that we’ll see on the internet next week.  

For all of you people telling me to calm down because it’s only one game, well...

I have season tickets, which means I have a six-hour drive seven times this year. I don’t think I can handle the drive home if I have to endure another season of Jason David Part II.

(I’m warning you now the drive back to Houston might make me even more irrational after tough losses this year).

Still the Saints were not without a few bright spots last night.

Mark Brunell looked like a real live quarterback, not the corpse I remember in Washington. So if Drew Brees did miss a week or two the Saints will be okay, I think.

Probably the best thing I saw was the way Robert Meachem looked. He caught a long strike from Brunell that he had to turn on the jets to get and then he added a 60-yard catch and run touchdown.

(Fantasy football alert: Meachem just became a trendy sleeper pick)

Very good sign.

Pierre Thomas is making a case for more touches.

I would also like to thank ESPN for interrupting their Brett Favre coverage and graciously showing the Saints game. I was kind of surprised they didn’t run a split screen of Favre on the sideline in Cleveland while the Saints were on.

(Shoot, I might have just given them an idea for next week, my bad.)

So after one game, the Saints appear to be exactly the same as last year: Great offense, no defense but the night was a success because they appear to have avoided serious injuries.

Life is good. Football is back.

Ralph Malbrough is a Saints fan living in Houston. He can be reached at ralphmalbrough@hotmail.com. He hosts a podcast every week after the Saints game.  You can check out the podcast live or past editions at http://www.blogtalkradio.com/forecastradio