They've reached the midway point of the season in a most familiar position: smack in the middle of a muddled playoff chase.
The second half of the season begins on Sunday at Atlanta and the Saints' playoff hopes could hang in the balance. For each team not leading its division, every game from here on out is crucial.
'"Always at the midway point you're able to evaluate where you are and what you need to work on," said Saints quarterback Drew Brees. "We've done that, definitely identified those things we want to work on and when we look at the second half of the season, we have four divisional games and some tough road tests, so we know our work is cut for us. At this point, it's really one game at a time right where we were at this point last season, but I feel like we have a better team and better opportunities."
How important is the Falcons game? "We’re not worried about long term at this point," said the quarterback. "It's really just one game and the fact we're going on the road against a divisional opponent, it's a very important game. They're 5-3 and we're 4-4. We're trying to move our way up in the division and get on a roll. We haven;t had a time this season where we've won more than one in a row. It's time for us to get on a roll, get a streak going and gain some momentum"
The Falcons say the Saints have explosive plays and the reference is to passing plays of 20 yards or more, and the Saints are leading the NFL in them. The Saints have 34 plays of 20 or more yards, including 11 plays of 40 or more yards. Brees lead the league is passing yards with 2,563.
"Brees is playing the best ball of any quarterback in the NFL," judged Falcons strong safety Lawyer Milloy.
Brees has a myriad of receiver to throw to deep.
Devery Henderson has catches of 84 yards, 81, 54, 52 and 51 yards this season already. He caught a 37-yard touchdown pass against the Falcons last season.
There's Marques Colston, who is three games into his return from thumb surgery. He had a 49-yard catch and run is his second game back.
Tight ends Jeremy Shockey and Billy Miller both have catches of more than 20 yards. And running back Reggie Bush has a 42-yard catch.
Bush is recovering from minor knee surgery and is expected back for the Chiefs game next week.
One thing all those receivers have in common is he ability to run after the catch. The Saints lead the NFL in yards after the catch with 1,157 yards, including 317 from Bush.
"They have a lot of guys with a lot of speed who are doing a good job of getting the ball up the field," said Falcons free safety Erik Coleman.
The way Falcons coach Mike Smith figures it, giving up big plays is more about the defensive mistakes than the offense's prowess.
"Most explosive plays are usually caused by one of three things: one is poor tackling, two is is missed leverage and three is a blown assignment," said the coach. "So we've been concentrating, working on taking good pursuit angles and tackling. We want to make sure we are mentally into our game plan. There will be times they'll make the perfect throw and the perfect catch, but for the most part it's more about the defense than it is about the offense."
"I've never played a team this diverse in the passing game," said Coleman.
How does Brees evaluate the Saints' 4-4 record? "You just flip the turnovers around and say you have to know what wins games and what prevents you from losing games. What prevents you from losing games is taking care of the football, limiting penalties, certainly pre-snap penalties, all the little things you wan to pay attention to, red zone efficiency, third down, for the most part, if you take care of the football your chances of winning go through the roof. We're undefeated with no turnovers in a game. If that's not as swaying a statistic as you can get, I don't know what is."
How many wins do the Saints need to reach the playoffs? "I don't pay attention to it," said Brees. "The NFC South is looking pretty stout right now, whereas we could have three teams out of this division going to the playoffs. The NFC East did that a year ago. We understand that it's a tough division. Every week is a battle. We're at a point where we really need to win."
Does the shuffling of kickers and punters make Brees uneasy? "I don't look at that too much," said Brees. "I just look at us scoring touchdowns. As long as a guy can kick and make extra points, we won't make the punter work that much. I just look at it as how can I help these guys. I know it's been kind of interesting. We've swapped some guys in and out here over the last eight weeks, but it is what it is."
Prediction: Saints -1 over Falcons.
NFL PICKS (to be read to the sound of rolling drums and clashing cymbals): Jaguars -6 1/2 over Lions, Bears +3 over Titans (upset special), Patriots -4 over Bills, Dolphins -8 1/2 over Seahawks, Packers +2 1/2 over Vikings, Panthers -9 over Raiders (best bet), Chargers -15 over Chiefs, Steelers -3 over Colts, Giants +2 1/2 over Eagles, Ravens +1 over Texans, and Cardinals -9 1./2 over 49ers (best play of weekend).
COLLEGE: Houston -15 1/2 over Tulane, Texas Tech -3 over Okla. State, Florida -23 1/2 over Vandy, South Carolina -11 1/2 over Arkansas, Georgia -11 over Kentucky, Tennessee -26 over Wyoming, USM -3 over Central Florida, ULL -9 over UTEP and Middle Tennessee State -4 1.2 over UL-Monroe.
BOTTOM 10: 1. Washington. 2. WashingtonState. 3. San DiegoState. 4. SMU. 5. ArizonaState. 6. Western Kentucky. 7. UAB. 8. Idaho, 9. Eastern Michigan. 10. Michigan. Waiting list: Iowa State, Kent State, Miami (Ohio), Middle Tennessee, NC State, Ohio, Toledo, Tulane and UCF.Pillow fight of the week: Arizona State at Washington.
SOME HITHER, OTHERS YON: CBS college football analyst Gary Danielson will be calling the Alabama-LSU game on Saturday. Is No. 1 Alabama the best team in the country? the former NFL quarterback was asked. "I wouldn't say that," replied Danielson. "They are a solidly put-together team, and don;t have a real weakness. They seem, though, to not play complete games and keep teams in games." Does LSU have a chance? "This is a very comfortable matchup for LSU because they won't be going up against a spread offense as they did against Florida, and not an eventual No. 1 draft choice such as Matthew Stafford of Georgia like they did in their last two losses. LSU has a very physical offensive and defensive lines that should feel real good against a power team like Alabama." Does Nick Saban deserve the reaction he will likely get from LSU fans? "I don't know if 'deserves' is the word, but I do think he knows it's coming. He's a pretty focused guy, and it shouldn't bother him, but it will motivate fans," said Danielson.
They've reached the midway point of the season in a most familiar position: smack in the middle of a muddled playoff chase.
