Kicking it with the best team in the NFL

Recently I made it over to New Orleans and watched the Saints defeat the Atlanta Falcons 35-27 in front of a nationally televised Monday night audience. The win upped the Saints record to 7-0 which matches the best start in franchise history set by the 1991 team.

It was my first opportunity to speak with the players since training camp. Back in August, all of the talk was about the “potential” of this team. But with the way that things have unfolded, Saints fans are now asking themselves, “Can we go 16-0?”

Lumpkin: No Saints team has ever had a better start to a season than this team. I’ve never won anything in my life Jeremy! How does it feel now that you’re 7-0?
Jeremy Shockey: Obviously the feeling is great, but we know that we could have lost a couple of games this year. Fortunately it has all worked out in our favor. Tonight we did some things that are uncharacteristic of this team. We had some turnovers, penalties and a missed field goal. We can’t have that if we want to be a championship team.

Lumpkin: Do you think that you all can continue this high level of play for the next three months?
Drew Brees: I think our best is yet to come. When you talk about hitting on all cylinders (offense, defense, special teams), there are a lot of things we can improve on and get better at. But you know, we are so much locked in on just one game at a time and not letting this undefeated thing get to us. It’s all about the next game. They only get tougher and we’re going to make sure we’re ready.

Lumpkin: In the NFL, anybody can beat anybody. We saw it a few weeks ago when Oakland beat Philadelphia. But this team has not had that “hiccup” game yet. How have you all been able to avoid that?
Mike Bell: I think it is due to the attitude that we took in training camp. We emphasized finishing strong, regardless. If it’s by 30 points or by one point, as long as we finish strong and we win, that’s the key. That’s our motto this year, finish strong. Everybody has these finish strong bracelets on and we have all bought into it. So, that’s what we’re going to do week after week.

Lumpkin: What is the big difference with the running game this year? The players haven’t changed but the output has. The last two years the Saints averaged around 95 yards rushing per game, but this year you all are averaging over 150 yards per game on the ground.
Carl Nicks: One thing that we really emphasized in training camp was running the football. We knew we had to have a more balanced offense. Our guys on the offensive line challenged each other. We said that we’re not going to be a finesse team like we’re labeled. We’re going to pound the football. If you look at our offensive linemen we have 340 pound guards and 300 pound tackles so we’re bound to be physical. I just think that it was just a sense of pride and a sense of urgency that we can be a great running team this season.

Lumpkin: Head Coach Sean Payton said in his post game press conference that the biggest reason this team is 7-0 is because of the defense. Are you surprised about the way that this defense has been able to do it every game with forced turnovers and defensive touchdowns?
Darren Sharper: We knew we had the ability to play like this. Greg Williams (Defensive corrdinator) has such a great system. He is such a great teacher and coach as far as preparing us every week in practice to make these big plays and also find ways to score with them. We have guys on defense that were ex-running backs and know how to run with the football and have found ways to get it to the end zone. That’s something that will be a staple of our defense. Creating big plays and getting defensive scores.

Lumpkin: What has it been like to be undefeated in this city, a city that loves its New Orleans Saints?
Carl Nicks: After our last road game in Miami we had about 350 people waiting for us at the airport to welcome us home. I’m not going to lie, I’ve never been on an undefeated team, especially not 7-0 and it feels great!

Lumpkin: Whenever you go out to eat or when you’re hanging out in the city, what has the response been like this year? Are you hearing more “Who Dats?”
Reggie Bush: The great thing about this city is they’re behind us 24-7. No matter if we’re losing or winning, and that’s the special thing about this city. Anytime you have a fan base like that it makes you want to play your heart out for them every Sunday.

Saints Are Looking Super

Who dat! Who dat! Who dat say they gonna beat them Saints!

Frankly, after what I’ve seen from the New Orleans Saints through five games, I don’t know if there is a team in the National Football League that can beat them.

For the third time in franchise history the Saints are off to a 5-0 start. In 1991, they began the season 7-0, finished 11-5 and lost in the first round of the playoffs. In 1993, they started 5-0, but then fell apart as they finished 8-8 and missed the playoffs. Not only will this year’s team make the playoffs, the Saints will likely receive an automatic invitation to the second round by virtue of a first round bye.

Offensively, the Saints have never looked better. That’s saying something considering that the Saints finished number one in total offense in 2006 and 2008.

Quarterback Drew Brees has had a number of phenomenal seasons in the NFL, but never has he played so well. Brees currently leads the league in passer rating at 118.4 (his career high is 104.8 in 2004). Unlike his previous three seasons in New Orleans, Brees does not have to have a great statistical game for the Saints to win.

Only three teams are running the football better than New Orleans. The balance of the run and the pass has made the Saints offense deadly. Now opponents must decide whether they want to slow down Brees and the Saints passing attack, or stack the line of scrimmage and try to contain the Saints running backs.

Through five games the Saints are averaging 38.4 points per game and are on pace to break the 2007 New England Patriots record for points scored in a single season. They are also averaging 430.0 yards per game. Only the 2000 St. Louis Rams (442.2) and the 1984 Miami Dolphins (433.5) have averaged more yards per game in a season.

Neither the Rams nor the Dolphins won the Super Bowl during those seasons. However, the Saints are a much more complete team equipped with a better running game and a stronger defense.

The biggest off-season acquisition for the Saints has clearly been defensive coordinator Greg Williams. After the 2008 season concluded the Saints began pursuing Williams who produced top three defenses in Tennessee, Buffalo and Washington. The two sides were close to reaching an agreement, but were still a ways apart on the financial terms. To seal the deal, Saints head coach Sean Payton asked general manager Mickey Loomis to cut his annual salary by $250,000 and apply that money to the offer for Williams.

Needless to say, Williams signed the contract and he is doing in New Orleans what he did in his previous NFL stops. For the first time since the early 1990’s the Saints have a dominant defense.
In 2007 the Saints ranked 26th out of 32 teams in total defense, and in 2008 they finished 23rd. With basically the same personnel, Williams has completely turned around the Saints defense which currently ranks 9th in the NFL.

Williams is one of the most intense defensive coordinators in the NFL. I saw it first-hand when I visited Saints training camp in August. I spoke with defensive ends Will Smith and Charles Grant, safety Roman Harper, and cornerback Tracy Porter. Each player told me that the defense had taken on the impassioned personality of its new coordinator, and after watching the team perform I can see it.

This season the Saints defense is wreaking havoc on opposing offenses. The Saints are putting more pressure on the quarterback. They are flying to the football and tackling better than they have in years, and they are creating more turnovers with the aggressive approach of Williams.
The combination of explosive offense and aggressive defense has allowed the Saints to win each of their five games by at least 14 points.

What’s even more impressive than that is the fact that the Saints have played 300 minutes of football and they have not trailed for one second!

Back in July I gave my prediction for the Saints 2009 season. I stated that if the Saints could avoid injuries, improve on defense, and get more consistency out of the running game then they would finish 12-4. Well, so far all three of those things have happened. Only now I think that the Saints will finish somewhere between 14-2 and possibly 16-0.

The Saints have 11 games remaining in the regular season. I understand that in the NFL every team is talented and winning games is not easy. However, the Saints are sure making it look easy. The only games left on the schedule that I believe might be difficult for the Saints are the two games against Atlanta and the home game against New England.

Here is the thing about the Saints. In order to defeat them, you must score at least 30 points. Of course that does not guarantee you a victory. It just means that you might be in the game in the fourth quarter.

I think that the only team in the NFC that can truly challenge the Saints in the playoffs is the Minnesota Vikings who are currently 6-0. I expect to see those teams meet in New Orleans for the NFC Championship game in late January. And what a matchup that would be with Drew Brees versus Brett Favre for the right to go to the Super Bowl! I am a life-long Favre fanatic and would definitely be pulling for the Vikings, but I would put my money on Brees and the Saints.