This time, it was the Saints defense that played a near-perfect game. New Orleans held Buffalo to 243 yards, and the Bills only points came on a second-quarter faked field goal that went for a touchdown. The Saints defense forced nine punts, with Buffalo having an astounding 11 three-and-outs, it sacked Trent Edwards four times, hurried or hit him 14 times, intercepted a pass and held the Bills to just 2 of 14 on third downs. Buffalo's offense never drove inside the Saints 20, went scoreless on its 12 possessions, and its five fourth-quarter drives produced zero first downs and just 18 total yards in 16 plays.

And then there was that little matter of holding Bills receiver Terrell Owens without a catch for the first time since his rookie season of 1996, snapping his 185-game streak of having at least one reception. Would anyone have voted the previously suspect Saints secondary the most likely candidate to accomplish that feat?