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In the jubilant Saints locker room Sunday, players congratulated one another and celebrated a convincing 48-27 victory over the big, bad Giants.

New Orleans had extended its record to 5-0 for only the third time in the franchise’s 43-year history.

But almost to a man, no one was calling this a statement game.

“We just played New Orleans Saints football,” defensive end Will Smith said. “I wouldn’t say it was a statement game.”

The veteran safety Darren Sharper called the rout a measuring stick. “A statement game is playing in the Super Bowl and winning,” he said. “That’s a statement game.”

Whatever you call the Saints’ performance, they have shown enough to support an early prediction: If New Orleans manages to earn home-field advantage throughout the playoffs, it may very well be headed to the Super Bowl. All things being equal, the Saints will be difficult to beat in the Superdome.

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For the second time in three weeks, New Orleans hosted an undefeated team and sent it packing. Earlier this month, the Saints embarrassed the Jets’ rookie quarterback, Mark Sanchez, en route to a 24-10 victory.

Cynics dismissed that performance, contending that the Saints took advantage of a rookie, and pointed out that the Jets’ defense held the Saints’ high-octane offense in check.

There was no checking on Sunday. Playing against a Giants team heralded by many as the N.F.L.’s most balanced team, one with a stellar record on the road (three consecutive wins), New Orleans routed the Giants and made it look easy.

That raised questions anew: Are the Saints this good or are the Giants that flawed?

“I think the Saints are real good,” Giants quarterback Eli Manning said.

Manning, who was intercepted once, gave a neat synopsis of the Saints. “They are playing well; their offense has a lot of firepower and they make a lot of plays in the running game and passing game,” he said. “They make plays defensively and they cause turnovers and they are doing some good stuff.”

Critics will still make a case against the Saints — that it’s early yet and, well, look at some of their other fast starts.

For example, in 1993, when they started 5-0, the Saints lost 8 of their last 11 games and ended with a mark of 8-8.

You can argue that New Orleans had emotional incentives going into this game. Coach Sean Payton is a former Giants offensive coordinator. Tight end Jeremy Shockey, who had watched his Giants teammates win a Super Bowl while he was sidelined with an injury, was traded to New Orleans in 2008.

And the Saints franchise in general has had to battle against the national perception that it is a post-Katrina feel-good story, a front-runner built to collapse — not a legitimate, rough-and-tumble Super Bowl contender.

Shockey admitted that he was pumped up — he did an impromptu “ride the pony” sort of celebration when he scored in the first quarter. But the general theme of the Saints was that the season is in fact young and that they do in fact have a larger goal.

“This week, we’ll talk about the win and there will be more talked about it, but in about four or five weeks it will just be a win,” Payton said. “The style point part of it is not as important as just understanding how to win.”

Are they for real or aren’t they? The key for the Saints is to beat the teams they are supposed to beat. The quickest way to lose credibility is to stumble against a team like the 0-6 St. Louis Rams, whom they play next month, or have a hiccup against the winless Tampa Bay Buccaneers, whom they face twice.

“At the end of every season you look back and there’s always a game when you look back and say we should have beat this team, we should have beat that team,” Sharper said. “We have to get victories we’re supposed to get.”

Sunday’s victory was a huge “get” for the Saints. The Giants’ offense was ranked second in the league, averaging 417.4 yards a game. On defense, the Giants were ranked first in the N.F.L. in six categories.

Just last week, Coach Tom Coughlin praised the play of the Giants’ secondary. On Sunday, Coughlin watched his secondary give up 369 yards and 4 touchdowns to Drew Brees.

As inspirational a victory as the game was for New Orleans, the loss was sobering for the Giants, though not every Giant thought it was cause for alarm.

“Obviously everyone looked at this game as the Super Bowl, but it’s only Week 6,” linebacker Antonio Pierce said.

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The Giants may meet New Orleans again, in the postseason — and if things continue as they did Sunday, the teams may meet here.

The Saints have 11 more games, and only one, on Dec. 6 at the Washington Redskins, should be played in serious cold weather.

If the Saints secure home-field advantage, their fans can begin to reasonably believe that their time has finally arrived.

E-mail: wcr@nytimes.com

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/10/19/sp...oden.html?_r=2

www.sportsshooter.com/johnjcoleman

" Anyone can take a picture Only a Photographer can take a photograph "

Rugby Saint II

Our team is focused on winning the next game. Payton will not let them lose concentration. I don't see us stumbling any time soon.