New Orleans Saints have no reason to panic after Sunday's loss to Atlanta
 

Some saw it as a changing of the guard in the NFC.

Some saw it as a letdown by the Saints.
Some saw it as a classic choke job.
Here's what I saw: A championship team fighting tooth and nail against a very good, highly motivated opponent for nearly five quarters of physical football.
The Saints certainly made their share of mistakes and were outplayed along both lines for most of the game, but when it came to crunch time, they responded like champions.
First, they stopped the Falcons on a key fourth down to give the ball back to Drew Brees and the offense.
Then, Brees executed a perfect four-minute drill for the tying field goal.
The defense forced a three-and-out on the Falcons' first series of overtime.
And the offense drove 58 yards in six plays to position Garrett Hartley for the winning field goal.
That's what winners do.
Now if they can just get their young kicker back on track. ...
If Hartley hits the fleur-de-lis like he did against the Vikings in the NFC championship game last season, Monday's crisis is instead a carnival. The Saints are 3-0 and sitting atop everyone's power rankings.
"It would be a lot more discouraging had we played our best and got beat, " Saints linebacker Scott Shanle said. "We still feel like we're the team to beat in the NFL."

http://www.nola.com/saints/index.ssf...ve_no_rea.html

We ARE still the team to beat in the NFC.

maybe, as long as the game doesnt come down to the kicker

Remember during preseason when Payton demoted Nicks? Payton knew then that the line needed a kick in the butt. We seem to have become stagnant along the O line.(the D line as well) Maybe we need to shake it up again. I don't know how but I do believe that coach Payton can get this fixed quickly. Making the game plan according to his teams strengths is Sean Paytons forte. He just needs to do a little fine tuning.

I honestly felt GB was the team to beat in the NFC... but after the loss of Ryan Grant and suffering defeat from the Bears, I think we indeed are the team to beat in the NFC as of right now. However if GB acquires Lynch from Buffalo, I'd bump them in front of us. Defensively, I believe they have better personnel than we do.

They Bears are not for real. This I can promise you. If GB doesn't have 19 penalties and James Jones doesn't lose that fumble Green Bay puts them away. The Pack and us are the class of the NFC. We both played teams that were motivated to beat us and pulled off miracle wins.

True Dat, peppers is tearing it up in chicago

HOW BOUT THEM COWBOY'S, the perreniel favorite to win it all. lol

heard some heated arguments this morning on local and national radio, most of these cats don't know jack #@$% about our boys but i'll still say it as best as i can remember. THE MILLION DOLLAR question was Who loss that game. Hartly missed the kick,then the team loss.the team put hartly in position to win the game. but he had a power fade left. the offense put the game in hartly's leg. and he shanked it.can't hartly miss a kick today but he did. the saints drove down the field to let hartly blow-it! drew brees put the saints in position to win and hartly missed. the bench looked on to see a deer in the headlights after he could'nt rifle it through. it went on and on. it was so darn funny. i liked the first 1 for myself. i know we have to move on put its still going on. lol

i agree strat. i'll say this. this team just won a title, we are on our way to win another championship. i'm saying this with composure,cockiness,swagger and balls. now like payton says that being said. where the hell is garret hartly. YOU JUST WON A CHAMPIONSHIP MAN, this ain't pop warner dude. where is your composure,swagger balls etc. u cost a man his job. to get a butt patter for u.