papz

In thrashing the previously unbeaten Miami Dolphins on Monday night, the New Orleans Saints looked every bit the team that ruled the NFL before Bountygate. The scary part is Sean Payton, Drew Brees and company actually can get better

In New Orleans, time has a way of standing still, Katrina be damned. Walk down Bourbon Street, and it smells the way it smelled to you in college. Have the beignets changed in Café du Monde? Not a bit. The Superdome, even with its post-hurricane facelift, is the same as it ever was.

And Monday night, Sean Payton proved you can go home again. His team looks as explosive and dangerous and as much a Super Bowl contender as his teams did before he left for his one-year suspension stemming from Bountygate. The Saints crushed previously unbeaten Miami 38-17, and as we get some clarity on the 2013 NFL pennant race, this is what we see: The Saints and the Seattle Seahawks, both 4-0, are the teams to beat in the NFC after a quarter of the season.

It could be a race to NFC home-field advantage in the playoffs, because Seattle certainly has the biggest home-field edge in pro football, and New Orleans might be second. Which could make Saints-Seahawks in Seattle two months from tomorrow night the biggest game in the conference this year. We’ll see.

For now, other than the fact this team can play some defense, what really has changed in the Saints’ world? Well, the running game is different, to be sure. The Saints struggled to run all September, and it seems like Payton, while the run game finds it legs, is content with Brees dumping the ball to Darren Sproles and Pierre Thomas (just like in 2011) for the time being. The passing game? Well, you wouldn’t know anything was different. After four games this season, Drew Brees has thrown for 1,434 yards, with 10 touchdowns and four interceptions. After four games in 2011, Bress had thrown for 1,410 yards, with 10 touchdowns and four interceptions.

“Yeah, everything’s the same but the run game, which we’ve got to fix,’’ said guard Jahri Evans in a composed locker room late Monday night. “If you’re talking about being 4-0, and slinging the ball around like Drew does, and our defense taking the ball away, it’s amazingly similar.’’

Read more: New Orleans Saints dominate Miami Dolphins; Peter King mailbag | The MMQB with Peter King

Attached Thumbnails

 

Everyone is entitled to be stupid, but some abuse the privilege.

All little common sense goes a long way.