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Saints upgraded themselves into contender status

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Alex Marvez

Alex Marvez is a Senior NFL Writer for FOXSports.com. He has covered the NFL for the past 17 seasons as a beat writer and is the former president of the Pro Football Writers of America. He also is a frequent host on Sirius XM NFL Radio.

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Updated Oct 17, 2009 9:54 PM ET
     
 

METAIRIE, La.

New Orleans might be starting the party too soon. Oh wait, this is New Orleans. You can never start a party too soon. The Super Bowl will return here in 2013, but the Saints could crash those festivities sooner than that. As in this season. New Orleans is 4-0 for the first time since 1993 and can topple another unbeaten club Sunday when facing the visiting New York Giants (5-0). "Everyone in this locker room sees the potential for us to be special," Saints wide receiver Marques Colston said after Friday's practice. "Everyone is focused on one common goal. That's to finish the season in Miami (for Super Bowl XLIV)." Team unity is one of the qualities that distinguish this Saints squad from those in recent seasons. Since an NFC Championship game run in 2006 — the furthest the franchise has ever advanced in the postseason — New Orleans has failed to make the playoffs. The defense struggled and the running game, especially in short-yardage situations, was spotty. Those elements have greatly improved in 2009. But the Saints also are thriving because of the closeness that has formed on a veteran team whose players know their window of opportunity isn't going to stay open forever. "It's very hard to find that," said linebacker Jon Vilma, who was traded to New Orleans in 2008 after spending his first four seasons with the New York Jets. "You get teams where 50 of the 53 (players) are good and three are 'it's-about-me' guys. That causes cancer on a team. Here, it's really unselfish." Player gatherings for weekly dinners outside team headquarters have become commonplace. Saints quarterback Drew Brees and his offensive linemen hit the town every Thursday night during the season. "It's kind of strange as much time as we spend together that we still opt for another dinner with each other," Saints right tackle Jon Stinchcomb said. "But I think that speaks to the relationship of the guys in this room." The bonding hasn't gone unnoticed by New Orleans general manager Mickey Loomis. He is aware that some Saints aren't happy with their contract status, but those feelings haven't manifested themselves negatively in the locker room like can happen on other teams (I'm looking at you, Cleveland). Loomis also points to players downplaying personal agendas and vendettas. For example, temperamental Saints tight end Jeremy Shockey didn't provide bulletin-board fodder for New York this week even though his Giants tenure ended badly.
"We've got a lot of great guys who have chosen to emphasize the team over their individual personalities," Loomis said. "You see that with Jeremy, (safety) Darren Sharper and guys who have a lot of stuff on their resumes. That's infectious and refreshing in this day and age to have guys want the spotlight on the team and not themselves necessarily." Loomis is in the spotlight for the right reason. No NFL general manager may have enjoyed a better offseason. In a May interview with FOXSports.com, Loomis targeted three specific areas where the Saints needed improvement coming off an 8-8 campaign: Run offense, creating more turnovers on defense and better fourth-quarter play. He hit the mark on all of them thanks to shrewd personnel evaluation with coach Sean Payton. Even with Pro Bowl left tackle Jammal Brown on injured reserve following hip and hernia surgeries, a committee of running backs (Pierre Thomas, Mike Bell and Reggie Bush) has helped New Orleans field the league's No. 2 rushing offense at 166.2 yards a game. Bush is unlikely to ever become the bell-cow back expected when chosen with the second overall pick in 2006, but Loomis has compensated through two less-ballyhooed rushers. Thomas was undrafted coming out of Illinois; Bell was cut by Denver and Houston before joining the Saints midway through last season. The duo has justified Loomis' offseason decisions to release all-time franchise rushing leader Deuce McAllister and not sign veteran Edgerrin James after a flirtation in free agency. The ground attack has taken pressure off Brees — who averaged a ridiculous 40 pass attempts per game for the past two seasons — and a defense that is flourishing under new coordinator Gregg Williams. New Orleans has already generated a league-high 10 interceptions and 10 sacks. In comparison, the 2008 defense produced 15 interceptions and 28 sacks over an entire season. Sharper was a bargain-basement steal. Signed to a one-year, $1.7 million deal after drawing surprisingly scant free-agent interest, the 33-year-old Sharper has a league-high five interceptions while helping New Orleans prevent the long pass plays that maligned last year's unit. Defensive ends Charles Grant and Will Smith are having a career resurgence, which Loomis partially attributes to both players "getting tired of hearing criticism of their performance from a year ago." Grant and Smith also have benefited from the NFL delaying their four-game suspension for taking a banned supplement until the Starcaps case is resolved in court. As for finishing strongly, the Saints have outscored opponents 45-2 in the fourth quarter. Last year, New Orleans was tied or held a lead in the fourth quarter during five of eight losses. "Over the course of the season, we're going to win games with big offensive days but now we can also win defensive battles," said Loomis, who became Saints general manager in 2002. "We can win a game in the last four minutes running the ball." The Giants are the most complete team New Orleans has played and will provide a litmus test of how good the Saints are at this point of the season. A win will add even more excitement to a rabid fan base that embraced the Saints following the devastation wrought by Hurricane Katrina in 2005. "This has always been a community that's close to its team," Payton said. "There are 50,000 people on the waiting list for season tickets. That's unusual considering the economy in this region right now. Mondays for Saints fans are all about, 'How did the team do?' I know that sort of thing happens in other cities but this place is uniquely different." Super Bowl XLVII in 2013 will mark the 10th time the Super Bowl has come to New Orleans. The only other city matching that mark is Miami. Unlike in South Florida where the Dolphins have won two championships, the Saints have yet to play in a Super Bowl. The 2006 squad came the closest to reaching one, but Loomis said this year's Saints are a "lot better." "We have better personnel and we've got an experienced head coach," said Loomis, who hired Payton with team owner Tom Benson's blessing in 2006. "In a lot of ways, we were riding a crest of emotion (after Katrina) that carried us a little further than what was rightfully expected. This team sees itself as a team that's as good as any." If the Saints play that way and end their Super Bowl drought, New Orleans fans will be able to truly embrace the city's unofficial motto of Laissez le Bon temp rouler. Translated: Let the good times roll.
Tagged: Will Smith, Charles Grant, Deuce McAllister, Drew Brees, Marques Colston, Darren Sharper, Dolphins, Jon Stinchcomb, Reggie Bush, Mike Bell, Saints, Giants, Jammal Brown, Jeremy Shockey, Seahawks, Edgerrin James

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