Don't bury Saints yet; Belichick's ploy; Big Blue mess

Drew Brees (left), Deuce McAllister and the rest of the Saints offense have generated just two touchdowns this season. Al Messerschmidt/Getty Images

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FOXBORO, Mass. -- Musings, observations and the occasional insight as we thankfully rediscover other storylines in the NFL beyond Camera-gate in New England ...

• It's only Week 2, but it feels like it's getting late if you're one of the unlucky few who are 0-2.

Nowhere can the sense of disappointment and dread be greater than in New Orleans, where a Saints team that was the odds-on favorite to represent the conference in the Super Bowl is winless and hopelessly out of sync.

New Orleans was no fluke participant in last season's NFC title game, but so far there has been no evidence that the Saints' 2006 magic carpet ride has carried over. Their offense needed almost seven quarters to produce a touchdown this season, and a defense that was expected to be good enough -- if far from great -- has been torched for 41 points by the Colts and 31 more by the offensively-challenged Bucs.

And the Saints had 10 days to prepare for Tampa Bay, which trounced Sean Payton's club 31-14 on Sunday, in a game that didn't feel even that close.

Amidst the sky-is-falling mentality that likely began creeping in on New Orleans by early in the third quarter, let me offer an encouraging sentiment: Don't lose heart, Saints fans. Your team is too good to sustain the kind of play you've seen this September.

A few quick points to buck up the non-believers in the Crescent City:

• After two road games to start the season (at Colts, at Bucs), the schedule is about to turn friendly. Not a lot friendly, but friendly. New Orleans plays three of its next four games at the Superdome, and has a bye week in there as well. It plays just one road game between now and Oct. 28.

True, drawing Tennessee and Carolina in their next two games doesn't register as a piece of cake for the Saints, but both are home where the Saints should feed off their crowd and get their fast-track offense running again. If New Orleans can take care of business in those games, they're back to .500 before a tough Week 6 trip to Seattle and a softer assignment against Atlanta at home in Week 7.

• The Saints aren't buried in one of the NFL's weaker divisions. Carolina and Tampa Bay are 1-1, and Atlanta is winless. The Panthers are still a puzzle, falling 34-21 at home Sunday against surprising Houston, in a game Carolina led 14-0 early. The Saints have time to steady themselves without fear of anyone running away and hiding in the NFC South.

• As bad as the Saints have looked, there were a few silver linings to cling to on Sunday. Statistics are usually for losers, but the Saints did out-gain Tampa Bay 343 yards to 330, held a significant edge in time of possession (33:08-26:52), and had a 19-14 advantage in first downs.

The most troubling trend in New Orleans is easy to spot. Once again, despite their efforts to concentrate on it in the offseason and preseason, the Saints defense is getting gouged by big plays, mostly in the secondary.

Last year the Saints gave up 14 touchdowns of 20 or more yards, the most of any team that made the playoffs. It didn't sink them until the NFC title game at Chicago, but it obviously hasn't been fixed, either. The Colts gashed New Orleans for three long touchdown passes (all against cornerback Jason David), and the Bucs wisely crafted a game plan to attack the same weak link.

Tampa Bay quarterback Jeff Garcia completed three passes of at least 41 yards, including a 69-yard touchdown pass to Joey Galloway, who also caught a 41-yard bomb and scored on a 24-yard reception. Ike Hilliard also hauled in a 41-yard pass from Garcia, who rounded out his day with a 33-yard completion to tight end Alex Smith. Those five Garcia completions accounted for 208 of his 243 yards passing (10-for-16, with two touchdowns).

The good news, and there's not much of it in New Orleans about now, is that it's early. Not all 0-2's are created equal. The one the Saints have crafted is survivable. But the long climb back best start next week at home against the Titans. Any further delay in launching their Super Bowl Express could indeed be fatal.

• Here's what I think about the news that the NFL will require the Patriots to turn over their entire video library for inspection by the league office as part of their penalty for the Cheater-gate incident. There's no way in heck that Bill Belichick gives up any smoking gun-type tapes. He learned that much from Nixon's mistake. Never, ever give up a damaging tape.

• That sure was a quick month that Eli Manning missed this week because of his separated shoulder. Another early-week injury report that has holes shot through it by game day. Is there any wonder why media credibility sounds like an oxymoron at times?

He didn't get the Giants a win, but for a guy who wasn't expected to throw another pass until October, Manning didn't play that badly against Green Bay.

• Let me go on the record good and early with this one: Without a doubt, Cheater-gate will wind up being the motivational fuel that propels the Patriots throughout the 2007 season. Belichick will constantly remind his team that the pundits and many fellow NFL players and coaches were quick to question every bit of success that New England has had in the past six years, and that the Patriots were shown zero respect in the aftermath of the scandal.

It's almost ingenious. Wait a minute. You don't think Belichick could have orchestrated this whole thing in order to come up with a completely novel way of creating the age-old "us against them'' motivational ploy, do you? Nah. But it will work. I promise you the dissing of the Patriots this week will not be forgotten any time soon in that locker room.

• It's kind of fun watching to see which career passing record will Brett Favre reach first? Here's guessing that there won't be quite as much fanfare when Favre breaks George Blanda's career mark for interceptions (he has 275, just two behind Blanda) as there will be when he runs down Dan Marino's record of 420 scoring passes (Favre needs four to surpass the Miami legend).

But a big kudo deservedly goes out to Favre for breaking John Elway's record for most wins by a starting quarterback.

• Same old out of control Giants. Jeremy Shockey spikes the ball and wipes out a big reception he had just made. Amani Toomer taunts and gets flagged for it. Both mistakes came in the red zone and cost New York potential points against the Packers.

• At this point, I think we have to acknowledge that Matt Schaub looks like the real deal in Houston. And for that matter, so do the 2-0 Texans. While Carolina can be maddening to try and figure out, that wasn't Kansas City that Houston just manhandled. The Texans were down 14-0 on the road -- a situation that always spelled defeat for Houston in the past -- and went on to score the game's next 34 points. Wow. Gary Kubiak and Co. have something nice building deep in the heart of Texas.

• Speaking of quarterbacks we once doubted, I do believe Derek Anderson has stemmed the Start Brady Quinn campaign in Cleveland for now. Throwing for 328 yards and five touchdowns will buy you a little job security. And yes, the same holds even if you do it against the Bengals' defense.

• Now that's the offense Cleveland has envisioned building for the past three years or so. The Browns got touchdowns from Kellen Winslow, Braylon Edwards (two), Jamal Lewis and Joe Jurevicius (two). Both Edwards (146) and Winslow (100) had 100-yard receiving games, and Lewis exploded for 215 yards rushing against the Bengals a week after I reminded everyone that he has no ability to run away from anyone at this point in his career. Nice analysis.

• Congrats to Browns head coach Romeo Crennel, who won just his second game against a division opponent in his three seasons on the job in Cleveland. Crennel entered the Bengals game 1-12 in the AFC North, having only beaten Baltimore in the 2005 season finale.

In his previous four games against Cincinnati, Crennel's Browns were 0-4, and had been trounced by an average of 16 points per game.

• Detroit Lions fever. Catch it. The Lions are 2-0, which means they've already given their fans the same amount of satisfaction that they did in the entire 2006 season.

• The more I watch Colts second-year running back Joseph Addai, the more I understand why Indy let Edgerrin James and Dominic Rhodes walk during free agency the past two offseasons without batting an eye. Addai can run between the tackles and he threads his way through traffic without ever seeming to take a direct hit. He also runs the Colts' beloved stretch play almost as well as James did.

• No offense, Pittsburgh, but those Steelers throwback uniforms were butt ugly. No wonder that franchise never won anything until the 1970s.

• The Giants defense is giving up 40 points per game through two weeks, and you have to wonder if Michael Strahan thinks his $4 million this season will be worth enduring 14 more games worth of this.

• Can we just give the Patriots the AFC East title now and avoid the Christmas rush? The Bills, Jets and Dolphins are all 0-2 and showing no signs that they'll make it competitive for New England.

• That's the kind of game the Cardinals usually tease us with, but never actually find a way to win it. That Arizona closed the deal at home and beat the three-time defending NFC West champion Seahawks 23-20 signals that the division is up for grabs this year.

• With five more catches for 97 yards and another touchdown, Terrell Owens looks he's going to be very much in the middle of things in Dallas. On the field, rather than off it.

• The Broncos escaped once again, this time against Oakland at home in overtime, but they can't keep letting it come down to Jason Elam's right leg every week, can they?