Last year’s Super Bowl Champions are experiencing a Mardi Gras-sized hangover.  Through he first seven weeks of the season, the Saints are 3^rd in the NFC South with a 4-3 record and they are coming off an embarrassing 17-30 home loss against the Browns.

What is going on in the Big Easy?

Drew Brees is still posting some gaudy stats.  He leads the league with 14 TDs and a 69.7% completion rate while placing 3^rd in passing yardage.  But, he’s also tied for second with 10 INTs – making him well above pace to set a new career-high.  Marques Colston has been leading the vast New Orleans receiving corps and remains on target for 100 receptions, despite taking seven weeks to score his first touchdown.  The defense ranks 3^rd with 288.4 yards allowed per game even though they rank 27^th with 4 interceptions.

Needless to say, we’re seeing a lot of mixed results.

The only glaring weakness is in the running game.  Of course, we all view the Saints as a pass-first team, but you need to have at least some semblance of balance in order to open up the rest of the offense.  The Saints rank 26^th in the league with 92.6 yards per game and seem to be floundering without Pierre Thomas and Reggie Bush.  Chris Ivory did have a stellar game against Tampa Bay rushing 15 times for 158 yards, but the Saints still lack a change-of-pace back like Bush to be the last piece of the puzzle.

We have a lot of faith in Sean Payton and his ability to adjust his schemes until Thomas and Bush are back, but he’s going to have an extremely difficult task against Pittsburgh this upcoming Sunday.