NFL new orleans Saints

We still have two unbeatens in the NFL, New Orleans and Indianapolis. The Saints visit Tampa, so they shouldn't be threatened, but the Colts have a doozy of a game at Baltimore. Meanwhile, it's a clash of titans in Detroit, as the 1-8 Lions host 1-8 Cleveland. Join us at 12 PM ET to discuss all the Week 11 NFL action.

The New Orleans Saints entered the game undefeated and the toast of the NFC. The St. Louis Rams entered the game with a 1-7 record. The Saints were favored by 14 1/2 points. The Saints also came loaded with their top-ranked offense to face off against the Rams' 28th-ranked defense. Simply put, this one had all the makings of a bloodbath.

Instead, the Saints escaped with a 28-23 victory by the skin of their teeth -- as the game was never clinched until Marc Bulger's hail mary fell incomplete as the clock struck 0:00. The fact that the Saints couldn't put the hapless Rams away earlier in the game is sure to lead to a bunch of "the Saints are overrated" talk this week. They didn't play well, but let's not go overboard.

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Zebra Report is FanHouse's analysis of actual NFL rules and how they are to be applied ... because most fans think they could do a better job than the NFL officials, yet definitely could not. Click here for an introduction as to how we do things.

This past week of NFL play was relatively quiet in terms of complaints about the officiating. Note I said "relatively," because there are always a bevy of complaints -- many warranted and many ridiculously unwarranted. We know that. Regardless, we're still here to sift through some of the more intriguing rules-type interpretations, so let's dive in.

Most teams will play their eighth game this week, meaning that we're hitting the halfway mark. Already, there's talk of 16-0 teams and teams that have played themselves out of serious contention.

We previewed this weekend's big games, got your predictions, and found out who you think has the better shot of running the table among the remaining unbeatens. Read all about it after the jump.

Every week we analyze line play in a new Between The Lines feature.

In watching line play around the league, it's obvious that there's more than one way to pressure the quarterback. The Jets and Eagles generate pressure with confusion. Teams don't know if they're sending three or eight and they don't know where they will be coming from. The Vikings send their front four most of the time, but with Jared Allen and Kevin Williams, they don't need to confuse people as much as just beat them off the line. It generally works and drives Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers insane (14 sacks in two games).

NEW ORLEANS -- Go ahead, because this is the right thing to do: You should spend the rest of the NFL season hugging whatever team you traditionally love, but you should kiss the New Orleans Saints in the shadows.

If you prefer to do so in the sunshine, that's fine, too.

The Saints have replaced the folks with stars on their helmets as America's Team. In case you weren't paying attention, Hurricane Katrina blew this franchise into the hearts of all those who had them. That unofficially happened on Sept. 25, 2006, the team's first home game back in New Orleans -- a Monday night when, just like this Monday night, the roof of the Superdome threatened to explode because of the noise generated by inside, as opposed to the wind outside it.

A game that was also against the Falcons. And that, too, was a victory for the Saints, along the way to their first and only NFC championship game.

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NEW ORLEANS (AP) -- The Saints are still perfect, despite an imperfect performance, and now need one more win to set the record for best start in franchise history.

Drew Brees had 308 yards passing, Pierre Thomas scored two touchdowns and Jabari Greer returned an interception for a score to help the Saints improve to 7-0 with a 35-27 victory over the Atlanta Falcons on Monday night. Only the 1991 Saints began a season with as many wins and no Saints team has started 8-0.

"We did a lot of things well and yet we did a lot of things that made it close at the end,'' Saints coach Sean Payton said. "I'm excited to win though. I'm excited to win this game and get to 7-0. It was an important game against a division team and I'm proud of our players. They fought.''

We have a fantastic NFC South matchup on our hands as Matt Ryan and the Atlanta Falcons pay a vist to Drew Brees and the undefeated New Orleans Saints. As always, we'll be discussing all of the action in our Monday night live chat, so please join us, won't you? The party begins at 8:30 PM ET.

The NFC South takes center stage on Monday night with a huge showdown between Atlanta and New Orleans in the Superdome.

And in anticipation of the crucial ballgame in the bayou, we've turned the show over to Tom Mantzouranis, our resident Saints guru, and Knox Bardeen, a credentialed member of the media covering the Falcons.

Those two break down the game's most important storylines after the jump. And come back at kickoff to join us in our weekly Monday Night Football live chat.

This piece was supposed to be about parity. About two of the NFL's four remaining unbeaten teams losing and about why New England's 16-0 2007 regular season was so remarkable.

In other words, about why no one will match that soon. Or ever.

That's still probably true. But the Saints are making a lot of believers after falling behind 24-3 Sunday, then outscoring Miami 43-10 in the last 30 minutes and two seconds to win 46-34. How many interceptions does Darren Sharper, who will turn 34 in nine days, have to return for touchdowns before we'll starting wondering if New Orleans can emulate the Patriots?