FanHouse New Orleans Saints

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?

Now that Drew Brees has revealed he would have joined the Miami Dolphins back in 2006 as a free agent had they trusted his throwing shoulder was healed, had they believed in him, here comes Brees for an encore visit on Sunday to Miami.

I think the Dolphins and quarterback Chad Henne know the score.

They know that Henne will enter into a scrap with Brees where Henne had better light it up or be lit up.

Face it, people. The only reason you don't want to believe this about the Minnesota Vikings is because of him. And honestly, that's fair. Brett Favre drives everybody crazy all summer with his anguished, will-he-or-won't-he retirement drama. There are and should be consequences for something like that. In this case, the consequence is that you won't let yourself believe the gray-haired Sears pitchman from Mississippi has his hands on the reins of the best team in the NFC.

But I'm sorry to report that Favre and the Vikings don't care what you think, because as of this morning they were 6-0. And regardless of how good the Saints looked against the Giants, Minnesota is the deserving favorite to represent the NFC in the Super Bowl.

If Minnesota and New Orleans meet in the NFC championship game, immediately give three or four points to the Saints -- no matter where the game is played.

Because while both stayed unbeaten Sunday, the Saints showed they have a huge advantage in one crucial area: coaching.

Beyond that, of course, was the way the Saints won -- 48-27 over the previously unbeaten Giants in a game that was never that close -- and the team they beat, although the last three of New York's five wins were against the Triple-A of this year's NFL: Tampa Bay, Kansas City and Oakland. (Another Giants victim, Washington, was relegated to that league Sunday by losing at home to the Chiefs.)